First CaTS offshore deployment
Expro International Group Plc. (Expro) plans to deploy its cableless telemetry system (CaTS) to monitor the reservoir pressure and temperature response behind casing in an offshore platform well. The CaTS technology was installed in the Thylacine field, operated by Woodside Energy Ltd. in the Otway basin off Victoria in southeastern Australia.
CaTS was deployed as part of a lower completion in the casing to monitor reservoir pressure.
CaTS allows real-time information to be transmitted to and from downhole without a direct cable connection in the well. Its two-way transmission capability enables the remote control of downhole instrumentation.
The CaTS system was installed in July 2006 as part of a lower completion assembly that provided zonal isolation between immediately producible reservoir layers and a separate, potentially producible, zone. CaTS transmits data from the zone being monitored to a pick-up higher in the well, then to the surface using Expro’s wireless telemetry technology. A CaTS receiver on the unmanned platform collects, processes, and stores the downhole data. This data then is transmitted from the receiver to the client’s onshore facility.
Reservoir connectivity is a common uncertainty in many field developments. Reservoir cross-flow information early in the producing life of a field can enable timely planning for infill wells, subsequent development phases, and accurate determination of developed reserves. Understanding reservoir connectivity requires monitoring the pressure decline in potentially producible zones without direct production from those zones. Typical monitoring solutions include dedicated monitoring wells or cabled external casing gauges, neither of which was considered suitable for Thylacine field development. Deploying CaTS as part of a lower completion in the casing permited reservoir pressure monitoring without compromising the well’s primary deliverability objective or technical integrity.
“We have performed reservoir monitoring behind casing using CaTS in onshore wells previously, but this latest installation marks our first installation in the offshore platform environment,” said Brian Champion, Wireless Well Solutions general manager.
Sakhalin Phase II conductors to be pre-installed
BJ Tubular Services will hammer drive conductors offshore Sakhalin Island for the Sakhalin Phase II project for KCA Deutag Drilling LLC on behalf of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. (SEIC).
BJ will be pre-installing all conductors for SEIC for Phase II on the Lunskoye-A and Piltun-B platforms using two of hydraulic S200 Hydrohammers. The operation will be supported by company personnel and equipment from a base in Singapore. The contract is scheduled for completion in 2010.
Deepwater seabed production boosting
Shell will install two major deepwater seabed production boosting systems for subsea projects - one in the Gulf of Mexico and one offshore Brazil. This marks the first project using electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems in seabed vertical booster stations in the GoM.
The Shell Perdido Regional Development project in the GoM includes five enhanced run life ESP vertical booster stations with Centrilift supplying the equipment as well as engineering design, qualification and testing services. Each system installation will include a liquid/gas separator to maximize ESP performance.
The vertical booster stations will handle production from three subsea satellite fields (Great White, Silvertip and Tobago) tied back to the Perdido spar host facility. This will be the deepest spar production facility in the world, moored in approximately 2,438 m (8,000 ft) of water. The booster stations will be located directly beneath the spar and tied to the platform via top tensioned risers. First production is anticipated around the turn of the decade.
The first phase of the Shell Brazil BC-10 deepwater project offshore Brazil includes six enhanced run life ESP vertical booster stations, located approximately 8 km (5 mi) from the host FPSO.
Quantifying uncertainty
Roxar has developed a tool module that aims to quantify uncertainty, reduce risk, and improve reservoir management decisions. The uncertainty management module operates within Roxar’s modeling software, IRAP RMS, and quantifies uncertainties across the complete reservoir characterization and development workflow.
Through this module, uncertainties in depth conversion, structural modeling, geological property modeling, and dynamic reservoir simulation can be evaluated simultaneously to help capture the full impact through 3D static and dynamic reservoir models, according to Roxar.
As opposed to many current 3D model workflows, IRAP RMS and EnABLE (history matching and uncertainty estimation software) examine and history match geological scenarios to create simulation models that are consistent with the underlying geological interpretation.
Through the analysis of multiple plausible realizations and the incorporation of the data into decision-making, E&P companies can better quantify the effects of uncertainties on volumes and cumulative production.
Frank Hartley, Houston
