InnovOil Issue 31 March 2015

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Bringing you the latest innovations in exploration, production and refining Issue 31

Big deal

Our Q&A grapples with Big Data Page 4

Shared ideals

Enhancing collaboration and communication with nuVa Page 8

Careful abandon Tom Leeson discusses low prices and decommissioning Page 22

A bit different

Is GA Drilling’s non-contact PLASMABIT the future of P&A? Page 24

March 2015

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March 2015

Inside Contacts:

Associate Director of Business Development Andrew Stalker andrews@newsbase.com Media Sales Manager Riley Samuda RileyS@InnovOil.co.uk

The power of prediction

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News in brief

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IBM® Predictive Maintenance and Quality software uses big data to give operators more analysis and insight – for better asset performance

Editor Andrew Dykes andrewd@newsbase.com NewsBase Limited Centrum House, 108-114 Dundas Street Edinburgh EH3 5DQ Phone: +44 (0) 131 478 7000

Committing to collaboration 21 Dr Patrick O’Brien highlights the need to commit to collaboration ahead of the Technology Showcase on March 4th, 2015

Abandonment issues

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Divine intervention

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While cheap oil may not kick-start a wave of decommissioning, P&A expert Tom Leeson suggests that now would still be a very good time to start

www.newsbase.com www.innovoil.co.uk Design: www.michaelgill.eu ™ Published by

Bringing you the latest innovations in exploration, production and refining

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As big data delivers a broader context for improved evaluation, cereno argues it is vital to present the information in a visual format that allows collaboration to deliver quality decision making

New and innovative equipment from Anton Paar speeds and simplifies the process of hydrocarbon sampling

Design & Web Dan Bell Danielb@newsbase.com

Our Q&A grapples with Big Data

Face to face with big data

Faster and no longer furious 11

Media Sales Manager Gary Paterson garyp@InnovOil.co.uk

big deal

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We asked experts from across the Big Data spectrum for their thoughts on the future of ICT in the oil and gas industry

Media Director Ryan Stevenson ryans@newsbase.com

Issue 31

Core questions

March 2015

GA Drilling’s unique non-contact PLASMABIT system offers a new, rig-less technology for section milling, which could change the way operators approach P&A

Looking on the bright side 25

Shared idealS

Enhancing collaboration and communication with nuVa Page xx

Careful abandon Tom Leeson discusses low prices and decommissioning Page xx

a bit different

Is GA Drilling’s non-contact PLASMABIT the future of P&A? Page xx

The InnovOil team visited Subsea Expo 2015, where low oil prices did not dampen a mood of cautious optimism regarding the sector’s future

What next …?

To make enquiries about any of the products or technologies featured in this edition, use this list of vital connections

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March 2015

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A note from the Editor The scale of data now available to oil and gas operators is staggering. To borrow a phrase from Professor Richard Clegg, one of this month’s Q&A participants, the volume, velocity, veracity and variety of Big Data available is growing exponentially. Well monitoring, asset monitoring, inspection, maintenance, equipment tracking and communications equipment now provide a plethora of metrics. If interpreted and used effectively, this can inform new ways of planning, communicating, maintaining safety and more.

Equally, it brings new challenges to how operators address security, analysis and visualisation. The latter is particularly important: how can we make better decisions if we are unable to make sense of the information in front of us?

As the industry moves towards the oft-touted digital oilfield, its personnel will also have to adapt to new, data-driven environments. In some cases, it is mindsets which need to be changed, just as much as hardware and software must be upgraded.

This is InnovOil’s first full foray into the world of Big Data, and we reached out to a number of organisations involved in the sector. Our Q&A features contributions from ICT experts IBM and CGI, communications innovator cereno and engineering research body Lloyd’s Register Foundation.

Meanwhile, instrument manufacturer Anton Paar profiles its versatile, simplified DMA 4200 M density meter for hydrocarbon sampling.

We also speak to cereno managing director Jocelyn Lomer, regarding nuVa – a unique communications solution which features a shared workspace for collaborative working across the globe.

As well as the potential in Big Data, another area of incoming change is decommissioning. The proverbial elephant in the room, decommissioning remains somewhat unknown to a great deal of operators. Strategy, technology and – most importantly – costs are difficult to predict, and the market is only just beginning to get to grips with its commitments.

Ahead of the 7th Annual Decommissioning & Abandonment Summit, held in Houston on March 17-19, plug and abandonment (P&A) expert Tom Leeson discusses whether a low oil price is likely to change industry attitudes, and where the prospects for new innovation lie.

Speaking of such prospects, InnovOil examines one of its most interesting technologies we have featured yet: PLASMABIT, GA Drilling’s non-contact solution for section milling. Harnessing the power of a thermal electric plasma arc, PLASMABIT disintegrates steel and casing, cutting the cost and time of P&A operations – all without the need for a rig.

As well as our usual News in Brief, ITF’s Paddy O’Brien highlights the potential of new JIPs at its upcoming technology showcase, and we report on the most successful Subsea Expo yet.

The team and I are pleased to present the Subsea Special Edition of InnovOil, from NewsBase.

Andrew Dykes Editor

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Core questions

March 2015

We asked experts from across the Big Data spectrum for their thoughts on the future of ICT in the oil and gas industry

Professor Richard Clegg Managing Director, Lloyd’s Register Foundation What recent technologies or developments have had the biggest impact on how operators can utilise ICT and data?

Big data – or machine data or datacentric engineering as it is sometimes called – is being enabled through the convergence of three supporting technologies, namely sensor technology, telecommunications, and computer science.

The first of these (sensors) is being driven by advances in nanotechnology, making possible the manufacture of cheap, small, ubiquitous sensors.

These can be integrated into materials, components and systems, enabling their condition and performance to be monitored. Together, these can form intelligent systems which, with embedded intelligence, can self-reflect on the data, processing it locally or communicating it remotely.

Telecommunications enables the data from individual components, systems and assets to be transmitted remotely. As the so-called “internet of things” grows, the scale of communicated data – its volume, velocity, veracity and variety – is growing exponentially. Through such remote communication, the data streaming from multiple assets can

be combined to make more powerful datasets.

Computer science is about the technological ability to store and process large amounts of data. It consists of the methods, tools and algorithms to compute data sets, of looking for patterns and making projections.

However, probably the area with biggest impact has to be around the man-machine interface. In a complex world fuelled by increasing volumes of data, techniques that simplify data visualisation and simulation are of growing importance. Computer systems can crunch the numbers – but it is the human operator that has judgement and perception.

Currently, what are the biggest challenges in terms of utilising this kind of data, with oil and gas?

The biggest challenge is not necessarily one to do with hardware, but is probably linked to skills in the workforce. Big data is going to create new business models, new services, new clients and new competitors, while the skills required are different, focused around computational science and statistics.

Business models will change in the sense

“The area with biggest impact has to be around the man-machine interface.”

Professor Richard Clegg

that manufacturers and vendors will move from simply being providers to selling “business outcomes” based on the enhanced performance and reliability of their assets, aided by big data monitoring and support. This is already the growing pattern in sectors like aviation, and will undoubtedly overflow into other areas like oil and gas.

How important is cyber security – especially for energy firms – if more online and interconnected facilities are being incorporated as standard?

This is part of the bigger issue of ensuring the quality, traceability, integrity, provenance of data, as well as its security. New codes and standards for big data emanating from the internet of things will be needed. In addition, cyber security and encryption will be important for some business models to ensure commercial protection, as well as to protect against malicious intent.

Are there any technologies/applications we should watch out for over the next few years?

In terms of applications, probably what to watch out for is technology cross-over between sectors, such as from aviation into oil and gas, as mentioned above.

Also to look out for are the totally new players entering the marketplace.

Much of big data is about collecting, transmitting, storing and processing very large data sets, techniques already commonplace in sectors such as social media and retail. n

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Jocelyn Lomer Managing Director, Cereno What recent technologies or developments have had the biggest impact on how operators can utilise ICT and data?

Really ICT technologies are simply infrastructure for people to work in new ways and to share knowledge around our organisations or with collaboration partners. The organisation is more and more resembling a collection of people with which to share knowledge to complete a task, and to this end, the incremental improvements and standardisation of the internet and internet protocol, as well as the improvements in visualisation analytics and software, are revolutionising our capability to measure and understand the world around us, including the geophysical world beneath.

The recent improvements in technology allow a fuller understanding of the world in a deeper context, thereby allowing higher-quality decisions.

Delivering visualisations based upon a broader context of data – if they are analysed intelligently – will allow higherquality collaborative decision-making.

Currently, what are the biggest challenges in terms of utilising this kind of data with oil and gas?

In order to deliver a bigger picture for return on investments or operations

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multiple sources of data are being delivered by different disciplines, using different visualisation software and other metrics.

