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Contents
4 
President’s Column With Terry Palisch—
Volume 75 | Number 11

Creating Our Energy Future

In this podcast episode and transcript, Terry Palisch talks about the impact
of the energy transition on the industry and technology and how SPE is
helping its members adjust to the shifting landscape.

12 
GUEST EDITORIAL • Digital Technologies: A Competitive
Advantage Today, a Necessity Tomorrow
The oil and gas industry is embracing digital technology as not just a
differentiator, but as an enabler of innovation. The simple reality is that
if one doesn’t, they risk being out of the game.

20 
The Third Way: How BKV Turned to ‘Hybrid’ Refracs
in the Barnett Shale
BKV Corp. has combined bullhead and liner refracturing methods to create
an approach called the hybrid expandable liner system. On the cover: A restimulation operation
in the Barnett Shale of north Texas where
26 
It Is Easy To Find Lithium; Turning a Profit Is Hard hundreds of early-generation shale
The best wells in which to find lithium are in old conventional fields where wells have received similar refracturing
rusty pump jacks are pulling out mostly water. treatments since late 2021. Source: BKV Corp.

32 
Can Direct Air Capture Deliver?
As money pours into the space, questions arise about whether the method
of removing carbon from the atmosphere is the best investment. DEPARTMENTS

38 
Driving Change: Cultivating an Energy Workforce 10 Comments
for Lasting Prosperity 15 E&P Notes
The oil and gas industry’s sustainability and success depend on its ability
98 SPE Technical Papers
to cultivate and nurture a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.
Available
44 
Case Study: Qualifying Bismuth Plug Technology 99 SPE News
in Mozambique 105 People
Prior to proceeding with a contract to fulfil a rigless P&A campaign for
106 SPE Events
Sasol in Mozambique, BiSN designed a field trial to prove the effectiveness
of its bismuth plug technology. Although the technology had been used in
19 countries by BiSN for a variety of downhole applications, it had not yet
been qualified for use in Mozambique.

An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Published in US. Copyright 2023, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
 Recent Content from
SPE’s Journals
To view these papers, go to
OnePetro, www.onepetro.org,
and search by title or paper
Technology Focus
number or navigate to the journal.
The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for 2 months at jpt.spe.org.

SPE JOURNAL
SPE-217973-PA—CRM-Aquifer-
Fractional Flow Model to Characterize
Oil Reservoirs with Natural Water Influx
SPE-217972-PA—Physics-Guided
V-Net: An Efficient Surrogate Model
for Well Placement Optimization
in Petroleum Reservoirs
SPE-217471-PA—Capillary-Sealing
Efficiency of Mica-Proxy Caprock
for CO2/H2 Geologic Storage in
the Presence of Organic Acids
and Nanofluids (Open Access)
SPE-217469-PA—A Continuous
Projection-Based EDFM Model for
Flow in Fractured Reservoirs
SPE-217467-PA—Machine-
Learned Surrogate Models for
Efficient Oil Well Placement Under
Operational Reservoir Constraints
SPE-217466-PA—Synthetic Graphic
Well Log Generation Using an
Enhanced Deep Learning Workflow:
Imbalanced Multiclass Data, Sample
Size, and Scalability Challenges
SPE-217427-PA—A Review of
Polymer Gel Utilization in Carbon
Dioxide Flow Control at the Core
and Field Scale (Open Access)
SPE-214385-PA—Rapid Inference
of Reservoir Permeability from
Inversion of Traveltime Data Under
a Fast Marching Method-Based
Deep Learning Framework
SPE-209979-PA—Semi-Automated
Rock Classification for Permeability
Estimation Using High-Resolution
Computed Tomography Scan Images,
Core Photos, and Well Logs
50 DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS
Víctor Soriano, SPE, Well Construction Manager, YPFB Chaco
52 
Low-ECD Inverted Emulsion Fluid Shows Superior Performance
55 Method Provides Real-Time Anomaly Detection
for Drilling-Fluid Properties
58 Light-Density Hollow-Glass-Beads Drilling Fluid Achieves
High Solids-Control Efficiency
62 EOR OPERATIONS
Elizabeth Barsotti, SPE, Career Development Fellow, MRC
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
64 
Study Reviews Largest ASP Project From Laboratory to Pilots
and Field Application
68 Process Synthesizes Janus Carbon Nanofluids From Waste
Plastics for EOR
71 Study Evaluates CO2 Storage Potential During CO2
Mobility-Control Optimization
74 HYDRAULIC FRACTURING MODELING
Mark McClure, SPE, CEO, ResFrac
76 
Modeling Usage of Degradable Fluid-Loss Additive Revamps
Fracturing Design
80 3D Integrated Model-Driven Work Flow Developed for Shale
Hydraulic Fracturing
83 Fracture Conductivity Work Flow Models Well Spacing,
Completions Design
86 FLOW ASSURANCE
Celestina Yaaba Kissi, SPE, Offshore Chemist, ChampionX
88 
Robust Scale Dissolver Mitigates Mixed-Scale Issue
in South China Sea

