West Africa will lead the world in operations spending, reaching $13 billion by 2010, say Douglas-Westwood analysts. The increasing demand for oil and gas in new areas of the world has brought with it a tremendous upswing in E&P activity that is reflected in the amount of money going to West Africa. The area’s offshore will see a large percentage of the money allocated to exploration and development in the coming years.
Of the 29.6 Bboe expected to come onstream in 2007-2011, Total will own 11% of the largest holding of reserves. Other key players include ExxonMobil with 9%, BP with 8%, Chevron and NNPC each with 7%, Shell with 6%, Eni with 5%, and Statoil, Hess, and EGPC each with 3%.
At the end of 2006, 55.4 Bboe had been brought onstream offshore Africa, according to analysts at Infield Systems Ltd., and an additional 29.6 Bboe is expected to come onstream between 2007 and 2011. More operators are getting in on the action, Infield says, and some are looking into areas that have seen little or no exploration. The region, which has seen tremendous growth over the last decade, will continue to attract international E&P dollars.
Looking forward
For 11 years, PennWell’s Offshore West Africa (OWA) Conference and Exhibition has been the leading source for information on new technology and operating expertise for this region.
In 2007, the conference, titled “Venturing into New Depths,” again will be in Abuja, Nigeria. From March 20 to March 22, over 1,500 attendees and 100 exhibitors from around the world will gather in Abuja to evaluate the current state of the industry in the region and to lay plans for future projects.
For more than a decade, investors, operators, and service companies have attended the Offshore West Africa conference to take advantage of the multi-national participation, to gather intelligence on the region, and to prepare for upcoming opportunities.
Technical content
The focus areas for this year’s technical component cover subjects as wide ranging as field architecture and economics, project financing, deepwater operations case studies and lessons learned, subsea technology, riser technology, marginal field development, floating facilities, and well construction.
Every company operating in the area or interested in working on the African continent will find the conference content and the opportunity to interact with industry leaders of inestimable value.
The following summaries are representative of the technical papers that will be presented at OWA this year.
Nigerian Content into Major Integrated Subsea Projects
Aloy Chiege, Ranveer Dhillon
Cameron
Contractors supplying major subsea systems and support for major deepwater projects in Nigeria must implement multifaceted, in-country execution plans to achieve contract deliverables. These plans must include local content initiatives that minimize project risk, manage project costs, and provide life-of-field support. Meeting this tall order requires close partnerships with the local government, national oil company, international oil company, and associated contractors.
Five years ago, Cameron established the first of three significant operations to support major integrated subsea projects in West Africa. Since then, the company has gained significant experience regarding local manufacturing and field operations.
While the fundamental challenges of delivering and supporting subsea projects in Nigeria are similar to other emerging deepwater markets, the region presents its own set of challenges. Understanding Nigerian manufacturing and engineering capabilities and cooperating with the customer to balance these capabilities with local content requirements is critical. Nigeria has significant human resource capability for manufacturing and for providing major project services. Making the most of these resources requires realistic expectations to be set and appropriate training programs to be implemented. It also requires an appropriate organizational structure.
Investment in the region generally comes at a high cost in an unpredictable market environment, which means an incremental development approach is often most appropriate.
This paper summarizes the company’s experience operating in Nigeria and presents lessons learned to companies newly entering the region as well as companies that are already established in West Africa.
Accessing Deepwater Offshore Support Vessels - Availability, Contracting Processes, and Key Issues
Kingsley Uwgbale
Vigeo Farstad Shipping Ltd.
Current high demand for deepwater support vessels in West Africa has created several drilling challenges. As the industry explores deepwater, a key determining factor for success is the availability of support vessels with the right specifications. The oil producing companies have modified their selective criteria to include age restrictions on vessels bidding for work in the region. The criteria also include local content enforcement. These new criteria will impact vessel owners.
The supply vessel market suddenly is very active and profitable, and that activity raises some questions. Why the sudden increased demand for vessels? Why the paradigm shift in the contracting processes of oil producing companies? Why are so many newbuild vessels targeted at this region? Will this high demand be sustained over a long period? Are investors encouraged, even with the current security situation in the Niger Delta?
This paper attempts to answer these questions. It also evaluates the current situation and assesses the coming requirements for the region.
As of June 2006, there were about 170 platform supply vessels (PSVs) and anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels operating in the region. What will be the figures for PSVs and AHTSs in the coming years?
