UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY (UMaT),

TARKWA

SCHOOL OF PETROLEUM STUDIES (SPetS)

DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS

ENGINEERING

REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL FIELD TRIP TO EXPRO GHANA

BY

ABDULKAREEM ZAKARIA

INDEX NUMBER: BS441120220

CLASS: NG 3

COURSE CODE: NG 356

TAKORADI, 2023
 DECLARATION
I declare that this field trip report is my own work. It is being submitted to the Petroleum
and Natural Gas Department of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa.
It has not been submitted for any examination at this University or any other institution.
However, any sources of information are duly acknowledged.

……………………………………….

(Signature of Student)

…………….. day of ………………. 2023

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 DEDICATION
I dedicate this report to my lovely Mom.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest thanks go to the Almighty God for protection, guidance and travelling mercy
during the trip.

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My sincere gratitude goes to my family for their love and support.

In addition, I wish to express my profound gratitude to the management of Expro, for their
dedication, and readiness to educate the student populace. Big thanks to my colleagues for
making the field trip a success.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i

DEDICATION ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF FIGURES vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

CHAPTER 1 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Objectives of Field Trips 1

1.3 Location of Expro Ghana 1

1.4 History of Expro 2

1.4.1 Mission 2

1.4.2 Specifications of Expro Ghana 2

1.5 Date of Visit 3

1.6 Equipment and Facilities used 3

1.7 Organization of Report 4

CHAPTER TWO 5

GENERAL OPERATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS 5

2.1 Safety Practice 5

2.1.1 PPE’s must be worn at all times 5

2.1.2 Rules and Regulations 5

2.1.3 Fire alarm procedures 5

2.1.4 Emergency team availability 5

2.1.5 Waste Segregation 6

2.1.6 Lost Time Injury (LTI) 6

2.2 Well test separator 6

2.3 Burner 7

2.4 Surface Completion tree 8

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2.5 Riser Control Module (RCM) 9

2.6 Umbilical reelers 10

2.7 Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU) 11

2.8 Surface central control panel 12

CHAPTER 3 13

KNOWLEDGE GAINED 13

3.1 Summary of knowledge acquired 13

3.1.1 Well management 14

3.1.2 Well testing 14

CHAPTER 4 14

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 14

4.1 Conclusion 14

4.2 Recommendation 15

REFERENCES 15

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 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Google Map of Expro Ghana 2
Figure 2.1 Segregation of waste at Expro 6
Figure 2.2 Well test separator 7
Figure 2.3 Burner 8
Figure 2.4 Completion surface tree 10
Figure 2.5 Riser Control Module 11
Figure 2.6 Umbilical reeler 12
Figure 2.7 Hydraulic Power Unit 13
Figure 2.8 HMI in control panel 14

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation Meaning
SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
HMI Human Machine Interface
PPE Personal Protective Equipment
LTI Lost Time Injury
RCM Riser Control Module
HPU Hydraulic Power Unit
HSEQ Health Safety Environmental and Quality

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viii
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 CHAPTER 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction

UMaT training unit aims highly to give students with both theoretical and practical
knowledge. Theoretical knowledge, which is obtained on the field, is a foundation on which
practical knowledge is built. Field trips therefore give chances for students to travel to
industries and businesses whose activities are relevant to their field of study. This adds to
the spectrum of tasks necessary to give students the appropriate practical knowledge in their
subject of study. This was mainly done to increase the knowledge of students by exposing
them to industrial practices related to what they have heard and come across while being
lectured.

1.2 Objectives of Field Trips

The objectives of field trips include:

i. To allow the student to meet and interact with well-leaned professionals who
operate in their field of study. ii. To expose the student to the equipment used in
their field of study iii. To educate the student on how these tools and equipment
are used and why they are important in the field.

iv. To provide an opportunity for students to establish relevant connections with

well-trained personnel.

1.3 Location of Expro Ghana

Expro is located at New Amanful, in the Ahanta West Municipal District in the Western
region of Ghana. Figure 1.1 (Anon., 2016) shows the Google map of Expro.