SPE RESERVOIR EVALUATION 91 Thermodynamic Modeling Approach Assists Mitigation

& ENGINEERING of Wax Deposition

SPE-214451-PA—Measurement 94 Experimental Data-Analysis Methods Analyze

of Effective Hydrogen-Methane
Gas Diffusion Coefficients in
Reservoir Rocks (Open Access)
SPE-210264-PA—Experimental
Measurements and Molecular
Simulation of Carbon Dioxide
Adsorption on Carbon Surface
Multiphase-Flow Data Sets
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SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2024 President 2023 President

Terry Palisch Medhat M. Kamal
CARBO Ceramics Chevron Fellow Emeritus

2025 President Secretary

Olivier Houzé Simon Seaton, Society
KAPPA of Petroleum Engineers

REGIONAL DIRECTORS
AFRICA MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Oghogho Effiom, Shell Nigeria Mohamed Al Marzouqi, ADNOC
Hisham Zubari, Dragon Oil
ASIA PACIFIC
Henricus Herwin, Pertamina NORTH AMERICA
Hazli Sham Kassim, Petronas Simeon Eburi, Chevron
Robert Martinez, Chimney Rock Energy
EUROPE Kim Oracheski, Strathcona Resource
Pierre Emmanuel D’Huart, Saipem
RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Alexey Borisenko, Schlumberger
Carlos Alberto Petroso, Enauta

TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
COMPLETIONS DATA SCIENCE & ENGINEERING ANALYTICS
Karen Olson, Olson Turner Enterprises Sushma Bahn, Ikon Science