As the industry grapples with new opportunities in deepwater operations, a key challenge will be to give this vital segment the needed attention.
Innovative Drilling Rig for Offshore and Onshore Operations
Frederik Nilsson
Dietswell Engineering
Changes in drilling parameters continue to push the capabilities of drilling units. Dietswell Engineering is commissioning a new type of compact, highly mobile drilling rig for offshore and onshore operations using an in-house design.
The design allows for conventional rotary drilling as well as underbalanced drilling in reverse circulation mode without any downtime for rig modifications.
The ability to instantly switch between conventional and reverse circulation drilling to apply the most appropriate drilling practice for a particular situation allows significant well cost reduction.
The way the underbalanced reverse circulation has been implemented on this new drilling rig gives raise to numerous advantages, including:
- Cost reduction due to underbalanced drilling with a lower volume of nitrogen
- No damage of the formation by invading drilling fluids
- Higher rate of penetration (ROP) in hard formations compared to a conventional drilling rig
- Possibility of “casing while drilling” allowing for safe, fast drilling across unstable formations, depleted zones, and freshwater reservoirs.
The rig also is equipped with an innovative system for drillpipe and casing handling that allows for safe, efficient operations.
This paper presents a detailed technical description together with the drilling rig’s full capacity and range of operating environments.
Fundamentals and Applications of Subsea Technology
Benson Ezeigbo
FMC Technologies/Deltatek Engineering Ltd.
The rise in oil price caused by high oil demand in the 1970s prompted offshore development that would help countries become self sufficient. For many years, offshore production relied on technology originally developed for land-based operation.
Exploiting oil and gas reserves from reservoirs below the seabed is more demanding than onshore operations because the subsea environment is a medium where fatigue is enhanced, wave force and impact damage are possible, and marine growth and seabed motions have to be considered. Furthermore, subsea equipment needs to meet normal oilfield operating conditions and codes, including the containment of high pressures and temperatures as well as fluids and gases with significant corrosive properties.
Subsea engineering technology involves multi-disciplinary activities covering the design, installation, and operation of equipment and systems on or near the seabed for the purpose of hydrocarbon production.
This paper provides a clear understanding of the technical, commercial, and ecological issues involved in applying subsea technology.
Case Histories Validate Value of Foam Technology in Liner Cementing Operations
Hank Rogers, Earl Webb, Alton Branch
Halliburton
The internal upsets common to tubing and drillpipe connections can cause conventional wiper plugs to wrinkle at every connection, allowing fluid to bypass during displacement. This can lead to incorrect displacement, insufficient fluid separation, and contamination of pumped fluids.
The solidified, polyurethane foam matrix wiper plug was designed as an alternative to the standard rubber wiper plug. The plug passes through restricted passages and wipes multiple internal diameters (IDs) in a tubular string.
The foam wiper plug wipes the tubular without wrinkling, adapting to changes in the ID. This allows the plug to reduce fluid bypass and contamination.
It is considered impossible to use a solidified foam matrix downhole because pressures would cause it to collapse. However, the “open-cell” molding technique used to create this plug promotes fluid absorption by the foam matrix throughout the wiper plug. The absorbed fluid provides resistance to collapse as the plug is pumped through the tubulars.
This paper presents several case histories where solidified, polyurethane foam matrix wiper plugs were used to separate fluids inside tubulars, mechanically wipe tubular(s), and launch subsurface plug systems for liner or subsea cementing.
Sustainable Development in a Dynamic Environment: Strategic Issues in Community Interface
Fidel I. Pepple Nigeria LNG Ltd.
“Helping the community is not altruism; it is enlightened self interest.”
When the late public relations guru, Prof. Sam Black made this statement over two decades ago, it was difficult to visualize a world where companies would be faced with not only the challenges of an increasingly difficult and hostile business environment, but also an ever increasing movement for self determination and participatory resource allocation on the part of their host communities.
The challenge was not just in placating and satisfying the “inordinate demands” of indigenous populations. The challenge, instead, became more a question of actualizing the more esoteric desires of the people.
It is unfortunate that after years of active engagement and the expenditure of vast sums of money, oil and gas companies in Nigeria still are far from obtaining a satisfactory “license to operate” from their host communities.
This paper seeks to examine some of the challenges specific to West Africa and to suggest practical ways to deal with existing trends in the implementation of sustainable development programs and projects. It also will look at community interface issues and the need for a paradigm shift in execution strategies.
Judy Maksoud
International Editor