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 Figure 1.1 Google Map of Expro Ghana

1.4 History of Expro

Expro was first founded as a well testing and wireline company in the year 1973 and their
first service was done on the Argyll Field in 1975. In 1986, Expro had about 84% of the
company sold to Flextech, who then went ahead to fully acquire the company in 1992. In
2008, Umbrellastream, a private equity consortium, completed the acquisition of Expro after
beating Halliburton with a $2 billion bid to take over the company. Later in March 2021,
Expro announced a merger with Frank’s International. This merger was finally completed
in October later in 2021 and they began trading under NYSE:XPRO. Expro Ghana being a
service company provides its services to Tullow Oil in Ghana.

1.4.1 Mission
Expro lives by its mission which goes, ‘‘to know everything about your subject is excellent.
To take pride in everything is Expro’’.

1.4.2 Specifications of Expro Ghana

Expro Ghana provides two specific services, these are

i. Well testing ii. Well

control

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1.5 Date of Visit

The field trip organized for both Petroleum Engineering and Natural Gas students was
scheduled for the 2nd September 2022. A total number of 53 students, 41 students from PE
and 12 from NG, accompanied by Mr. Ocran, were conveyed by a bus which set off at
exactly 6:45 am. The duration of the journey was a bit more than 3 hours. The students
arrived at Expro at around 10:05 am. On arrival, each student had to make sure they were
in the right PPE before being allowed to go through the entrance.

We were then ushered into the premises by Miss Belinda Kottoh, the Health, Safety,
Environmental and Quality(HSEQ) officer, who then briefed us about the company and their
services in the conference room. Details of the briefing include, the values, mission and
vision of Expro, fire procedures and emergency exits were also discussed.

We were then put into groups of three and were given a tour all around the premises, where
we had the opportunity to see some tools and machineries that had been used in the field
and currently undergoing some maintenance. During this tour, individual students interacted
with the employees and knowledge about the tools and machines was shared.

We then departed from Expro few minutes after the tour at 1:10 pm and headed back to
school. We arrived back at UMaT at say, 4:35 pm after the successful trip.

1.6 Equipment and Facilities used

Some of the equipment used at Expro includes:

i. Separators ii. Burners

iii. Surface completion tree
iv. Hydraulic power unit
v. Surface control panel
vi. Umbilical reelers vii.
Hydraulic panel viii.
Riser control module
ix. Mobile crane

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Some of the facilities used by the employees include:

i. Workshop ii.
Conference room iii.
Office space iv.
Kitchen area v.
Canteen vi.
Washrooms

1.7 Organization of Report

This report is organized into four chapters. Chapter 1 talks about the general introduction
which includes the objectives of field trip, location, history, the mission, specification, date
of visit, equipment and facilities used by Expro and the organization of report. Chapter 2
elaborates more on the general operations and observations made while at Expro, which
includes some of the equipment they use, their individual functions and how they operate.
Chapter 3 talks about the knowledge gained. Chapter 4 ends with the conclusion and
recommendation.

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 CHAPTER TWO

GENERAL OPERATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

2.1 Safety Practice

Safety is the condition of being safe or the state of being protected against physical,
psychological, emotional, political, educational occupational or all other types or
consequences of failure, harm, accident error or any event, which is considered undesirable.
Expro taking the safety of its employees and visitors very seriously made sure to take
everyone through its safety guidance and also their safety rules and regulations. Below are
some safety practices observed by Expro.

2.1.1 PPE’s must be worn at all times

PPE’s are protective clothing designed to protect the wearer’s body from injury or infection.
Some hazards addressed by the PPE physical, electrical, chemical and heat. Mandatory PPE
that must be worn at Expro are; helmet, safety boots, safety googles, safety gloves and
reflectors.

2.1.2 Rules and Regulations

For the safety of the employees and visitors, Expro is equipped with house rules that must
be followed. This rules include; maintaining awareness of the working environment, no use
of mobile phones in the workshop, the right to stop any unsafe practices, not touching any
tool or equipment you are not to touch without permission and lastly, everyone has to follow
all safety protocols at all times.