DRILLING PRODUCTION AND FACILITIES

Robin Macmillan Hamad Al-Marri, Saudi Aramco

HSE AND SUSTAINABILITY RESERVOIR

Sue Staley, vPSI Group, LLC Rodolfo Camacho, UNAM

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In this podcast episode, Terry Palisch talks about the impact of the energy transition on the industry
and technology and how SPE is helping its members adjust to the shifting landscape. This transcript is an
excerpt from the podcast episode. Listen to the full episode here.
I’m Trent Jacobs, JPT senior technology editor, and
welcome to the President’s podcast. Today I am
very happy to be talking with 2024 SPE President
Terry Palisch. He’s going to be talking to us about
the impact that the energy transition is having on
the industry and technology and how SPE is helping
its members adjust to the shifting landscape.
I am glad to be here with you, Terry. Thank
you for joining us. Can you set the scene for
me a little bit by explaining a concept that you
mentioned on your last podcast episode, this is
the energy trilemma … tell us more about that.
Thank you, Trent. I am excited to be talking to you
today. Let’s start with the building blocks. Energy
is the building block of all life: human beings need
chemical energy, and in our everyday lives we need
energy. Energy essentially drives everything, and
our population is growing. We expect by 2050 to
have another 1 to 2 billion people on the planet,
or another 20–25%, and at the same time over
two‑thirds of our world population live in some
form of energy poverty.
Currently, 80% of the energy supplied to the
world comes in the form of coal, oil, and natural
gas, commonly called fossil fuels. That percentage
has not changed appreciably for decades. The
4 JPT | November 2023
▼
public is still demanding a reduction in emissions.
That represents what a lot of people call the
trilemma. How do we as a society meet the world’s
energy needs for affordable and accessible energy
that is reliable and secure, but also becoming
evergreen and decarbonized. That is what they call
the energy trilemma. I think it is more the energy
opportunity, and I say that because I believe it’s the
energy opportunity for our industry. I believe we
are the best suited to solve the energy trilemma
and we are solving it as we speak.
Let’s open that up a little bit. From where you
are sitting, what do you see the industry doing
to respond to the trilemma?
Our industry has been meeting the world’s energy
needs for decades. Oil and gas along with coal
helped usher in the Industrial Revolution. We
developed new technologies, things that we never
saw coming, like deepwater and shale oil and
gas, or unconventional development. The ability
to take horizontal wells and put multiple fracture
stimulations in them completely changed the
landscape in the US and North America. Right
now, natural gas is plentiful; we built LNG import
terminals before the shale revolution and now we
are building export terminals.
 The US has become energy independent.
What is interesting is that emissions have actually
decreased during this time frame because of the
ability to switch from coal to natural gas-fired
power plants. The key aspect to understand is
that we are going to continue to need more and
more energy, so we must continue to develop new
technologies. Technologies that we have not even
thought of because oil and gas resources continue
to be harder and harder to find and harder to
extract. There are many reserves out there for
which we need the technology to extract.
At the same time, though, I think it is worth
noting that we continue developing ways to reduce
our carbon footprint and carbon intensity. There
are tremendous efforts to reduce flaring and
methane emissions. A report by the EPA discussed
how emissions from methane have been reduced
over the past several years. We are making an
impact, and then, of course, we have the new areas
like carbon capture and storage and geothermal
energy. This is why I like to call it our industry’s
energy opportunity.
I think the engineers out there hear about
these things and see opportunities to build and
create something new that works towards what
are now global goals. Let’s zoom in a little bit
more. We talked about the societal issue and
how industries are looking at it. Now take us
through the lens of what SPE is doing to keep
members updated about the newest technology
trends and important industry developments
that are really shaping careers.
Let’s start with the mission. SPE just updated our
mission statement as a part of the Strategic Plan
and it is a mouthful. Our previous mission
statement started with ‘to disseminate technical
information,’ which is still a big part of our mission,
but we start the new mission statement with ‘to
connect.’ My good friend and 2022 SPE President
Kamel Ben-Naceur put it this way: Our mission
is to connect our members with technology,
connect our members with other members for
SPE President Terry Palisch visits with IHFTC conference
co-chairs Sultan Al-Shidhani of PDO (right) and Faisal
Beheiri of Saudi Aramco (left) in Muscat.
collaboration, and connect our members with our
external stakeholders. We are about connecting
and while there are many ways that we connect
with our members and with new technology,
I would like to key in on just one of those—
our events.
SPE events go a long way to connect our
members with technology, other members, and
external stakeholders. SPE has about 100 events
every year. The majority of events are in North
America, Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, which
are where the majority of our members reside and
there is tremendous oil and gas potential. We also
have a large number that are in Europe, Africa, and
Latin and South America. Our goal is to continue
linking the global network of people to technology
and collaboration.
Approximately three-fourths of our events are
conferences or workshops, and the remaining are
forums, symposia, or summits. There are various
formats for collaboration and a wide range of
topics, from traditional petroleum engineering
topics like drilling and completions and reservoir,
to energy transition topics like carbon capture
and geothermal. We are even starting to see these
events embedded in each other; for example, while
we may go to the hydraulic fracturing technical
conference, there will be a session that discusses
decarbonization or the electrification of frac fleets.
jpt.spe.org 5
 Along with 2023 SPE President Med Kamal, Regional Director Hisham Zubari, and SPE regional staff, Terry visits with the
leadership and members of the Oman Section and local SPE chapter students.
That is how SPE keeps our members connected to
technology and new developments.
I like what you said. It resonated with me when
you said linking global networks together
because in my own experiences of attending
SPE events, I see that. I see people from
opposite ends of the world meeting up for the
fifth or tenth time and exchanging ideas in
real life. I want to ask about your experiences
because you have been on the move recently
visiting SPE sections and members from around
the globe and participating in SPE events and
conferences. What do these conferences mean
to you, why is this so important?
It is important for me to attend as many as I can
because SPE events exist for the sole purpose of
connecting our members with technology and
other members to collaborate and network. These
events are only possible because of the dedicated
volunteers and the SPE event staff. Another benefit
is the volunteer opportunities available whether
it is on a program committee, leading a section,
being a co-chair, writing a paper, or making a
presentation at a workshop. It gives us a chance
to display our technology, a chance to network,
a chance to work on our soft skills, and is the
6 JPT | November 2023
cornerstone of professional development. It is a
big part of my experience. I think that attending
and participating in these events is really one
of the critical pieces of our ability to create our
energy future.
Tell us about where you have traveled recently.
What are some of the events you have attended
and share with us some of the takeaways.
I just got back from a trip to the SPE International
Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference
(IHFTC) in Muscat and Offshore Europe in
Aberdeen, which celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Offshore Europe is a critical event for SPE and
the region. We had more than 800 exhibitors
and 30,000 attendees over 4 days including the
Honorable Graham Stewart, UK Minister of State
for Energy and Security Net Zero, and Gillian
Martin, the Scottish Minister for Energy and the
Environment. The IHFTC was the third edition held
in Oman, which is an offshoot of our successful
Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference (HFTC)
in The Woodlands, Texas, held every year. There
were over 700 attendees and 126 companies
from 35 countries. The Oman Ministry of Energy
and Minerals was present, and PDO was the main
host. Both of those are important to the respective
regions to help solve local problems. One of our
core values is global reach and local relevance, so
we bring together a global audience to work on
something that has local relevance like Offshore
Europe and the IHFTC.
How are the topics for the technical programs
picked?
It starts with an idea. A lot of ideas are driven by
staff who see what is going on in the industry and
what are the hot topics. It might also start with
a board member, one of the technical directors,
advisory committees, or members in a region.
For example, I was recently in Tunisia where
the section was just reestablished. They are excited
about bringing unconventional technology to the
region; the question is what kind of event we can
develop to help them.
Once the topic is discussed, the organizers
work with SPE staff to come up with the timing and
the location and make sure it does not conflict with
the event calendar, and of course, look at the profit
and loss potential—the goal is to have positive
profit or at least not lose money. The event request
is then taken to the SPE Board of Directors, the
Technical Content Committee signs off on it, and
then you are off and running.
Will you talk a bit more about the different
formats of these events?
Most do not understand the differences between
various events. Conferences are the largest of our
events and the most common format. A conference
is typically made up of technical papers, panels,
and an exhibition. It is typically a larger event with
thousands of people based on a single topic or
multiple topics. For example, multidisciplinary
conferences like the Annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition (ATCE) is our flagship member event,
and the Offshore Technology Conference is one of
our multisociety events. We also have events like
the HFTC which is a single topic.
A workshop is the other end of the spectrum. It
does not have technical papers; it is presentations
only and there is typically not an exhibition.
The goal of a workshop is to dive deeper into a
single topic, or perhaps multiple topics in a single
region or basin. A workshop is limited attendance
to promote engagement and networking,
and it is a single track. Workshops are gaining
popularity because you can work on a problem
and the information is very timely since there
are no papers required. We often get people
who present material that they could not have
released in a paper.
A symposium is in between a conference
and a workshop, a starter in a known specific
topic. It can have technical papers, panels,
and minimal exhibition. A lot of section events
are symposia and turn into a workshop or a
conference later. Forums sit by themselves. It is
a way for 50 to 75 technical experts, or subject
matter experts, to get together and discuss a
futuristic problem or topic. It is an application-
based event and there is limited note taking. It is
about thought leadership.
A summit is typically a smaller topic with a few
members to begin talking about a topic.
I think it’s important to understand those
differences so when you go to the events calendar
you know what to expect. Even though they have
similar names, they all have different personalities.
I like that these are conferences by people
for people so they feel a little bit like people.
Maybe to wrap up, could you talk about what
SPE is doing to stay fresh and continue to
enhance the best experience that we can
at these different events.
First and foremost, it starts with SPE staff. The
events team does a magnificent job of staying on
the forefront of topics and delivery mechanisms
as well as the board members, particularly
the technical directors and Technical Content
Committee. Everyone is always on the lookout
for ways to improve—whether it is improving the
content, improving delivery of that content, or
maybe just the overall experience. I think SPE has
jpt.spe.org 7
 The Aberdeen Section leadership hosted a meet and greet with new SPE CEO Simon Seaton and Terry. Also present
were Board members Laura Precupanu, Robin Macmillan, and 2022 SPE President Kamel Ben-Naceur, as well as
several senior SPE staff.
a great reputation for putting on the best events
focused on technology and networking.
We have an initiative underway to improve
ATCE called the ATCE Reimagined Group. It is
made up of board members, staff, and an external
resource. We are looking at how to revamp the
Society’s flagship event.
ATCE has a rich history as our premier event,
but members have said we need to revamp
it and they are right. Our next ATCE will be in
New Orleans in 2024. It will mark the 100th
anniversary of ATCE and our goal is to lay the
foundation for the next 100 years. Plan on coming
to New Orleans. I think it will be a lot of fun and
very informative.
The other thing we do is partner with other
societies whether it is for the Unconventional
Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) or the
International Petroleum Technology Conference
(IPTC) where we join up with SEG, AAPG, and EAGE.
We are always looking for new ways to deliver
enriched content and to expand the tent into
related technologies. An event took place earlier
this year with the University of Houston alongside
8 JPT | November 2023
AAPG on carbon capture and storage. There is
an event coming up this month with Geothermal
Rising, a geothermal workshop in Colorado.
We want to be known as the go-to place for
events that promote technical exchange, thought
leadership, networking, and provide a second-to-
none experience.
That is exciting news about ATCE. This is a
show that presents some of the best and most
impactful papers that benefit the oil and gas
industry. Can you tell us what is coming up in
your next episode?
Next month we are going to continue our
discussion about this connection, connecting our
members to technology and each other, and talk
about the importance of local sections. I think for
most members the section is what they think of
when they think of SPE. It gives great opportunities
for volunteering and, really, all the important
aspects of what we need to do and what we
can do to create our energy future. I am looking
forward to it and I hope everybody will be able
to join us. JPT
• 2
m
.. . ..
0
..