The remaining challenges in these remote human decision-making technologies involve the organisation of the virtual office and its procedures. The knowledge management organisation of the future looks to have a flat hierarchy, open-plan virtual offices and a culture of knowledge sharing.

The industry has to recognise that its sensible conservatism needs to be married to a fundamental appraisal of how an organisation works, in the light of the learning organisation of the present day.

One of the significant difficulties faced by ICT is the trade-off between knowledge sharing and security with operational partners.

“Recent improvements in technology allow a fuller understanding of the world in a deeper context, thereby allowing higherquality decisions.”

Jocelyn Lomer

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How important is cyber security – especially for energy firms – if more online and interconnected facilities are being incorporated as standard?

As an analogy: it is relatively easy to log customer’s shopping habits and to present the results to marketing, but once the organisation has turned that data into knowledge of how to stack the shelves and lure people into the store, this knowledge is of far greater value than the data itself.

Organisations should jealously confine their knowledge to the organisation and only share the knowledge where necessary to complete collaborative activity. There are therefore new levels of security that need to be employed and organisational knowledge should be the most highly protected.

Are there any technologies/applications we should watch out for over the next few years?

Yes – and it is all about knowledge management. With three and a half billion people connected to the internet knowledge management across organisations is becoming a prime intangible asset.

This creation and management is a social process, based upon common interest and trust. Antiquated technologies such as the telephone, which makes us “blind,” need to disappear and humans need to collaborate to innovate over interfaces which are not confined by the standard desktop, and allow for better movement of thought. n

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and have been adopted and proven in a number of industries, like aerospace and automotive. Oil and gas must now catch up with the leading practices in other industries.

Ole Evensen Global Executive, Upstream, IBM What recent technologies or developments have had the biggest impact on how operators can utilise ICT and data?

Two of the biggest challenges that operators face today are production (operational) efficiency and sustainable continuous improvement. These are linked, and both depend increasingly on the use of data and on the analytical capabilities available to the organisation, which covers everything from data capture from sensors, all the way to making sense of the data with powerful analytics tools for improved decision making.

As an example: operational efficiency requires insight into the hydrocarbon value chain – from the reservoir through the wells, flow lines, processing facilities to hosts (dependencies) and final export. Proper planning of the operations – consideration of all the various attributes and the opportunities for optimisation – requires modelling, resource and constraints planning, as well as the ability to cope with variability and sudden changes. Done properly, this can result in significant cost savings for operators.

There are several solutions that can provide tremendous value in this area, for example the Predictive Asset Optimization Module Library that can detect events and anomalies that may impact production. Additionally, the Predictive Maintenance and Quality solution can help asset-intensive organisations keep manufacturing processes, infrastructure and field equipment running in order to maximise utilisation and performance, minimising costly unscheduled downtime that can disrupt production, service and delivery.

These solutions are robust and mature

What are the biggest challenges in terms of utilising this kind of data, within oil and gas?

End-to-end vision and a lack of fully integrated processes. Too many operators address operations in functional silos, and do not share data, insight or decisionmaking when acting on events in their own domains. As a result the overall production can suffer and opportunities to create cost synergies are lost.

An emerging technical challenge is due to the growth of the relevant data that can be acquired, from wells, flow-lines, processing etc. The challenge then becomes one of data management.

Capturing, quality-assuring, storing, securing, sharing and the overall governance of data is the foundation for good business use. A number of operators are trying to catch up, to implement relevant technology, processes and policies to address this. And of course, with all the opportunities that big data offers, there are many challenges that come as a consequence.

How important is cyber security – especially for energy firms – if more online and interconnected facilities are being incorporated as standard?

It is of vital importance, and will need to be a foundational capability of operators, as well as meet the expectations of partners and requirements from government. Poor cybersecurity not only increases the risk of attack, but also the risk that upstream operations in oil and gas will become uninsurable.

Underwriters are increasingly concerned about the weakness of cyber defences in the energy sector, with the result that companies now face the prospect of being refused insurance cover for cyber losses. This could place

“We will see new ‘cognitive’ analytics technology being used to turn data into insight and decision support.”

Ole Evensen

March 2015

restrictions on how and where companies are able to operate. The good news is that there is help out there, and companies, like IBM, offer security assessments, risk management and security tools, as well as “managed security” as a service.

For energy companies the scope of security needs to be across both the domains of operational technology as well as traditional information technology.

Digital threats are real, with the potential to destroy equipment, harm people and damage the environment. Organisations need to be aware of the threats, manage the risks, protect critical assets and ensure that production facilities and operations are as secure as they can be.

Are there any technologies/applications we should watch out for over the next few years?

Absolutely. Considering that about 80% of all data in an organisation is “unstructured” – e.g. free text, word documents, text in spreadsheets, intranet web sites, engineering drawings, images, seismic data etc. – and coupling this with the external data – public reports from analysts, external web sites and news feeds – we will see new “cognitive” analytics technology being used to turn this data into insight and decision support.

The Watson Group within IBM is already applying this to early adopting industries, like healthcare and finance.

Within oil and gas we have today pilot projects with leading operators to provide new, game-changing, insight into areas such as exploration, prospect evaluation, production and operations.

Two other technology areas that we think will be important over the next few years are around mobile and cloud.

Mobile has the potential to revolutionise productivity, safety and efficiency and deliver compelling ROI. Cloud will also enable business transformation using the flexibility of public, private and hybrid delivery models, improving the speed and agility of application delivery and that will change the economics of IT. To understand and address these areas IBM has established Oil & Gas Centres of Excellence to engage clients in strategic discussions of improvement. Similarly, we have Oil & Gas Centres of Competence where our industry practitioners share insight to help operators evaluate and adopt new technology in the best possible way. n

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Daina Warren, Global IRM Director

Adam Tacy, Chief Innovation Officer, CGI What recent technologies or developments have had the biggest impact on how operators can utilise ICT and data?

There is a huge range of technologies and developments enabling the freeing up, collection, visibility and harnessing of value from data, across the supply chain in oil and gas and cross-industry.

Increasing granularity and size of seismic models generates larger, more valuable data sets and new approaches to visualisations are releasing that value – think of the increasing use of consumer products such as Glass and Oculus Rift.

At the same time, many operators have digital oilfield initiatives making clever use of collecting data and using that data to increase field efficiencies and prolong life. At CGI we’re also enabling the move from yesterday’s diagnostic analysis of equipment to tomorrow’s predictive maintenance: collecting sensor data from machines and plants, combining this with other interesting data feeds and performing analysis on platforms in the cloud.

Many readers will be familiar with PI data. Whilst not new, the collecting of PI data across an organisation gives deeper insights into cross-platform/plant operations. Manufacturers could even collate data per device across operators, to gain valuable insights into equipment behaviour assurance.

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Real power comes from integrating the data for analysis – being able to predict an upsurge in consumer or b2b demand and understand the impact that will have further up the supply chain, or ensuring replacement part logistics is optimised by predicting when equipment is likely to fail.

With an integrated view, we can move into the field of prescriptive analytics – using cause and effect relationships discovered in data to determine the best courses of action, i.e. moving from “what will happen” to “how can we make it happen.”

Currently, what are the biggest challenges in terms of utilising this kind of data, with oil and gas?

Methodology and cyber security are the biggest challenges we see.

To head towards the integrated view mentioned above requires an element of upfront architecture effort, just like when building a new manufacturing plant or developing software. It is fine to run proof of concepts answering spot questions, but moving beyond that is where a methodology is needed.

For example: are you clear on the questions you want to answer? Do you know the necessary data sources? Can you manage the volume of data? Can you get the answer from the data you have, or do you need to think of proxy data etc.?

So what comes first: the tool or the questions? We would argue that the questions do – but in a practical world sometimes you need to build around the tooling you have.

How important is cyber security – especially for energy firms – if more online and interconnected facilities are being incorporated as standard?

On the cyber security side, what is valuable to you is valuable to someone else. Technology innovation has resulted in a paradigm shift in how businesses – and specifically energy firms – operate today.

A rapid result of this has been an increasing sophistication, frequency, scale and impact of cyber-crime. For energy firms, critical infrastructure providers, government and businesses, there is an urgent need to advance security counter-measures and rethink traditional approaches to meet the risk of cybercrime head on.

Advancements in technology are

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growing at an exponential rate, bringing items such as smart meters, unmanned maintenance droids and more into a new standard in the energy sector. These advancements are end client-benefiting, cost-reducing and productivityenhancing. The downfall, however, is the interconnectivity required becomes a threat vector. As the interconnectivity expands, so do these threats.

Possible doorways into an energy firm’s key assets can not be left exposed, vulnerable and unmonitored. This is where cyber security becomes key; these access points require a diligent focus to keep pace and stay ahead of escalating risk levels.