2.1.3 Fire alarm procedures

Fire alarms are installed to warn workers about fire outbreaks so everyone can evacuate the
premises. These fire alarms sound like a telephone ringing and once it goes off, everyone is
required to move briskly to the master point located near the entrance and wait for a roll call
to ensure no one is left in the building or workshop.

2.1.4 Emergency team availability

A group of well-trained personnel are always available at Expro to deal with any issues or
problems encountered in and around the premises. This team consist of people trained to
deal with fire situation, injuries and also general problems.

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2.1.5 Waste Segregation
Expro Ghana pays much attention to the kind of waste generated on their site and how this
waste is disposed of. There is a color coding system used to segregate disposed waste on the
site. Bins at vantage points on the site are of different colors representing the variety of
waste collected in them. Figure 2.1 below shows how waste is segregated at Expro.

Figure 2.1 Segregation of waste at Expro

2.1.6 Lost Time Injury (LTI)

This is an injury sustained on the job by an employee that mostly results in the loss of
productive work time. For the past 12 years, Expro has recorded zero injuries proving that
safety practices do indeed help keep everyone safe.

2.2 Well test separator

A well test separator is an indispensable device mostly used in the exploration and
production phase of both offshore and onshore oil and gas fields. It is mostly used in well
testing, well clean-ups and other flow operations for separation of oil, water and gas. The
fluid comes through the frontline into the separator, then goes into the top vessel for the
system to start breaking them down into the various components, which we know as water,
oil and gas. The separator consists of diffusing plates, wires and mistic structures that help
in the separation. After separation water, inflammable, goes into storage tanks, the gas being
the lightest will go out the top and oil goes through the oil lines to storage tanks which are
later pumped to the burner at lower rates. Figure 2.2 shows the well test separator equipment.

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 Figure 2.2 Well test separator

2.3 Burner

This is sometimes known as well test burners or crude oil burners. Burners are mostly
connected to the separators. This connection is made by connecting the end of the boons to
the oil flow line. Boons can be placed either on floating rigs and on drillships. The burner
boom is responsible for combustion of the oil. On the burner, there’s an ignition panel which
has a pilot (has access to electric current that lights it) that must be lit before the oil or gas
is sent to be burnt. Hydrocarbons sent must be mixed and atomized with air from an air
compressor connected to the burner, and then sent through the ignition source to be burnt.
The burner burns about 99.93 of the oil division. Figure 2.3 shows the burner equipment.

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 Figure 2.3 Burner

2.4 Surface Completion tree

The surface completion tree sits on the well surface to control the flow. This equipment
moves up and down because of the sea movement. It is called a tree due to its numerous
adjoining valves components connected to all the pipes and tubings that are also connected
to the well head. It consists of components such as the;

i. Lower and upper master valve; this is the primary unit of isolation on the surface.
This cuts off any fluid that would want to flow from the surface to the other
valves.
ii. Swab valve; this valve is isolated in order to allow wire lining or curl tubing and
slick lining. This is also used in flow back from the well to the surface.
iii. Flow wing valve; this is used to control the flow of fluids from the controlling
section to the well test section, which are both connected by a hose. This is
designed as a fail-safe close valve to stop hydrocarbon from further movement
when problems are encountered. iv. Kill valve; This is always connected to the
cementer which is used to kill the well when it gets out of control.

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 v. Swivel; this is the bulky part of surface tree which can rotate about an axis. This is
important because during bad weather conditions, where the rigs needs be turned,
it is easy for it to just rotate than disconnecting the whole thing and fixing it back.

These valves help to establish control of the well at the surface. Figure 2.4 below shows the
surface completion tree equipment at Expro.