2024.otcasia.org I #otcasia
 COMMENTS
The New “Gold Rush” Hunts
for Subsurface Hydrogen
Pam Boschee
JPT Managing Editor
A gold strike was announced in late October. But in
this case the gold was naturally occurring hydrogen
in a former coal basin.
Known as “white” or “gold” hydrogen,
the reported discovery of naturally formed
underground hydrogen was made in northeastern
France’s Lorraine coal basin, a region between
France and Germany. The last coal mine was
shut down 20 years ago.
Researchers at the French National Centre of
Scientific Research (CNRS) were testing a probe
designed to analyze gases dissolved in the water
of deep underground rock formations, looking
for methane, when they detected hydrogen
concentrations at depths of 1100 m (14%) and
1250 m (20%).
Their calculations estimated the deposits’
potential as between 6 and 250 million metric tons
of hydrogen.
This wasn’t their first discovery of underground
hydrogen in the area. Philippe de Donato and
Jacques Pironon made a similar finding “by
chance” as part of the Regalor research project in
collaboration with Française de l’Energie (FDE), an
independent multienergy company, the University
of Lorraine, and CNRS.
FDE announced the discovery in a press release
in May, saying the measurements of hydrogen were
10 JPT | November 2023
made in its previously drilled Folschviller wellsite in
the carboniferous aquifer of the Lorraine basin.
Launched in 2018, the project’s aim was to
confirm an assessment carried out in 2012 by
France’s IFPEN petroleum and new energies
institute. After analyzing a sample of the soil under
the basin, the institute concluded that it contained
370 billion m3 of methane, which represents
8 years of gas consumption in France.
De Donato and Pironon said, “The work
carried out within the framework of the Regalor
project has made it possible to demonstrate that
the fluids within the carboniferous formations of
the Lorraine mining basin are very significantly
enriched in hydrogen, with a measured
concentration of 15% at 1093 m depth and
estimated at 98% at 3000 m depth.”
FDE said in May that it applied for an exclusive
mining exploration permit for the exploration of
natural hydrogen in the basin. The permit covers
an area of 2254 km2 in the Grand Est region. The
company said a site for a pilot will be identified
based on the results obtained and then built to
initiate local production and recovery of natural
hydrogen in the Grand Est Region. In its October
investor update, FDE said measurements will be
performed in three of its existing wells by the
end of the year to determine the extent of the
hydrogen deposit.
Reservoirs have also been discovered in the US,
Canada, Finland, the Philippines, Australia, Brazil,
Oman, Turkey, and Mali.
In Mali, the Bourakebougou water well,
Bougou-1, was drilled in 1987 in the Taoudeni
Basin, a large sedimentary system present mainly
in Algeria, Mauritania, and Mali. The well was
 JPT EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD

cemented after a gas explosion occurred during drilling Patrick Miller—Chairperson, Petronas
Imran Abbasy, Pakistan Petroleum
operations at a measured depth of 112 m.
Anson Abraham, CNRL
Unplugged in 2011 for use as a pilot well for local
Amir Alwazzan, Dragon Oil
hydrogen production, gas was reported comprising Mariela Araujo, Shell
98% hydrogen, 1% nitrogen, and 1% methane. Jyotsna Asarpota, Halliburton
Hydrogen was then produced as an energy resource Elizabeth Barsotti, MRC Laboratory
to supply local electricity through a company named Linda Battalora, Colorado School of Mines
Petroma, renamed Hydroma. From 2017 to 2019, the Zhiming Chen, China U. of Petroleum
Graham Collier, Consultant
company drilled 24 wells.
Santanu Das, ONGC
Among the new breed of gold prospectors are
Sandeep Dhawan, WellPerform
several startup companies including Natural Hydrogen
Michael Fuller, Chevron
Energy, Koloma, Helios Aragon, Gold Hydrogen, Jeff Gagnon, ExxonMobil
HyTerra, and H2Au. Reza Garmeh, Callon Petroleum
Helios Aragon owns exploration permits in David Gurney, KUFPEC
northern Spain’s Aragon region and will begin drilling Subodh Gupta, Heretech Energy

the Monzon-2 appraisal well in 2024 at a cost of Dennis Harris, Chevron

Martin Hayes, Stanfield Consultants
$12 million. Estimates for the well are 1.1 million tons
Hussein Hoteit, KAUST
of hydrogen, and the company claims the Monzon field
Mehdi Izadi, ExxonMobil
holds 5 to 10 million tons within its permits and more Siddarth Jain, Sharjah NOC
than 100 million tons in the region. Simon James, CS8 Consulting
Natural Hydrogen Energy and HyTerra claim Swathika Jayakumar, Core Laboratories
the “first wildcat well targeting natural hydrogen in Colin Johnston, Worldwide Oilfield Machine

Nebraska,” the Hoarty well at Project Geneva. HyTerra Muhammad Khan, ADNOC
Celestina Kissi, ChampionX
also holds leases in the Nemaha Ridge in Kansas.
Mahdi Mahmoudi, Variperm
The cost advantages of subsurface hydrogen are
Swamy Margan, Consultant
frequently cited by the early prospectors. For example, Mark McClure, ResFRac
the wells in Mali have the potential to generate Sandeep Mukherjee, Callon
hydrogen gas at a cost of 50 cents/kg, which is Soujatya Mukherjee, Wintershall DEA
only one-tenth the cost of producing hydrogen via Anand Nagoo, Nagoo and Associates
electrolysis using solar, wind, geothermal, or other Gopi Nalla, DeGolyer and MacNaughton
Eudorah Ochai-Audu, Shell
renewable energy sources.
Danny Ochoa, Schlumberger
If commercialization and economies of scale
Carlos Pedroso, Enauta
pan out, this may become the gold standard for
Shahvir Pooniwala, Aramco
hydrogen energy. JPT Kaibin Qiu, Schlumberger
Pierre Ramondenc, Schlumberger
FOR FURTHER READING Michael Romer, ExxonMobil
Babatunde Salawu, Shell
Débora Salomon, Dow
The Curious Case of Geologic Hydrogen: Assessing
Amit Singh, Chevron
its Potential as a Near-Term Clean Energy Source
Victor Soriano, YPFB Chaco
by E.M. Yedinak, US Department of Energy, Advanced
Cornelis (Kees) Veeken, Consultant
Research Projects Agency-Energy. Larissa Walker, QGC
The Occurrence and Geoscience of Natural Junjie Yang, Baker Hughes
Hydrogen: A Comprehensive Review Karam Yateem, Saudi Aramco
by V. Zgonnik, Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC.

