Pipeline

JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY • www.jptonline.org

NOVEMBER 2012

Pipeline

Laboratory Drilling and Completion Fluids Horizontal and Complex-Trajectory Wells Gas Production Technology FEATURES

Annual Salary Survey Reassessing Shale Fractures The Future Energy Mix University R&D

Journal  of  Petroleum   JPT Editorial Technology     Committee Editorial  Commi7ee   2012-­‐2015  

Simon Chipperfield Team Leader Central and Amadeus Gas Exploitation Development, Santos

Cam Matthews Director, C-FER Technologies

Regis K. Romeu Petroleum Engineer, Petrobras

J.C. Cunha Chairperson, Drilling Manager, Ecopetrol America

Gerald R. Coulter President, Coulter Energy International

Casey McDonough Drilling Engineer, Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Jon Ruszka Field Career Development Manager (Africa), Baker Hughes

Francisco J. Alhanati Director Exploration & Production, C-FER Technologies

Martin Crick Chief Petroleum Engineer, Tullow Oil plc

Stephane Menand Managing Director, DrillScan US Inc.

Hisham N. Saadawi VP Engineering, Abu Dhabi Company

Syed Ali Technical Advisor, Schlumberger

Martyn J. Fear General Manager Drilling and Completion, Husky Energy

John Misselbrook Senior Advisor for Coiled Tubing, Baker Hughes

Jacques B. Salies, Drilling Manager, Queiroz Galvão E&P

Renzo Angeles Senior Research Engineer, ExxonMobil

Emmanuel Garland Special Advisor to the HSE Vice President, Total Exploration– Production

Badrul H. Mohamed Jan Lecturer/Researcher, University of Malaya

Helio Santos President, Safekick

Mohammed Azeemuddin Research Scientist-Rock Mechanics, Chevron Corporation

Robert Harrison Global Technical Head of Reservoir Engineering, Senergy Resources Ltd.

Alvaro F. Negrão Senior Drilling Advisor, Woodside Energy

Luigi A. Saputelli Production Modeling Advisor, Frontender Corporation

Baojun Bai Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Delores J. Hinkle Director, Corporate Reserves, Marathon Oil Company

Shauna G. Noonan Staff Production Engineer, ConocoPhillips Company

Jerome J. Schubert Associate Professor and Larry A. Cress ’76 Faculty Fellow, Texas A&M University

Ian G. Ball Technology Director, INTECSEA UK

George W. Hobbs Director, Strategic Chemistry

Karen Olson Completion Expert, Southwestern Energy

Brian Skeels Emerging Technologies Manager, FMC Technologies

Luciane Bonet Senior Reservoir Engineer, Petrobras America

John Hudson Senior Production Engineer, Shell

Michael L. Payne Senior Advisor, BP plc

Erik Vikane Manager Petroleum Technology, Statoil

Paul D. Cameron Senior Well Intervention Discipline Advisor, BP Exploration Co.

Gerd Kleemeyer Head Integrated Geophysical Services, Shell International

Mauricio P. Rebelo Technical Services Manager, Petrobras America

Scott Wilson Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott Company

Robert B. Carpenter Senior Advisor– Cementing, Chevron ETC

Gregory Kubala Global Chemistry Metier Manager, Schlumberger

John D. Rogers Vice President of Operations, Fusion Petroleum Technologies, Inc.

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JPT 2012

TECHNOLOGY

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Badrul Mohamed Jan, SPE, is a researcher and academic lecturer attached to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Jan’s research areas and interests include the development of superlightweight completion fluids for underbalanced perforation, ultralow interfacial tension microemulsions for enhanced oil recovery, and conversion of palm oil mill effluent into superclean fuel for diesel replacement. He has published numerous technical papers. Jan is the deputy director of the University Malaya Center of Innovation and Commercialization. His responsibilities include providing an environment at the University of Malaya conducive to researchers bringing their research outputs to a commercialization-ready level. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. IPTC 14952 An Experimental Investigation on Use of Nanoparticles as Fluid Loss Additives in a Surfactant/ Polymer-Based Drilling Fluid by Jayanth T. Srivatsa, Texas Tech University, et al. SPE 140816 A Biodegradable Chelating Agent Designed To Be an Environmentally Friendly Filter-Cake Breaker by Natalia Collins, Halliburton, et al. SPE 145840 Mitigating Lost Circulation and Differential Sticking Problems Using Silicon Nanoparticles by Saket M. Javeri, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, et al.

DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS It has been a busy year for me; I definitely played less golf. I was appointed as the deputy chief of commercialization in the University of Malaya Center of Innovation and Commercialization (UMCIC) about a year ago. My tenure has just been extended for another year. UMCIC is a special unit within the university that spurs and elevates innovation and commercialization of academic research activities and output. This is echoed in most innovation and commercialization seminars and workshops. Everyone is talking about “the valley of death” and the challenges of getting universities and industry to be on the same page. In a recent oil and gas workshop I attended, a participant highlighted the limited (or lack of) real field-scale trials in the area of nanotechnology application. It is an open secret that many industrial players tend to play it safe. As they say, “If it is working, don’t fix it.” However, things have changed over the years. The increases in energy demand and limited resources have driven the industry players to explore novel technologies, one of which is exploration and production nanotechnology. A tremendous amount of money has been invested in research laboratory and field trials in this area. In this feature, I highlighted four interesting papers that cover theoretical and experimental approaches and real field tests related to nanotechnology. The selected papers primarily discuss the applications of nanotechnology, specifically in drilling fluid technology. Two of the selected papers discuss field tests. One of the papers presents interesting preliminary test results of nano-based drilling fluids. It describes the formulation and test results of several nano-based fluids. The last paper presents the industry’s first field trial of a reservoir nanoagent. Here, the first industrially proven reservoir nanoagent template has been introduced and demonstrated through a push/ pull field trial in an observation well. Another thing I learned, from a commercialization workshop, was the importance of commercializing an innovation. Innovation without commercialization is like watching a major golf tournament on Sunday without Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Michelson, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Zack Johnson, Jason Dufner, or Lee Westwood making the cut. I hope you enjoy and benefit from the selected papers. Don’t forget to look at the other interesting papers on the recommended reading list. In addition, watch for other related papers in the OnePetro online library. JPT

SPE 153729 Wellbore Stability in Unconventional Shale—The Design of a Nanoparticle Fluid by Meghan Riley, M-I SWACO, et al.

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JPT • NOVEMBER 2012

NeoScope

TECHNOLOGY

FOCUS

Note: Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), formerly Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC), and Schlumberger collaborated on a research project to develop LWD technology that reduces the need for traditional chemical sources. Designed around the pulsed neutron generator (PNG), NeoScope service uses technology that resulted from this collaboration. The PNG and the comprehensive suite of measurements in a single collar are key components of the NeoScope service that deliver game-changing LWD technology.

SOURCELESS FORMATION EVALUATION WHILE DRILLING

86 Drilling and Completion Fluids Badrul Mohamed Jan, SPE, Researcher and Academic Lecturer, University of Malaya

87 Nanoparticle Use in Drilling Fluids Can Effectively Reduce Permeability in Shale

92 Field Trails of Reservoir Nanoparticles Reveal Stability, High Rates of Recovery

100 Novel Nanoparticle-Based Drilling Fluid Reveals Improved 104 Preliminary Test Results of Nano-Based Fluids Reveal Benefits for Field Application

110 Horizontal and Complex-Trajectory Wells Jon Ruszka, SPE, Field Career Development Manager, Baker Hughes Africa Region

111 Real-Time Distributed-Temperature and Downhole Pressure Surveying To Quantify Skin

114 Pressure-Sink Mitigation for Horizontal Completions in the Haynesville Shale

118 Integrated Completion Design for Horizontal Wells in Unconventional Reservoirs

122 Directional-Drilling Technology for Remote Intersection Between Two Wells

128 Gas Production Technology Scott J. Wilson, SPE, Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott

129 Long-Term Gas-Hydrate-Production Test, North Slope, Alaska 134 Lowered Tubing Offsets Field Production Decline 138 Investigating Liquid Loading in Tight Horizontal Gas Wells 144 Shale-Gas Reserves Estimation: Multiple Decline-Curve-Analysis Models

NeoScope is a mark of Schlumberger. © 2012 Schlumberger. 12-DR-0228

Characteristics

Sourceless LWD Service Saves Apache 7 Rig Days NeoScope service, the industry’s only sourceless LWD technology, saved Apache Corporation 7 days by avoiding chemical source mobilization in western Egypt. NeoScope service also provided the necessary real-time measurements for a full petrophysical analysis. Learn how sourceless LWD can help your drilling program. www.slb.com/NeoScope

The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available free to SPE members for two months at www.jptonline.org.