By working with public and private sector partnerships and by advancing security measures particularly with regard to mission-critical systems/processes/ applications that are connected to cyberspace, energy firms are able to work towards an environment that is open, secure and prosperous.

Are there any technologies/applications we should watch out for over the next few years?

The maturing of this field through the rise of data scientists and visualisers and the application of maturing methodologies.

Data scientists and visualisers are the people who will bring structure and discipline to this field, help find answers from the direct data and be able to identify how to solve problems using proxy data when direct data is not available.

It might be strange to say, but older skills/tools such as knowledge/information management will be brought to the front again, perhaps in slightly different guises.

It is of limited use having so many data sources and so much data around, but not knowing what you have. This leads us to the need for applications which help the business users themselves harness value from big data. Just as Business Objects supported users getting value from “little” data, data discovery tools are needed in the truly joined up world of big data.

It is not hard to imagine the new generation wanting to tap their industrial glass headset and ask “Siri, will there be any impacts on my refinery this week?”

They’ll be expecting to hear predictions pulled from joined up big data analysis across the supply train that they can a) trust, b) know is secure and c) use to take concrete decisions. n

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Face to face with big data

March 2015

The nuVa Innovator

As big data delivers a broader context for improved evaluation, cereno argues it is vital to present the information in a visual format that allows collaboration to deliver quality decision making

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n order to be more productive, operators must often communicate between a network of regional headquarters. Collaborative work may be undertaken between teams in Singapore, London, New York and Houston in order to bring major projects into development, while decisions are re-communicated to regional facilities and workers on the ground.At the same time big data, if accurately analysed, is delivering a broader context for improved decision making.

The increasing complexity of engineering and strategic tasks facing the industry means that new methods of the presentation of data – and remote collaboration on it – are needed. Leveraging the internet and the wealth of data available allows personnel to collaborate better. Decisions can be made far faster and businesses can be more competitive. Therefore it is vital that the visualisation of big data is delivered in the most natural way possible for social collaboration.

Jocelyn Lomer, Managing Director of cereno, comments that: “The general novelty lies in incremental improvement in technology across the board. Data has obviously been around for a long time, but the technical capability to gather large quantities, transport it, process it quickly and then present it in a comprehensible form has improved hugely over the last decade.”

Ultimately, the objective of collecting unstructured data and analysing it is to turn it into knowledge which complements the decision-making process. To do this, Lomer argues, operators should be aware that that the creation of knowledge is actually a social process; to comprehend, act and innovate, this natural social process must be

maintained. Collaborating socially, passing artefacts and ideas around, is an important part of the process, so visual analytics should present big data in a natural way.

Research, including Ned Kock’s “natural meeting theory” has shown that the closer remote interactions are to actual, face-toface meetings, the better the participants’ understanding. This increased cognition reduces ambiguity or miscommunication, provides immediate feedback and stimulation to participants and lowers the effort needed to retain and understand information.

Changing the channel In order to meet these challenges and based on years of research and development into how humans interact with machines, nuVa represents a completely new concept of virtual communication and collaboration.

The system is a mixture of audio and visual conferencing, coupled with a digital workspace. It closely emulates a live meeting environment and allowing users to simultaneously share and edit multiple documents just as they would at a face-toface collaborative meeting, sharing complex ideas.

Like many communications innovations, its origins lie in the defence industry, where designers took a completely fresh approach to how humans interact and work together. “Instead of building for the desktop space, they chucked that concept out of the window and said: ‘Let’s look at what humans really do and how they collaborate’” Lomer explains.

To replicate a natural setting as much as possible, a shared workspace is a necessity. “In the past this could only be achieved by travelling to a physical meeting.

Neither video conferencing nor desktop

collaboration has sufficient workspace to support a complex decision,” Lomer says.

“Even if we use telepresence, we don’t have a decent workspace, which is prerequisite if we’re working on something complicated.”

The nuVa design approach features a vertical plane for visual communication and an interactive horizontal desk, displaying any documents, applications and programs required for the meeting. These can be presented, edited and annotated in realtime.

“You can have a workspace full of documents, you can pull them in and out of the collaborative meeting, and the people at the other end are on precisely the same page. If they move a page in Singapore, it moves all the other ends simultaneously, and in this way you can collaborate just like a real meeting,” he enthuses. The workspace can then be saved and re-booted for the next project meeting to discuss what has been achieved avoiding the necessity for assembling multiple documents The system comes in a large size, suitable for boardrooms and headquarters, a medium unit for smaller bases and a portable, ruggedized unit which can be transported to wherever personnel are needed.

Context is also important. Looking through individual documents in isolation is frustrating and means key details can be missed. With everyone guaranteed to be looking at the same information – without potentially missing documents or struggling with incompatible formats – miscommunication is reduced and ideation increased Meanwhile, viewing documents – e.g. order sheets or design briefs – in the context of other relevant information such as

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Computer-Aided Design (CAD), means information is clearer and the team can collaborate and innovate more effectively.

Applications Lomer draws attention to the uses this could have within an oil and gas context.

The complex data and visualisations needed to discuss exploration strategy, production design and engineering work across multiple offices could be boosted by the ability to work and edit via the nuVa system.

“In large capital projects – projects, pipelines, shipbuilding – there’s an opportunity with this richer type of medium to work and outsource at longer distance and to get it completed more accurately and in better time,” Lomer says. He uses the example of a European firm designing and commissioning an FPSO from South Korea, allowing its expertise to be more effectively transmitted to a lower-cost manufacturing base. Updates could be delivered immediately, and any problems encountered can be addressed by designers, allowing faster project completion and lower costs.

Naturally, this process is aided by the applications which can be shared.

3-D CAD can be shared at up to nine destinations simultaneously, in the context of industry-specific software such as Petrel, 3-D mapping, well monitoring suites and geophysical data, as well as supporting documents such as design briefs, blueprints, cost sheets and equipment specifications – anything one may need.

The broader the context, the better

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the decision, Lomer argues. “Complex decisions are handled by groups of people, not individuals. They need to see the bigger picture of data. For example, if you have some geophysical data, that’s not enough, You may want to know who else is exploring in the neighbouring block,what their results were, the weather conditions, the resource available, what was the cost, and that all helps you make better decisions.”

Competitive edge The modern knowledge organisation is defined by how effectively it can flow knowledge and expertise around the world. For the first time nuVa allows a “rich channel of knowledge” which means information can flow immediately. In turn, this presents strategic implications for the organisation, delivering a lower cost base and minimising decision making in large capital projects.

For example in a large capital project involving multi-disciplinary teams, quality decisions can be made immediately instead of in a monthly project meeting. This, cereno argues, could save around 5% to 25% in project costs, offering an extremely attractive return on investment.

The system is also technically robust.

A connection of 0.5 Mbps delivers a full service including document-sharing, audio and visuals, all of which can also be run over satcoms. At lower speeds, less than 400 kbps for example, optional frame rate controls allow work to continue, even with

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more demanding applications such as CAD. A ruggedized version of nuVa can be deployed to an offshore platform or remote facility, with a medium-sized desk used to communicate from a shore base or regional office. For the truly pioneering operators, previous deployments have seen nuVa work successfully at speeds as low as 128 kbps.

Lomer posits that the Improvements in the quality of meeting and the expertise available outweigh that of the simple time/ cost savings usually associated with other forms of digital conferencing. While the big data revolution is beginning to be embraced by the industry, some remain sluggish to explore the new avenues it offers.

He concludes that: “With the advent of big data ultimately people wish to socially collaborate upon the data and create business knowledge and if that is the case it must be visually presented in a way that people understand and can naturally collaborate upon wherever they are. Although there is a reluctance to adopt new ways of working, operators can’t afford not to.” Collaborative working, as seen with nuVa, could be the next step in the emerging digital oilfield. n Lomer and the cereno team will be attending the SPE Digital Oilfield Summit in Houston (Woodlands) on March 4, 5 and 6.

Contact: Jocelyn Lomer Tel: +44 (0)203 128 7500 Email:Jocelyn.Lomer@cerenosolutions.com Web:www.cerenosolutions.com/nuva-index.html

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Faster and no longer furious

New and innovative equipment from Anton Paar speeds and simplifies the process of hydrocarbon sampling

D

ata recorded by petroleum engineers and laboratory staff – both on- and offshore at rigs, refineries and other infrastructure – needs to be timely, accurate and reliable.

Key decisions rest on regular sampling, their results being a vital part of communication between personnel on the ground and action taken at department and board level.

Furthermore, in a space-sensitive environment – offshore work being a prime example – versatile and multi-function equipment offers even greater benefit.

The DMA 4200 M density meter from Anton Paar is capable of measuring all petroleum samples, including crude oil, intermediate products, asphalt, LPG and high-viscosity liquids.

Its ability to measure crude of all grades means that tedious and timeintensive measurement between different pycnometers or hydrometers is unnecessary.