jpt.spe.org 11
 GUEST EDITORIAL
Girish K. Saligram has served
as the president and CEO of
Weatherford since 2020. Prior to
Weatherford, he held leadership
roles at General Electric and
Exterran Corp. He holds an MS in
computer science and an MBA, and
has worked across industry sectors
and multiple countries.
12 JPT | November 2023
Digital Technologies
A Competitive Advantage
Today, a Necessity Tomorrow
Girish K. Saligram, Weatherford
H
aving had the privilege of living on three continents, working
across multiple industries, and conducting business in several
countries, I have seen the impact digital technology has on
business, people, and communities. Throughout my career, I
have witnessed lifesaving and life-changing digital innovation that changes
the trajectory of organizations and industries. As someone who entered
the workforce during the dot-com era with a background in computer
science, I continue to be amazed by how yesterday’s differentiation
becomes today’s necessity … and tomorrow’s obsolescence challenge.
The pace of innovation in digital is unprecedented in the annals of
human innovation. Personally, I only need to look at my kids to get a
sense of that. While we learned to ride a bicycle the same way despite
a 3-decade gap, the way we communicate, interact, learn, and create
is radically different, enabled by digital platforms that permeate every
aspect of life. It is natural therefore to envision that the generations
that grow up in these digitally enabled environments will expect,
demand, and enable the same degree of digital connectivity in
business as they come into and subsequently lead our industry.
Oil and gas is an industry that is not just impressive in size, scale,
and scope. It is also a sector that deploys technology across the spectrum
of breadth and depth. It is unique in that it enables the convergence
of several technology domains, including mechanical, material
science, hardware, software, automation, instrumentation, artificial
intelligence (AI), and others. That, too, in some of the most extreme
conditions of temperature, pressure, and accessibility on the planet.
Natural business drivers like operational efficiency have been
complemented by workforce changes and sustainability agendas
to enable this array of technological prowess. In the recent years,
companies have leveraged digital as a competitive advantage. Digital
technologies have enabled cost efficiencies, speed of operations, and
safety enhancements. However, like in other sectors, there are fast
followers as well as disruptors who can leapfrog advances. As a result,
the industry is embracing digital technology as not just a differentiator,
but as an enabler of innovation. The simple reality is that if one doesn’t,
they risk being out of the game.

Generational Changes
One of the biggest drivers I see in the changes
taking shape across our industry stems from a
convergence of several shifts in the workforce.
It is well known that the sector has an aging
workforce, and the Great Crew Change is upon
us. That, coupled with the fact that we are seeing
labor shortages in some markets and that it has
become increasingly harder to attract talent into
this space, necessitates change. For example, in
the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, we are seeing
an increased desire to work from home vs. take
on rotational work—the jobs that are based in the
field are not as appealing as they were a generation
ago. In addition, the incoming generation demands
that large corporations do more to make a positive
impact on the world. And they’re right. We have
a duty to act responsibly, to improve quality of
life, and reduce environmental impacts. We must
think and act differently if we are going to continue
competing for top talent—the type of talent that will
continue revolutionizing the industry. So, what does
that mean? From my perspective, there are a several
key areas our industry must continue investing in.
Operational efficiency through LEAN workflows.
An essential component of innovating is looking
at your operating workflows and finding ways
to improve upon them—keeping the customers’
needs front and center. Leveraging technology
to improve the speed and efficiency of everyday
activities such as equipment redeployment,
inventory management, and fulfillment makes a
sizeable impact when viewed over the long term.
Ultimately, our goal is to get the best equipment
and services to the field for our customers, deliver
safe and quality operations, and yield the highest
levels of production out of their assets as possible.
This isn’t a case of taking the same approach with
a rinse and repeat mindset. Instead, it is a cycle of
constant reset, refresh, and rejuvenate.
Enabling well integrity and remote operations.
Remote operations have been a game changer for
GUEST EDITORIAL
the industry, and I think we are just getting started.
The physics of constructing a well involves hundreds,
if not thousands, of connections—each being a
potential failure point which can compromise the
integrity of the entire asset. Furthermore, manually
making up so many connections can lead to
complacency, which increases the risk of mistakes,
injuries, or—even worse—fatalities. Outcomes
such as these cost the industry billions as well as
potentially its reputation. To eliminate these risks,
we must continue to invest in mechanization,
automation, and remote operations that are
designed to get people out of the red zone while
delivering predictable and verifiable outcomes.
Investments like this today are what will ensure the
sustainability of our industry tomorrow.
Better outcomes through AI decision making.
The past several years have shown us just how
quickly technology is advancing the industry. We
live in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, and
if you want to succeed you have to be adaptable.
You have to be willing to take risks and be a
pioneer. A mere 5 years ago, the idea of widespread
AI usage in our personal and professional lives
would have been incomprehensible to some. Now,
it’s everywhere. Just look at your web browser or
online shopping cart.
However, I firmly believe looking to the
future doesn’t mean turning your back on your
legacy. To the contrary, there is great power
in harnessing your strengths and decades of
experience in operations. The key is, you have
to be open to turning things on their head and
looking at challenges differently. That’s another
area where I believe this change in the workforce
landscape is actually working to our benefit. You
have a combination of a wealth of knowledge and
experience from your seasoned workforce and the
fresh, different perspectives of a budding workforce
combining to unlock new potential, such as
harnessing AI to make decisions. Several companies
are leveraging data, machine learning, and AI
to predict what is going to happen subsurface
jpt.spe.org 13
 GUEST EDITORIAL
and respond immediately—limiting exposure to
personnel and the environment in the process.
Decarbonization Through Technology
Integration and Optimization
The pathway to lower carbon, renewable energy,
and a more sustainable world threads its way
through the energy industry, and we take
responsibility and pride that we can do our part
in helping to deploy and scale lower-emissions
technology. The focus areas I’ve touched on today—
automation, remote operations, and digitalization—
are all essential to the energy transition.
We must continue to revolutionize the oil
and gas sector. Existing oil and gas production
will continue to sustain the world’s overall energy
needs, but we must accept the responsibility of
actively seeking new methods to help reduce the
industry’s carbon footprint and make all operations
more efficient and sustainable by integrating
products, services, and digital workflows. For
example, we are applying existing technology
in innovative ways and leveraging the expertise
of our people to reduce the carbon intensity of
our existing operations and also through carbon
capture and sequestration solutions.
Better Customer Operational Outcomes
Through Digital Data Mining
When I think about digital data mining, I am referring
to pulling data from all parts of the asset lifecycle,
correlating the data elements, finding commonalities,
and delivering better insights on well dynamics, well
integrity, and failure points. In our own portfolio,
we drive this through production optimization,
real-time drilling optimization, and intelligent
managed-pressure drilling. Furthermore, data mining
may also lead to better equipment reliability—
optimizing when and how assets are serviced
to ensure peak performance at optimal costs.
This is a common theme and a view shared by
thought leaders in the industry. We’re all out here
trying to do the right thing and make a positive
impact. So, that means we must get creative. You
14 JPT | November 2023
can take any traditional oilfield operation and apply
a digital methodology to it. In doing so, not only
can you achieve improved drilling performance
and enhanced safety, but also improved reservoir
productivity. What we’re seeing is that wells
previously deemed undrillable are becoming
accessible through technology.
Optimizing Your Internal Business
Everything we have talked about to this point is
about bringing value to the customer. The other
part of the equation is delivering value to our
shareholders. To do that, we need to optimize
our business operations by delivering simplified
cost structures, improved internal productivity,
supply chain optimization, and more. This is
where generative AI becomes essential as we
move forward. As the adage goes, we need to
work smarter and not harder—leveraging data to
drive decision making. Through generative AI, we
can make predictions about our operations and
conduct testing scenarios of new business models
before implementing them to define the most
profitable outcomes for all.
Closing Thoughts
We must continue raising the bar and seeking
opportunities for innovation. There are countless
consumer-based examples of digitalization in other
industries coming from a couple of progressive
thinkers working out of their garage—think Silicon
Valley. Digitalization has the power to upend
industries and change the landscape for the
better. Our industry faces similar challenges of
disruption now, and we have the opportunity to
be the disrupters. We have the opportunity to set
the standard—so much so that other industries
will emulate our actions. We don’t have to rely on
someone else to come in and fix things. Instead, we
need to drive positive change through partnership,
our own innovations, and by leveraging decades
of experience. If you haven’t already shifted your
mindset on this, you risk sitting on the sidelines.
So, who’s game? JPT