Figure 2.4 Completion surface tree

2.5 Riser Control Module (RCM)

This equipment is run through the marine riser which enables them to have full control of
all the subsea equipment. It is made up of the hydraulic section and the electrical section. In
the electrical section, there are temperature and pressure transistors that measure
temperature and pressure respectively. This is connected to the surface control unit and
instructed are sent to it from the surface. Expro considers this as the brain of their services
since they control the well using this equipment with a very fast response time. Figure 2.5
shows the RCM.

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 Figure 2.5 Riser Control Module

2.6 Umbilical reelers

This is a top rig component that consists of electrical and hydraulic cables that sit on the rig
floor. These cables are sent deep down the sea through the marine riser to connect to the
electric and hydraulic sections of the RCM respectively. They are about 3000 meters long
and usually spun around a drum. This is a tool used in sending commands from surface to
the RCM deep in the sea and therefore making it important in well control. Figure 2.6 below
shows the umbilical reeler at Expro.

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 Figure 2.6 Umbilical reeler

2.7 Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU)

This equipment is used in delivering hydraulic fluid. This is connected to certain hoses
which are linked to the reeler. They contain tanks that store the hydraulic fluids which is
deployed through the hydraulic section of the umbilical reeler to be used for operations
subsea. This unit also has electric pumps that provide current to pump the hydraulic fluid. It
has both analogue and digital input which are programmed to help it gain control and
functionality of the components subsea. Figure 2.7 shows the HPU equipment.

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 Figure 2.7 Hydraulic Power Unit

2.8 Surface central control panel

This serves as a control cabin for the well control crew where all commands and sent and
where everything subsea can be controlled. It is divided into purge control area and EH area.
It contains HMIs which are run on a software called the SCADA It also enables the crew to
monitor the temperatures, pressures and the fluid flow rate subsea. It also allows the crew
to control the pumps in the HPU. It also consists of electric motherboards that deliver current
to the RCM for it to perform functions subsea. This panel stays on the rig floor. This is
normally connected to an electricity source. Figure 2.8 below shows an HMI in the control
cabin.

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 Figure 2.8 HMI in control panel

CHAPTER 3

KNOWLEDGE GAINED
3.1 Summary of knowledge acquired

The Petroleum industry is a very wide field involving varying knowledge requirements and
this field trip to Expro has given me a boost in confidence as I pursue my degree in petroleum

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engineering. This is due to the fact that I have gained some experience on how the job looks
look and also gained some knowledge in the various use of some equipment.
Below is the summary of what I gained from the field trip.

3.1.1 Well management

Under well management, which involves well completion and well control, is the most
important aspect of the drilling as because without full control of the well, it will be
impossible to carry out further operations. Some equipment used in achieving full control
include the surface completion tree, the RCM, the HPU, and the surface cabin.

3.1.2 Well testing

On the oil rig before production, the well must be tested and cleaned before it can be used
for production. Well testing involves measuring the production capability of the well. Some
equipment used in well testing that was seen at Expro include, the well test separator and
the burner.

CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
4.1 Conclusion

In conclusion, the trip to Expro Ghana has been very innovative. The students have been
well enlightened in diverse areas ranging from, well testing equipment and their purpose
and functions, well completion equipment, and then also the well management and control
equipment. Not only did we see and appreciate these equipments for the first time, but also

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got to understand the operations carried offshore on the oil rig. Aside from the new
knowledge gained, I personally had a fun and amazing experience. Having said that, the
field trip was a great success.

4.2 Recommendation

The trip to Expro has been an unforgettable experience for the second-year students of the
petroleum and natural gas department. Hence, it is recommended that the department makes
it a yearly schedule for the subsequent year groups to pay a courtesy visit to Expro Ghana
so they could experience how amazing it was as well.

REFERENCES

Anon. (2014). “Expro Ghana – Western Region Ghana”,

https://goo.gl/maps/CsdQ9M7y8PXKyds7. Accessed; September 8, 2022.

Anon. (2022), “Expro Ghana History”, https://www.expro.com. Accessed: September 08,

2022.

Anon. (2022), “Expro Ghana”, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expro. Accessed:

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September 10, 2022.

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