Only 2 mL of sample is needed, filled by

syringe, meaning even viscous samples can be tested easily.

Measuring success Measurements can be taken in a temperature range from -10°C up to 200°C, while density checks can be made even on samples which are solid at room temperature. The DMA 4200 M also automatically calculates the density values for the required reporting temperature using built-in API tables, again greatly reducing the time needed to complete sample work.

After measurement, instead of laborious, solvent-intensive cleaning routines, the sample cell can be quickly cleaned with only a small amount of solvent The heart of DMA 4200 M lies in a U-tube made of Hastelloy®. This superalloy has a much higher chemical resistance to hydrochloric acid and sour gas than stainless steel, ensuring excellent lifespan with greatly reduced risk of breakages or corrosion. Owing to the strength of the

U-tube, samples can also be measured under pressures of up to 500 bar.

The DMA 4200 M is a vital tool for laboratories, as it improves, accelerates and simplifies density measurements for incoming crude oil. The ability to monitor samples quickly and to deliver feedback on the refining process, and to test samples for quality control, including asphalt, bitumen and LPG, is a significant asset to any operator.

Graz-based Anton Paar also produces instruments for other high-end measuring and laboratory applications, such as density, concentration and CO2 and rheometry.

Other specialties include microwave synthesis, viscometry, polarimetry, refractometry, X-ray scattering, sample preparation and surface characterisation. n Contact: Anton Paar Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1992 514 730 Email: info.gb@anton-paar.com Web: www.anton-paar.com

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The power of prediction IBM® Predictive Maintenance and Quality software uses big data to give operators more analysis and insight – for better asset performance

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perators are in a constant battle to maintain asset performance and efficiency, while minimising risk and potential downtime. Although achieving this is often a multi-disciplinary task, big data gathering has been one of the key ways in which this can be tackled.

Using new data-driven technology, companies are now optimising their physical assets and operational processes to ensure they are functioning as intended and the return on investment (ROI) is maximised.

IBM® Predictive Maintenance and Quality software helps asset-intensive organisations keep manufacturing processes, infrastructure and field equipment running, in order to maximise performance and costly, unscheduled downtime.

The software sends insights and optimised recommended decisions directly to decision makers — so you can reduce operational costs, improve asset productivity and increase process efficiency.

Critical decisions can be made faster and more accurately through the combination of institutional knowledge and analytics.

By analysing various types of data, including usage, wear and conditional characteristics from disparate sources, it can proactively detect failure patterns. It then brings insights to your desk, your iPad, or wherever you are in the field.

Predict and prevent The product uses an open architecture to connect a pre-configured software and content stack to your environment. The data integration and management capabilities enable the real-time connection and processing of production, quality and field asset event data. This processes structured

Above: This dashboard enables you to easily understand and monitor current issues.

Left: Quickly view which asset is likely to fail. and unstructured data, and can draw from enterprise asset management systems, meters, sensors, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

Selected data is then staged and aggregated in a centralised data analytics store for pre-calculation and key performance indicators (KPIs) are made available for real-time, streaming analytics.

Real-time, interactive dashboards and reports allow you to quickly get different views and drill into information. When something changes, you know immediately and can take the recommended actions.

Aggregating data gives operators a macro-view of overall asset health, including indicators and predictors which suggest poor quality parts or performance. It can also extend predictive analytics from the asset to its associated processes, such as quality and maintenance, inventory and resource schedules – and provide insights into both.

For example, the health of individual components can be estimated and extended through careful planning, such as optimising planned maintenance or undertaking proactive repairs. Meanwhile, in the supply chain, tracking and monitoring can ensure optimal delivery times and a ready supply of spare parts and equipment.

The inclusion of new data is also

simplified. Pre-configured message paths allow for real-time connections to the stored information. In the event you want to add a new information source, you can quickly create new linkages with no complicated programming. Similarly, the solution has a preconfigured template for adding or modifying existing asset information for safe and uniform master data entry.

Results Results from recent IBM studies have found that, on aggregate, companies that use predictive maintenance solutions attain ten times higher ROI, a 20-25% reduction in maintenance costs, a 70-75% elimination of breakdowns, a 35-45% elimination in downtime and a 20-25% increase in production than those that use traditional approaches.

With IBM Predictive Maintenance and Quality, operators can ability to spot problems before they happen – saving both time and money. n Contact:

Douglas McGarrie, CTO & Technical Leader Scotland, IBM Tel: +44 (0)7738 311 105 Email: mcgarrie@uk.ibm.com Web: https://ibm.biz/BdR6C9

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News in brief Galsi: Algeria - Sardinia Italy pipeline

Piombino

Olbia

Porto Botte

Koudiet ed Draouch

Despite hurdles, Italy eager on Galsi pipeline Italy remains interested in the stalled Galsi gas pipeline, from Algeria, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Paolo Gentiloni said last week.

During a visit to the North African state, Gentiloni, cited Rome’s desire to improve Italian-Algerian economic co-operation.

He said the country was “interested in the Galsi project and we support the idea of diversification of energy sources.”

The Galsi pipeline has been delayed a number of times as a result of economic considerations, particularly declining gas demand in Italy.

Italy’s renewed interest in the project could stem from the decision in December 2014 by Russia to cancel the South Stream gas pipeline. This would have run across the Black Sea, transporting Russian gas into Central Europe. Instead, Moscow intends to develop the Turkish Stream pipeline, which will carry gas across the Black Sea and onshore through Turkey to the EU’s border.

The cost of the 900 km Galsi pipeline, which would cross the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2,885 metres and connect Algeria with Sardinia and then northern Italy, has increased from its original estimated cost of US$2-3 billion to US$4 billion, according to media reports. The pipeline would carry 8 billion cubic metres per year of natural gas from Algeria’s gas hub at Hassi R’Mel. The European Commission has included the pipeline among its Projects of Common Interest (PCI) and has committed 120 million euros (US$136.4 million) towards the project.

The Galsi pipeline was first proposed in 2005 with a view to reaching a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2012, while gas deliveries were planned to begin in 2015. However, that decision has been postponed three times, the last time from May 2013.

Media reports have suggested a new date for the FID has been set for April this year.

Discussions continue on the price that Italy will pay for the gas. Sonatrach is reported to be demanding a long-term contract and set price, while Italy wants a price linked to the spot market.

The pipeline would run 285 km from Koudiet Draouche on the Algerian coast to Porto Botte in Sardinia and then cross 300 km of the island. Another subsea pipeline, 280 km long, would deliver the gas to Piombino in Italy.

Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach holds 41.6% of the project while Italy’s Edison

holds 20.8%, Enel 15.6%, and Hera Trading 10.4%. The Sardinia Autonomous Region’s Sfirs holds 11.6%.

Edited by Ed Reed edreed@newsbase.com

India making progress on methane hydrate equipment

India’s government is promoting research into the potential of methane hydrates and hydrothermal sulphides in the Indian Ocean.

The state-run Earth System Science Organization is “developing high-end equipment to harness and exploit deposits of gas hydrates in the Indian Ocean,” the Press Trust of India reported.

“Efforts are ongoing to harness resources such as polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal sulphides from the deep ocean,” the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ state secretary Shailesh Nayak was quoted as saying.

Nayak was speaking at the World Ocean Science Congress in Kochi on India’s southwest Kerala State coast. He did not identify where seabed research was being carried out but said methane hydrate deposit potential had been identified in the shallow sediments of outer continental margins. “[The] deposits will be a sustained source of energy for the whole country,” Nayak was quoted by the Indo Asian News Service as saying.

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News in brief is testing the equipment and analysing data collected through swath bathymetry, deep tow side scan, [and] heat flow measurements,” he said.

“The preliminary assessment of geological conditions and the available seismic data suggests [a] high possibility of [the] occurrence of large quantities of gas hydrates within the EEZ [exclusive economic zone] of India,” according to the ministry’s website. It said trillions of cubic metres of gas were estimated to exist in Indian waters.

Nayak also called for international cooperation on developing a framework for the governance, research and management of international waters.

“A comprehensive ocean policy is required to address ocean governance, research and management as well as sustainable use of resources for social benefit,” he told the congress.

Previous reports have identified methane hydrate discoveries in areas of the Indian Ocean that are also claimed by neighbouring Sri Lanka.

Hydrothermal vents with the potential for harnessing sulphides for energy have also been identified running through a large area of the Indian Ocean, but to date they have been found only in international waters.

Edited by Andrew Kemp andrew.kemp@newsbase.com

AGR lands drilling optimisation contract with LUKOIL Overseas

Global oil and gas service provider AGR announces a substantial contract win to optimise drilling performance with LUKOIL Overseas, the operator of LUKOIL’s international upstream projects.