Shell Completes Sale of Interest
in Indonesia’s Masela Block
Shell Upstream Overseas Services Ltd. (SUOS),
a subsidiary of Shell plc, has completed the
previously announced sale of its 35% participating
interest in Indonesia’s Masela Production Sharing
Contract (PSC) to Indonesia’s PT Pertamina Hulu
Energi and Malaysia’s Petronas Masela Sdn. Bhd.
Completion of the sale follows regulatory
approval from Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources for the transfer of SUOS’ stake
to PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Masela and Petronas
Masela. The sale includes the Abadi gas project.
This divestment is in line with Shell’s focus
on disciplined capital allocation. Shell remains
active in Indonesia’s downstream and low-carbon
fuel sectors.
E&P NOTES
INPEX Corporation holds a 65% operating
interest in Masela PSC and is the operator of the
Abadi gas project. Abadi is in the Masela block,
150 km offshore Saumlaki in Maluku province,
Indonesia.
SUOS acquired its interest in the Masela PSC
in 2011.
Eni Discovers Gas Giant off Indonesia
Eni has struck significant gas reserves with its Geng
North-1 exploration well drilled in North Ganal
PSC, about 85 km off the coast of East Kalimantan
in Indonesia. Preliminary estimates indicate a total
structure discovered volume of 5 TcF of gas in
place with a content of condensate estimated up to
400 million bbl. The acquired data will allow study
of the options for a fast-track development.
jpt.spe.org 15
 E&P NOTES
Geng North-1 was drilled to a depth of 5025 m
in 1947-m water depth, encountered a gas column
about 50-m thick in a Miocene sandstone reservoir
with excellent petrophysical properties. A well
production test was successfully performed for a
full assessment of the gas discovery and although
limited by the test facilities, it has allowed a well
capacity estimate of up to 80–100 MMcf/D and up
to 6,000 B/D of condensate.
Given its location and significant size,
the discovery has the potential to contribute
substantially to the creation of a new production
hub in the Northern part of the Kutei Basin to be
connected to the Bontang LNG facilities on the
coast of East Kalimantan.
In addition to Geng North, more than 5 Tcf
of gas in place are estimated to be present
in undeveloped discoveries within the area
of interest, while ongoing studies focus on a
significant multi-Tcf exploration potential.
Eni North Ganal Ltd. holds a 50.22%
participating interest and operates the PSC,
with Neptune Energy North Ganal BV and
Agra Energi I Pte Ltd. as partners, holding the
remaining 38.04% and 11.74%, respectively.
Israel Halts Production From Tamar
Israel has suspended production at the Tamar
gas field off its southern coast and will seek
16 JPT | November 2023
Tamar platform.
alternative fuel sources to meet its needs, the
energy ministry said following missile attacks from
Hamas in Gaza.
Chevron, which operates the field, confirmed it
had been instructed by the ministry to shut down
the field, which is a major source of gas to the
country. Some of Tamar’s gas is also exported to
neighboring Jordan and Egypt.
Tamar is located some 25 km off the city of
Ashdod along Israel’s southern Mediterranean coast.
Israel’s largest offshore gas field, Leviathan,
continues to operate normally.
Chevron owns a 25% stake in Tamar, while
Isramco holds 28.75%, the UAE’s Mubadala Energy
11%, Union Energy 11%, Tamar Petroleum 16.75%,
Dor Gas 4%, and Everest owns 3.5%.
Trinidad and Tobago Offering
Shallow-Water Blocks
Trinidad and Tobago has launched an auction of
13 shallow-water oil and gas exploration blocks,
more than double the number of blocks in its last
auction, said Reuters.
In 2019, the government offered six blocks and
a Shell and BP consortium bid for three, but those
bids were rejected by the government for failing to
meet the minimum threshold.

