JurAssIC - KwIDF - Kuwait Oil Company

By Dr. Adel Al-Abbassi, KOC Manager Research & Technology
KOC & Schlumberger Launch Technology
Development Joint Venture
KOC
and Schlumberger executives gather to discuss a joint future. Mr. Qasem Dashti presenting live data from Kuwait to the Paris meeting...in Real Time.
Past, present, and future
The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and Schlumberger
Ltd. have been doing business together since the
1930s, and the relationship is growing even stronger
with the selection of KOC as the Schlumberger
technology partner for 2010.
In Paris, France on April 29th, KOC and Schlumberger
held a signing ceremony to officially launch a
joint venture for technology development, with
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that
identified technologies to be co-developed for
the mutual benefit of both parties. Chairman &
Managing Director of Kuwait Oil Company, Sami
Al-Rushaid, and Chairman and CEO of Schlumberger,
Andrew Gould, were both present at the ceremony,
which marked the first true collaboration between
the two companies.
The signing was part of an executive technology
meeting entitled “KOC/SLB Executive Technology
Collaboration Forum,” attended by many Deputy
Managing Directors and other managers from KOC.
Mr. Ashok Belani, President of Schlumberger’s
Reservoir Characterization group, presented
Schlumberger’s skills in research and engineering,
while Dr. Adel Al-Abbassi, Manager of R&T
at KOC, outlined his company’s current and future
technology requirements.
This occasion coincided with KOC’s 75th anniversary
celebration and Schlumberger’s 70th anniversary
celebration in Kuwait.
Moving forward together: KOC Chairman Mr. Sami Al-Rushaid and Schlumberger CEO Mr. Andrew Gould.
Technology collaboration, a win-win
opportunity
Under the umbrella of the Exploration and Production
Development Directorate of KOC, Deputy and
Managing Director Mr. Khalid Sumaiti is the
champion of this new venture, while Dr. Al-Abbassi
will lead the project. According to Dr. Al-Abbassi,
“Schlumberger usually selects a partner to work
with in advancing technology that is beneficial for
the oil sector as a whole.” He thinks that “KOC
was selected not only because of our long-standing
relationship with Schlumberger, but also because
our company is becoming more mature with respect
to R&T.”
The Schlumberger Technological Program leverages
its research centers around the world to develop
state-of-the-art solutions tailored for specific
oil fields. Every year, a different oil company is
chosen as a joint venture partner, concentrating on
selected challenges and developing appropriate
solutions. “The collaboration partnership is mutually
beneficial, as the partnering oil company (in this
case, KOC) gets an optimal solution while jointly
staying at the forefront of technological research
and development,” states Maen Razouqi, General
Manager of Schlumberger Kuwait.
Focus on key projects
This collaborative journey started with several
months of cooperation regarding tens of specific
technology needs submitted by all KOC assets.
After careful, detailed reviews and a joint workshop
with experts from both companies, the findings were
presented at the Paris meeting.
Key collaboration projects were selected by the
attending KOC executives as the main areas of
focus for the joint venture team. The project areas
consisted of Seismic, Completions, Wireline, and
innovative new technologies that could be tested
in Kuwait.
1. KwIDF Jurassic—a digital oilfield project that
will fully automate the North Jurassic gas field
using advanced E&P software, sophisticated
hardware, and wireless telecommunications
technology to transmit data from the wellsite to
the KOC Ahmadi offices. This project includes a
newly built Collaboration Center with technical
meeting rooms specially equipped for viewing
3D data on high-resolution workstation monitors
and large, wall-mounted screens. This ergonomic
visualization environment will facilitate and
optimize the decision-making process across the
entire asset, as everyone has access to the same
high-quality information.
2. FILAB—a KOC concept involving an innovative
field laboratory that will bring lab work directly
to portions of a field without having to upscale.
Focusing on accuracy and precision, this
challenging project was previously just a dream,
but is now on the brink of reality. This is an ongoing
project that will span more than five years.
3. New NMR tool—to be developed for in-situ
determination of the viscosity of heavy oil.
This project is expected to last for one year.
4. New seismic tool—to allow for more accurate
processing of information through the reduction/
elimination of multiple contaminations/noise.
This project is expected to last for more than
two years.
5. Smart completion—for deep gas (greater than
15,000 ft) with high temperature/high pressure
and the presence of H 2
S. This project is expected
to continue for three to five years.
Presentation in real time
The Paris meeting provided an opportunity to
showcase current projects, one of which was
KwIDF Jurassic presented by Dr. Al-Abbassi via
remote connection to the pilot collaboration room
(located in the KOC Al Tameer building in Kuwait).
Mr. Qasem Dashti presented live data streaming
from two newly instrumented wells to the folks
in Paris… all in real time! n
KwIDF Jurassic solution adds value
Right before the KOC/SLB Executive Technology Collaboration Forum,
a Jurassic gas field event occurred and the KwIDF Jurassic technology solution
was put to the test in its infancy—with only two wells instrumented and
limited workflows implemented. The Completion Integrity workflow was
involved; a workflow that uses casing and wellhead pressure measurements
to detect early completion integrity problems.
The field event
The casing pressure on a Jurassic gas well alarmingly rose to above 3000psi.
Using the KwIDF solution, powered by Schlumberger technology, Mr Qasem Dashti
saw this spike on his screen. He immediately called in Mr. Bader Al-Qaoud, who then
contacted Mr. Hassan A. Rahim, PSG Section Head at the PSG field office. A quick,
collaborative decision was made and a message was sent to well checkers to bleed
off the valve.
Based on the casing pressure data, production and completion engineers speculated
that the pressure spike was due to one of the following reasons:
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damage in the tubing
cement problems
cross-flow due to the complexity of carbonate reservoirs
casing leaks
packers
thermal expansion (temperature effect).
After the valve was bled off and a two-day waiting period passed, the effect of the
decision was determined by observing the casing pressure measurement again. Since
it had only risen slightly, thermal expansion was deemed to be the cause. The pressure
continued to be monitored for any abnormal readings during the next two weeks, and
when none occurred, the interpretation of the results was confirmed.
The remote, automated production monitoring system—in conjunction with the
Completion Integrity workflow—provided reliable data that signalled early detection
of the problem, which was successfully assessed and resolved before it worsened.
This field event was mentioned by Mr. Dashti during his demo at the KOC/SLB Executive
Technology Collaboration Forum in Paris.
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