The contract covers LUKOIL’s drilling operations in several territories internationally, including Middle East, Black Sea, Africa and Central Asia.

AGR will increase LUKOIL’s drilling efficiency by reviewing well planning and drilling programmes, conducting drilling and completion engineering, analysis of offset and historical data, and well and rig

performance benchmarking.

The intention of the partnership is aligned with LUKOIL’s objective to reduce drilling project operating expenses without compromising on QHSE. AGR’s Executive Vice President for UK, West Africa and the Middle East, Ian Burdis, said, “Drilling efficiency and cost reduction are key areas of focus across the industry at the moment as the oil price continues to cause uncertainty. We are pleased we are able to offer LUKOIL our technical expertise we have gathered from drilling over 500 well projects globally.”

AGR

Tanzania interested in shale technology

A Tanzanian government official has said that the country is considering using shale oil and gas technology as it continues to push to become a major energy exporter.

Speaking in Parliament last week, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, Charles Mwijage, said a study was under way to look into the possible use of such technology, which he said had resulted in better performance compared to conventional techniques in several other countries.

“My ministry will soon convene a meeting of experts in the industry to see how we can formulate strategies and policy to govern the new technology,” he said. No further details of the technology in question were given, and it remains unclear if Mwijage was referring to the possible use of hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling or other techniques.

Currently, Tanzania produces a small amount of natural gas and no crude oil.

However, the country is estimated to hold 53.2 trillion cubic feet (1.5 trillion cubic metres) of gas, a figure that is predicted by the country’s government to quadruple over the next few years.

The country’s gas reserves are proving attractive, with a consortium consisting of Statoil, ExxonMobil, BG Group and Ophir Energy planning to build a two-train LNG plant in Tanzania’s Lindi region. Much of these volumes are located in conventional formations offshore in the Rovuma Basin, although onshore gas is already being

produced at sites in Songo Songo Island and Mnazi Bay. Solo Oil has carried out seismic work on the onshore portion of Rovuma, but this project seems to have stalled, and the region remains largely unexplored.

In late December 2014, Wentworth Resources announced that it had made a discovery at its Tembo-1 well onshore Rovuma, with a decision to be made at a later date over its commerciality. Another well, Kifaru-1 well, is anticipated to be spudded in the first quarter of 2015.

Whether Tanzania also has shale potential or whether there are other tight formations that could benefit from unconventional drilling techniques remains unknown.

Edited by Anna Kachkova, annak@newsbase.com

Saipem wins Kashagan pipe deal

Saipem, Eni’s oil and gas services arm, has landed a nearly US$2 billion contract to build pipelines at the super-giant Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea.

According to the terms of the agreement, the Italian firm will lay two 28-inch (711.2-mm) pipelines along a 95-km route connecting D Island, one of the Kashagan consortium’s offshore production platforms, to the Karabatan onshore facility. It will be responsible for engineering, welding materials, conversion and the preparation of vessels, dredging, installation, burial and the pre-commissioning of the two pipelines.

Construction is expected to conclude by the end of 2016.

The contract was awarded by North Caspian Operating Co. (NCOC), the consortium of oil majors that is developing Kashagan. The value of the deal has been estimated at US$1.8 billion.

Commenting on the award, Saipem CEO Umberto Vergine said: “This is a very important contract working for some of the most important oil companies in the world in a key region for Saipem. It also represents another relevant contribution to our backlog in this low-price market environment.”

NCOC’s shareholders include: Eni, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz (KMG), with 16.8% each, along with Japan’s Inpex (7.6%) and CNPC (8.3%).

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News in brief The consortium awarded Saipem the contract for construction of the original network of pipelines connecting D Island with the Bolashak onshore processing facility in 2004. Subsequently, however, it was dogged by technical and budgetary obstacles that forced it to push back first oil until September 2013.

NCOC then had to halt production just a few weeks later, after it discovered that the high-pressure oil flows from the site had caused stress fractures in the piping that led to gas leaks. It also determined that oil from the Kashagan field contained enough corrosive hydrogen sulphide to damage the pipelines.

Saipem has said that the new pipelines will be made of carbon steel internally clad with a corrosion-resistant alloy. This will help prevent a repeat of previous problems, the Italian company said last week.

Once the new system of pipes is completed and linked up to the coast, the field could resume production in 2016 or 2017 at the latest, according to Total.

Kashagan is believed to contain about 35 billion barrels of oil in place (OIP) and 1.47 trillion cubic metres of gas. The field is located about 80 km southwest of the Caspian port of Atyrau.

Edited by Jennifer De Lay fsuogm@gmail.com

Unmanned wellhead platform chosen concept for Oseberg Future development

Statoil and its licence partners have chosen an unmanned wellhead platform as the concept for the Oseberg Future development phase I project in the North Sea. The platform will be controlled from the Oseberg field centre.

The investment decision is expected next winter.

Three various concept studies have been made for an unmanned wellhead platform.

This platform has no living quarters, helicopter deck or lifeboats.

“The alternative was to place the wells on the seabed, but the costs of subsea wells have been tripled during the last decade. We have therefore chosen a jacket-based unmanned wellhead platform that will reduce costs by several hundred million NOK,” says Anders

Opedal, senior vice president of projects in Statoil.

Total cost for such unmanned wellhead platform is found to be very competitive to a subsea concept, all elements of construction, equipment, wells and maintenance considered.

“Based on prognoses the costs of subsea systems are still rising. We challenge the industry to cooperate with us so we can turn this trend and develop smart solutions, both above and below water,” says Ivar Aasheim, senior vice president of field development in Statoil.

Statoil wants to use service vessels connected to the wellhead platform by gangways during maintenance campaigns after the jack-up drilling platform has completed its well drilling operations.

Unmanned wellhead platforms without facilities, helicopter deck and lifeboats represent a new concept in Norway, but they have been used for some time internationally, for example on the Danish and Dutch continental shelves.

All facilities will be found on the support vessel, with shorter distance to for example lifeboats and helicopter deck than on big installations.

“The platform will have high-quality equipment to reduce the need for maintenance during the operations phase.

“A definitive congress & exhibition for the industry and this year the participation list seems to be even more expansive. As a regionally strategic port that’s about to triple its capacity for liquid storage we’re delighted to be a part of this year’s show.”

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News in brief Consequently we are planning for only two short maintenance campaigns per year, which will be carefully planned and performed in good-weather seasons,” says Aasheim.

Statoil and its licence partners will now carry out pre-studies of the unmanned wellhead platform.

STATOIL

Aker Solutions develops capping technology to limit deepwater drilling risks

Aker Solutions delivered the key subsea component for the system being developed by Marine Well Containment Company to limit environmental risks from oil and gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The Subsea Containment Assembly, or SCA, is designed to contain a well-control incident by connecting and creating a seal to prevent oil leaks. It can also be used in a cap-and-flow plan to direct fluid to vessels on the surface. The technology works under pressures as high as 15,000 psi.

The equipment was delivered to Marine Well Containment Company’s team in Ingleside, Texas. It weighs 170 tons and consists of a stack of adapters and connectors assembled on a steel base. Aker Solutions developed the technology over three years, involving designers and engineers at the company’s hub in Houston.

“This has been a collaborative effort involving ten oil companies and is a great example of how the offshore industry can pull together,” said Alan Brunnen, head of Aker Solutions’ subsea business.

Aker Solutions

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Schlumberger releases PIPESIM 2014.1 and 2012.2

The PIPESIM steady-state multiphase flow simulator enables the design and diagnostics of oil and gas production systems—from reservoir to processing facility.

The PIPESIM simulator is used to model well performance, conduct nodal analysis, design artificial lift systems, model pipeline networks and facilities, and develop field production plans.

The PIPESIM simulator leverages a variety of fluid property correlations, multiphase flow correlations, and inflow performance relationships to generate an accurate description of your production systems.

PIPESIM 2014 is the second release of the 3rd Generation User Interface and has approximately 85% feature parity with the legacy PIPESIM User Interface (PIPESIM 2012.2). Notable exceptions include gas lift design, network optimization, local language support, and OpenLink extensibility. Future development will incorporate these features and more. A detailed comparison of the features available in each version is provided in the release notes.

PIPESIM 2012.2 is integrated with a number of Schlumberger and third-party products—including Avocet production operations software platform, Avocet Integrated Asset Modeler (IAM), KBC Petro-SIM, Aspen HYSYS, and Honeywell UniSim—and will continue to be used for applications leveraging these integration points. PIPESIM 2012.2 will also continue to support a set of specific functionalities not yet available in the new PIPESIM 2014.1 interface.

SCHLUMBERGER

Shell Technology Ventures Invests in WellDog

WellDog announced today that it has received equity investment from Shell Technology Ventures (“STV”). The investment establishes a small minority stake in WellDog for STV.

“WellDog has enjoyed a long, positive relationship with Shell,” said WellDog president and CEO John M. Pope, Ph.D. “We are impressed with STV’s focus and value-add, and of course they are one of the most sophisticated investment groups in the industry. We look forward to continuing our multifaceted collaboration with Shell directed at bringing key technical solutions to market to improve industry sustainability for the foreseeable future.”

The investment follows recent announcement of a multi-year collaboration between WellDog and Shell to adapt WellDog’s proprietary downhole gas sensing technology to locating sweet spots in shales in order to reduce shale production costs and increase the economic competitiveness of operators.

That collaboration resulted in launch of a new shale gas and oil sweet spot service into beta trials.

WellDog also designs and installs downhole pressure sensing systems that provide critical information for reducing shale oil production costs.

Industry demand for those systems has increased significantly during the recent downturn in oil prices. The STV investment will also support continued growth in that business.

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Committing to collaboration Dr Patrick O’Brien highlights the need to commit to collaboration ahead of the Technology Showcase on March 4th, 2015

I

want to talk to you about collaboration and innovation. I was recently speaking with one of our members about a particular joint industry project (JIP) we were facilitating with an innovator proposing to develop an exciting new drilling technology. Given that I knew the high priority that my member had for drilling advancements, I asked him had he considered this recent JIP proposal that I had sent him. “Yes”, he said, “I passed your proposal to my drilling engineering department and they reviewed it. The proposal was interesting, but our engineers had concerns whether the technology could support the drill string loads”. I responded, “This JIP already has four participants supporting it, and at this stage it’s still a feasibility study phase that will seek to answer many of these technical queries. The costs of the JIP will be shared equally among participants, so risks are mitigated and why not just take a chance and support it?”

I believed strongly that the impact of this new innovation could be transformational for the industry. We have to accept that with innovation comes risk, but collaboration is one important means to mitigate that risk, and this should provide the necessary catalyst for a company to say “we’ll take a chance and support it”, and more generally for the industry to better progress and implement new technology that we badly need.

Too much analysis can stifle innovation, but by collaborating to share insights and lessons learned and to mitigate the risk of innovation, we create a platform to encourage positive engagement and investment in new ideas.

Our industry at this time is calling out for more collaboration, but it is not always easy to find an effective mechanism to do it. At ITF, we firmly believe that for technology development and implementation, we have such a mechanism that has a firm track record in the industry. Yes there is room for improvement, but the framework is there, and proactive and effective engagement

outcomes for the project they support; and by taking a much stronger involvement in running projects to help them meet the original expectations set by the developers and agreed with the participants.

We are actively working to improve on all these issues and we will make progress on it. Our plan going forward for ITF is that members financially support the projects that are most relevant to them, while the ITF membership as a whole benefits from the totality of outcomes from our ongoing portfolio of technology projects through sharing with our members appropriate findings from all our projects.

is a way to make the outcomes real and impactful.

One key outcome of our work at ITF is to facilitate joint industry projects. I have heard feedback that the JIP model for technology development can be slow and ineffective, and in many cases dictated by the lowest common denominator. Equally, I know of many great JIPs that have moved the industry significantly forward.

The JIP model is very much alive in the industry, with ITF facilitating only a small proportion of what the industry supports overall.

However, through our “Calls for Proposals” and extensive research processes we work hard to ensure that the projects we launch are consistently well aligned with the needs of our members and the wider industry. We continually look to strengthen our JIP model by keeping a focus on solving current industry challenges that meaningfully move our industry forward; by keeping JIP participants small in number and strongly aligned around achieving

We are working hard at all levels within our membership and the wider industry to get a strong understanding of current industry technology challenges. Our upcoming Technology Showcase on March 4 will be a measure of how well ITF has its pulse on what the industry needs to do in technology development and implementation.

Don’t miss that combined conference and exhibition, where we debate strategic technology challenges with senior industry figures, see how other industries outside oil and gas tackle their technology challenges, and hear a range of interesting talks on highlighting the challenge as well as proposing innovative solutions.

You will see the full programme on our website by pressing the “Conference” tab followed by “2015 Outline Programme”.

At ITF, we see the Showcase as a launching pad for many of our technology initiatives in 2015 and beyond.

ITF is here to serve our members and the wider industry in relation to the development and implementation of technology. All our efforts are driven by our focus to make technology have a positive and meaningful impact on the future of our industry. And through our ongoing efforts and processes, we aim to bring effective innovation to our members. n

Dr Patrick O’Brien, FREng

CEO, The Industry Technology Facilitator

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COMMENTARY

Abandonment issues I

While cheap oil may not kick-start a wave of decommissioning, P&A expert Tom Leeson suggests that now would still be a very good time to start

n December, hotel occupancy rates in the oil hub of Aberdeen dropped 4.5% compared to the same period in 2013, according to market analysts LJ Research. While this is just one of the knock-on effects of the fall in oil prices, others are harder to predict.

Cheap oil makes many developments economically unfeasible, so operators will face business and legislative pressure to bring forward decommissioning and abandonment campaigns. Equally strong, however, will be the countervailing pressure to cut costs and delay any expenditure that does not directly boost revenue. Either way, decommissioning is very much the elephant in the industry’s room.

One expert in plug-and-abandonment (P&A) – the closing of a well or casing with cement plugs – believes that now is actually a good time to embark on decommissioning campaigns.

Tom Leeson, until recently Halliburton’s global well abandonment strategic business manager, and now principal consultant and well P&A manager with Reverse Engineering, says business logic supports operators grasping the P&A nettle.

“In cases where companies have put aside funds for decommissioning, this could be a very good time to do the work, because the unit rates for the rigs and services you need are going to fall,” he told DecomWorld. “They’re falling already.”

However, he is not surprised that a burst of P&A activity has not yet appeared, not least because no one knows how long the period of bargain-basement crude will last.

“What I expect to see is an increased focus on strategic planning and engineering because there are going to be more assets that fall into that anticipated window of retirement,” he said. “That window seems to have got closer because of the drop in oil prices. But, by the same token, everybody is short on cash, and that will put a squeeze on executing non-revenue-generating activity. So I do not predict any explosion in activity in the short term.”

Well intervention vessels such as the Helix Well Ops Well Enhancer allow interventions without the need for a costlier rig

Decom dilemma Meanwhile, the current cash squeeze highlights a wider dilemma facing the industry. The costs of decommissioning and P&A are notoriously hard to estimate, but are generally acknowledged to be high.

To bring them down requires the oilfield services sector to invest in research and innovation. However, to date the sector has been reluctant to make this investment given that operators, who naturally focus on exploration and production, put off P&A for as long as they possibly can.

“Unless the service sector has got line of sight on both a volume of work and schedule of when it will happen, there will be a strong reluctance to spend the money on developing the technology or building the tools,” said Leeson. “What happens then is that the industry “piecemeals” the business and the tools never get built.

The service companies do not get the opportunity to make money out of new and better services and the buyers don’t get the benefit of innovation, so nobody wins.

For me, what’s exciting is how to try and get everybody together to come to the party and make it happen,” he added.

“For instance, one of the things you really ought to do to get well abandonment

costs down is eliminate the need to bring a drilling rig to the location. That doesn’t mean you need to compromise the standards of the barrier you put in the well; it means you need to think differently about how you execute those barriers.

For example, a traditional method might involve section milling [removing a section of downhole pipe by milling it away], and, again traditionally, to undertake section milling, you really need a rig.”

So how could you do it differently?

Leeson explained: “You could come up with something that doesn’t need the rig’s capability. You would need a downhole technology that is an alternative to section milling. There are some on the market and some are getting some traction with at least reasonable results, although some operators are not entirely happy. [Furthermore], the tendency is to section mill, because they’re not confident that an adequate solution has been brought to the table yet.”

Leeson explores another possibility: “Or you could come up with a unit that has some of the rig’s capabilities but that doesn’t look like a rig and doesn’t cost what a rig costs.” This evolution would be a crucial step towards purely decommissioningfocused technology.

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COMMENTARY

However, he continued: “The economics of that are tricky because you wouldn’t have the flexibility of deploying it into the drilling market when decommissioning work dries up. While it could be a cost-effective alternative to the rig – and also release more rigs to go and do what they’re designed to do, which is drill – who is going to invest in designing and building a unit like that when you don’t know when the work is coming?”

Unknown unknowns There is anecdotal evidence that the costs of decommissioning and P&A tend to turn out higher than the original estimate. This is a generalisation, and there are exceptions, but in some cases the costs are significantly higher.

In the UK, for example, recent government forecasts predicted that decommissioning expenditure could top £40 billion (US$63.3 billion) over the next 25 years, with about 470,000 tonnes of material requiring removal. Nearer term, £10.4 billion (US$16.46 billion) is anticipated to be spent by 2020, with an average rate of spend estimated at £1.5 billion (US$2.37 billion) per year over the next ten years.

The fact is, operators are only just beginning to grapple with this issue. In

2013, the Performance Forum, the group of global operators who share data and commission research, completed a piece of unprecedented research into actual decommissioning costs in the North Sea. “This is the first time anyone’s actually gathered completed project data to be able to come up with real numbers,” said Performance Forum director and vice president of natural resources for consultant Turner & Townsend, Aileen Jamieson.

The full results were not made public, but the exercise was deemed important enough for the group to embark on a similar study for P&A costs.

According to another expert, poor integrity from the beginning of a well’s lifecycle and a lack of monitoring after it is shut in creates nasty, costly surprises when it comes to permanent abandonment.

“Conditions always change,” said assetintegrity company Wood Group Intetech’s director and founder Liane Smith in a 2014 interview with DecomWorld. “So the fluids selected for suspending the wells originally may no longer be suitable. And yet, those wells might have been off the radar for operational monitoring for several years and nobody has any records about their conditions.”

Leeson invokes US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s famous formulation about “unknown unknowns.”

“The difficulty,” Leeson said, “is if the cost overruns are caused by unknowns, how do you estimate for that? It takes time and a high level of attention to detail to get reasonable numbers.”

As is the case above, this data is tricky to come by, and often inconclusive when it can be sourced. “In one case I know of an organisation [that] used what they thought was an appropriate methodology to isolate and abandon multiple reservoirs, and when they’d finished there was still pressure on the annuli. Where was that coming from?

Whatever method they’d used, it hadn’t worked, and in some cases we don’t really know why the method fails. You can’t get your hands on a well bore like you can on a structure on the seabed to examine what you have.” In this case, he points out, “there’s no choice but to do it again.”

“Over the past couple of years operators around the world have become aware that decommissioning and abandoning wells are serious issues. Wells comprise anywhere from 30% to 60% of the total decommissioning cost and it’s the area decommissioning managers feel most uncomfortable about because it’s the area of biggest uncertainty and potential for cost overruns.”

Ultimately, such uncertainty must be combatted with a decisive examination of the costs, commitments and technologies which will soon be required urgently.

“Is [this] a problem on people’s desks now?” Leeson posits. “Yes, definitely.” n Tom Leeson will be speaking on well abandonment standards at the 7th Annual Decommissioning & Abandonment Summit (March 17-19, Houston) alongside Shell, Chevron, BP, Anadarko, BHP Billiton and other leading names.

For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/decommissioning_gom

page 24

InnovOil

by

Divine intervention

March 2015

GA Drilling’s unique non-contact PLASMABIT system offers a new, rig-less technology for section milling, which could change the way operators approach P&A

T

he costs of decommissioning are hard to face with oil at $100 per barrel, but at $60 and below they are painful. Despite exposure to this looming issue, many operators have not yet prepared a strategy.

Asset retirement is still being planned around existing technology, rather than innovations – many of which could alter the outlook dramatically.

As seen earlier in this issue, by far the greatest outlay for decommissioning lies in well plug and abandonment (P&A), a process which represents about 40% of total costs.

Onshore this remains fairly cheap; costs may run from a few hundred dollars to around $100,000. Offshore however, is a different story. Oil & Gas UK forecasts that P&A on the UKCS is expected to cost around £4.5 billion before 2022 – over twice as much topside removal, at £2.1 bn.

Low oil prices can make this worse, as operators are more reluctant to commit funds. But whether the industry wants to acknowledge the problem now or not, the inbound P&A storm can be tackled with new equipment and a fresh approach. Most of all, operators also want more certainty on how much P&A will cost.

The problem Most wells are plugged at the lowest possible cost, in line with minimum requirements set by local regulators.

However, correctly plugging a well limits the risk of costs later down the line, reducing the potential for fluid or gas leakage. In this sense, operators can see that the ROI on decommissioning lies with the knowledge that the well is abandoned safely, without threat to their future operations.

So far, the industry has been reliant on mechanical and rotary technologies to do this. In P&A, the well tubing is pulled and part of the casing is either pulled or section milled in order to install a permanent plug.

Currently, the production tree and tubing must also be removed, one of the most time-consuming processes of the whole P&A operation.

Section milling – the process of removing the steel and cement casing– is one area

Plasmabit section milling in water

where gains can be made. A recurring problem is that the traditional methods of section milling are time-consuming, unreliable and generate problematic swarf.

Rotary contact milling also has a tendency to need multiple fishing jobs – retrieving lost or stuck equipment downhole. Furthermore, during well-cleaning jobs – pumping fluid down hole to remove particles and swarf – the milled material can interfere with the blow out preventer (BOP), and large particles can flow around the well, damaging it and other equipment.

PLASMABIT Since 2013, GA Drilling has led a joint industry project (JIP) to develop PLASMABIT – a milling tool for P&A. Instead of a conventional rotary contact drill, PLASMABIT generates heatflow using an electrical arc, spinning at up to 800 rotations per second (48,000 rpm).

Aside from the electrical arc, there are no mechanically moving components in the bit. The extreme temperature (up to around 5,700°C) of the directed thermal electric plasma arc melts and disintegrates metals, rocks and cement, all without direct

contact. Meanwhile, temperatures outside of the arc stay more manageable and are easily resisted by the wolframium-copper composite structure. This directed heat makes PLASMABIT particularly effective for well interventions and section milling.

PLASMABIT melts steel and cement rapidly, enabling a higher rate of penetration (ROP) when drilling and milling. Non-contact milling also means PLASMABIT is reliable; no wear and tear on a mechanical tool limits the cost of damaged equipment, stuck tools and makes the need for tripping virtually redundant. The result, GA Drilling claims, is significantly more uptime and a cost saving to operators.

PLASMABIT can operate continuously, limited only by the lifetime of the system’s electrodes. These are designed to run for tens – potentially up to hundreds – of hours, meaning milling can proceed almost uninterrupted.

Rig issue In the past, offshore P&A has usually required a rig. PLASMABIT is designed for use with coiled tubing system – saving

InnovOil

March 2015

by

page 25

The milled material is smaller than swarf

360 days

Conventional P&A process 200 days

PLASMABIT P&A process 125 days

|

|

70 days

|

90 days

250 days

35 days

space and the logistical problems of larger equipment. This means it can also be deployed from a light well intervention vessel (LWIV), again reducing the need for larger, heavier, machinery, and reducing costs by around 50-60% when compared with the day rate of a rig.

The system requires a power capacity of around 250 kW, provided via power cables in the tubing and well within the range available to intervention vessels. The use of coiled tubing also means that sensors within the system can provide real-time data acquisition of milled material, providing the control centre with detailed information its on composition.

Furthermore, section milling with PLASMABIT produces small particles of material, rather than swarf. This helps to ensure the integrity of the BOP and other components, limiting failures and damage caused by flyaway material. Coupled with the lower frequency of stuck tools and the smaller size of cutting produced, this offers increased safety, lowering overall reported accident rates and giving operators an additional edge when competing for contracts.

|

90 days

PLASMABIT is designed to compliment existing equipment and infrastructure, but remains smaller and lighter than conventional alternatives and requires fewer personnel to operate.

Meanwhile, operations can be controlled remotely from a command centre.

Time saving A recent report for a decommissioning operation in the UKCS – Tullow’s Orwell wet gas field – pegged P&A time at 12 months. Accounting for the availability of suitable heavy equipment, vessels and rigs – even in a possible future environment where these are more freely available than now– adds to the lead time of a project.

Surveys of PLASMABIT JIP members suggested that almost 80% of time spent on P&A jobs relates to casing removal and preparing the well for plugging. Milling using PLASMABIT could accelerate this process dramatically.

PLASMABIT is also able to work via subsea production trees and tubing, again saving time when completing their removal operations. Moreover, this approach

protects the existing assets and enables the shift from permanent to temporary P&A. The included table (see table) highlights particular areas in which the use of PLASMABIT can speed up the process, including current operations which are rendered unnecessary.

Although still at the precommercialisation stage, GA Drilling hopes that overall, from planning to execution, PLASMABIT could lower the cost of the P&A process by up to 50%.

Ready to go Major operators and service companies from Western Europe, the Middle East and US are already involved in the PLASMABIT JIP. But GA Drilling is still looking to engage more companies in order to speed up commercialisation and deployment.

The company has successfully undertaken both casing and cement removal with the PLASMABIT milling technique in water. To date, a prototype has milled one layer of a cement casing structure, and work is now underway to expand this to a second layer of casing.

Currently, PLASMABIT has reached level 3 in the API 17N Technology Readiness Level (TRL) index, where the functionality has been demonstrated through testing over a limited range of operating conditions. With a prototype now manufactured, the current target is for the project to reach level 4 – Full-scale prototype built and technology qualified through testing in intended environment– by the end of 2016. Full commercialisation would then follow in 2017.

Despite low prices exerting pressure on R&D budgets worldwide, the opportunity to speed and streamline P&A could provide some much-needed reassurance for companies concerned with the costs of decommissioning. n Contact: Slavomir Jankovic,

Chief Business Development Officer Tel: +421 (0)905 617 192 Email: slavomir.jankovic@gadrilling.com Web: www.gadrilling.com

page 26

Looking on the bright side

InnovOil

by

March 2015

David Lamont, CEO Proserv

Mark Richardson, North Sea Projects group manager, Apache

The InnovOil team visited Subsea Expo 2015, where low oil prices did not dampen a mood of cautious optimism regarding the sector’s future

A

s InnovOil took in the stands, delegates and presentations of this year’s Subsea Expo, the team wondered whether the recordbreaking attendance was proof that low oil prices had not dented the sector, or that it was more important than ever to showcase the innovation and technology it has to offer. Either way, a feeling of cautious optimism ensured the mood was far from sombre.

With 6,500 registered delegates attending, Subsea Expo has fast become the second largest event of its kind in the oil hub of Aberdeen, beaten only by the everpopular Offshore Europe.

Despite what Subsea UK CE Neil Gordon termed a “cooling off” of the market during the latter half of 2014, he argued that the sector should maintain its “bold ambitions” throughout what is set to be a challenging year.

As EnQuest’s North Sea president, Neil McCulloch quipped: “The industry shouldn’t waste a good crisis.”

The opening plenary session – chaired by Gordon – saw industry figureheads deliver an across-the-board call for increased collaboration. In this vein, Subsea 7’s VP Phil Simons put forward his company’s mantra of “Collaboration, Innovation and Simplification,” noting that the former was not happening effectively enough.

Proserv’s chief executive, David Lamont, argued that lower prices would in fact produce a “leaner, stronger, fitter industry.”

In a practical sense, collaboration must be

built into the bidding and design processes from early on, ensuring that costs do not escalate. This can help stem the trend which has seen the cost of new wells increase by 25% year on year.

For their part, Lamont continued, operators should be going to market regularly to review their options and make sure they are aware of new innovations.

Lamont noted the need for better monitoring of wells and infrastructure as a pre-emptive way to reduce intervention – an encouraging message for the armies of engineers and innovators whose technology was on show just outside the meeting room.

Indeed, Proserv’s performance saw it recognised at the evening’s Subsea UK Business Awards, where Lamont collected the Company of the Year award on its behalf.

Skills and standards Low oil prices also tend to dissuade firms from hiring and retaining staff. However, Phil Simons urged the importance of maintaining investment in personnel as much as in assets and innovation. It was not that long ago that the sector suffered from a chronic skills shortage, he noted, whereas the UK now hosts the largest such cluster

of service providers and manufacturers in the world. Its continued success is therefore highly dependent on nurturing existing skills and on finding new talent. Tighter margins should not mean that this is lost.

In terms of new innovations, many were highlighting the potential for autonomous inspection vehicles (AIVs) to transform subsea inspection and asset monitoring, mirroring the results achieved with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on land and topsides.

But technology alone does not offer a quick fix. Efficiency and organisational change can go some way to making the sector better and more productive. One way this could be achieved was summarised by Graeme Lamont, business development manager UK & Southern Africa, DNV GL Oil & Gas UK, who commented: “Standardisation across the subsea sector was a hot topic at the show and we believe it can be the lynchpin to create more efficient and cost-effective development processes, without sacrificing quality or safety. The industry can recover, and the event showed there’s a real determination to ride out the current crisis through cohesive innovation and collaboration.”

March 2015

InnovOil

by

page 27

The exhibition floor remained a hive of activity throughout the three days

The success of such initiatives was echoed by Proserv’s Lamont, who drew attention to the company’s work as part of the Subsea Instrumentation Interface Standardisation JIP. The project aims to standardise the link between subsea sensors and subsea control systems, again providing an industry-wide cost benefit, and one which will aid the future of better plug-andplay solutions.

Efficiency also formed the backbone of Mark Richardson’s presentation, with the Apache North Sea Projects group manager offering some insight into the strategies of the “contrarian operator.” Given the its reputation – Apache has the highest production efficiency in the UKCS at 94%, just ahead of panel rival EnQuest with 90% – his approach met with great interest.

Given that UKCS operators are not fighting for market share, he argued, collaboration is a must if there is to be any hope of a future in the region. Along with a change in culture of how contractors and external engineers approach projects, he added that the newly established Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) needed “more teeth” in order to implement the recommendations of the Wood Review.

On the floor As expected, the exhibition floor remained a hive of activity throughout the three-day event.

Most encouraging perhaps was the high number of repeat exhibitors, many with larger stands, new products and more industry buzz.

One such example was Tracerco, rewarded for its efforts by winning the Simmons & Co. sponsored Innovation & Technology award for its Discovery technology. Answering Lamont’s call for monitoring over intervention, Discovery uses CT scanning to inspect and visualise wall deterioration and the contents of unpiggable, coated subsea pipelines – all without interrupting production.

Last year’s Innovation for Safety award recipient, PhotoSynergy, also returned to the 2015 event, once more showcasing LIGHTPATH, providing fibre optic illumination for diving, umbilicals and egress.

The past 12 months have seen the company develop a new unit rated for greater depths and deploy LIGHTPATH in a work-class ROV trial.

Forum Energy Technologies also used

the event to launch its latest innovation, the XLX-C ROV. The new vehicle builds on the success of the XLX model, offering similar capability and performance in a more compact package. Forum’s VMAX™ Simulator – a simulation tool designed to model complex installation scenarios, and to help ROV pilots practice and train – was also on show, allowing delegates the chance to get hands-on with the controls and techniques of subsea operations.

Unfortunately, completing the scenario took a great deal more skill than possessed by this editor.

The success of Subsea Expo 2015 has provided an excellent start to a year which will be undoubtedly tough for the sector.

But it is worth closing on a remark made

by EnQuest’s McCulloch, who suggested: “A great result from the Expo would be to recognise the industry’s interdependency.”

While talk of greater and better collaboration is all well and good, it should be reminded that unless operators can successfully make this transition – incorporating more knowledge sharing, more standardisation and more openness to innovation – the playing field will be narrower for all. n

RE AT STO . V IN EX W 85 NE Y ÂŁ3 L

ON

Decommi s si o ni n g 2015-2025 Special Report

ÂŁ385

Retirement plan

Spending on North Sea decommissioning is set to exceed US$2 billion per year by 2020, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing the industry.

Evolving challenges

Operators in the US Gulf of Mexico are on a learning curve as they face the prospect of larger platforms in deeper waters coming up for decommissioning, but still have a backlog of projects to contend with on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Reefing the benefits

Rigs-to-reefs programmes allow for decommissioned structures to be turned into artificial reefs, but there is some disagreement over the benefits of this.

Snail’s pace

The Asian decommissioning sector is lagging other parts of the world, in both levels of activity and suitable regulation.

To find out more about this special briefing, click here or visit shop.newsbase.com

\NewsBase

March 2015

InnovOil

by

What next …?

To make enquiries about any of the products or technologies featured in this edition, use this list of vital connections If you are interested in collaborative communications software, contact Jocelyn Lomer at cereno on: +44 (0)203 128 7500, or email: Jocelyn.Lomer@cerenosolutions.com To enquire about Anton Paar’s density meter, or any of the company’s other lab instruments, contact +44 (0) 1992 514 730 or email: info.gb@anton-paar.com If you would like to be involved in the exciting PLASMABIT JIP, contact GA Drilling’s Slavomir Jankovic at: +42 (1) 905 617 192 or email: slavomir.jankovic@gadrilling.com For more information on Tom Leeson’s presentation, or to attend the 7th Annual Decommissioning & Abandonment Summit, please visit: http://bit.ly/decommissioning_gom To learn more about IBM® Predictive Maintenance and Quality software, please speak to Douglas McGarrie on: +44 (0) 7738 311 105 or email: mcgarrie@uk.ibm.com Finally, if you have an interesting innovation or new technology you think the industry should know about, contact: sales@innovoil.co.uk

page 29

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Effective training for HPHT drilling

InnovOil, from the NewsBase group, is a technology-driven, monthly magazine which aims Andy Hill, Group Marketing Manager to provide a platform for innovators and engineers to share to share their ideas and expertise.

IPU Group Our publication remains a trusted, solicited information source for technology news across the complete spectrum of the upstream, midstream and downtream oil andwith gas the sectors.

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immediate interest that our article attracted.”

“Our recent OMMICA™technology Oxford Catalysts Group feature generated interest in a new international sales territory.”

Emma Perfect, Managing director, LUX Assure Published by

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