Trinidad is Latin America’s largest producer of
LNG, with installed capacity of 15 mtpa.
The government is offering 13 shallow-water
blocks, all located on the continental shelf near
areas where both oil and gas are being produced.
The round’s period for receiving bids will finish in
early April.
Trinidad Finance Minister Colm Imbert
announced changes to the fiscal regime, including a
reduction in tax liability for shallow-water producers,
which the country hopes will make it more attractive.
Among the changes are an increase of cost
recovery to 60% from 50; the windfall tax was
reduced to 50% from 70; the period for exploration
increased to 8 years from 6; and the bid fee was
reduced to $30,000 from $40,000.
BP and Shell recently signed production-
sharing contracts to explore three deepwater
E&P NOTES
blocks in Trinidad and are the largest shareholders
in the country’s flagship LNG project, Atlantic LNG.
TotalEnergies Launches Development
Studies for $9-Billion Project off
Suriname
TotalEnergies has announced the launching of
the development studies for a large oil project in
Block 58, offshore Suriname. Appraisal of the two
main oil discoveries, Sapakara South and Krabdagu,
was completed in August 2023 with the drilling and
testing of three wells and confirmed combined
recoverable resources close to 700 million bbl for
the two fields.
The reserves, located in water depths
between 100 and 1000 m, will be produced
through a system of subsea wells connected to
an FPSO located 150 km off the Suriname coast,
jpt.spe.org 17
 E&P NOTES
with an oil production capacity of 200,000 B/D.
TotalEnergies said the project will represent an
investment of approximately $9 billion.
The detailed engineering studies will start by
the end of 2023 and the final investment decision is
expected by the end of 2024 with a first production
target in 2028.
TotalEnergies is the operator of Block 58, with a
50% interest, alongside APA Corporation (50%).
DNO Makes Discovery at Norma
in the North Sea
DNO has made a significant gas condensate
discovery at its Norma prospect in the Norwegian
North Sea license PL984. Preliminary evaluation
of the discovery indicates gross recoverable
resources in the range of 25–130 million
BOE on a P90-P10 basis, with a mean of
70 million BOE, in a Jurassic reservoir zone
with high‑quality sandstones.
Located 20 km northwest of the Balder
hub and 30 km south of the Alvheim hub,
Norma is situated in an area with extensive
infrastructure in the central part of the North Sea,
with tieback options offering potential routes
to commercialization.
Drilled to a vertical depth of 4800 m with
the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig, Norma is DNO’s
first operated high-pressure/high-temperature
exploration well. At 4650 m, the discovery well
Deepsea Yantai.
18 JPT | November 2023
encountered a 16-m hydrocarbon column in a
20-m gross reservoir section in Jurassic sandstones.
DNO is calling the discovery a play-opener for
the deep turbiditic sands in this area given the
exceptionally good reservoir quality encountered.
Plans are underway to further delineate the
discovery and the upside potential in the license.
Before further appraisal drilling, improved seismic
imaging and remapping will be undertaken to
identify an optimal location for the next well.
DNO was awarded an interest in PL984 in 2019
through its wholly owned subsidiary DNO Norge
AS. The company holds a 30% operating interest.
The other partners in the license are Source Energy
AS, Equinor Energy AS, Vår Energi ASA (20% each),
and Aker BP ASA (10%).
W&T Offshore Completes Shallow-Water
US Gulf Purchase
W&T Offshore has completed the acquisition of
working interests in eight shallow-water oil- and
gas-producing assets in the central and eastern
shelf region of the Gulf of Mexico from an
undisclosed private seller for $32 million.
The acquisition has a closing date of
20 September 2023, and an effective date of
1 June 2023. W&T used its cash on the balance
sheet to pay the net purchase price.
The deal includes estimated production as
of 12 September 2023, of about 2,400 BOE/D
(42% oil) with around two-thirds of the
production operated.
The acquired assets, encompassing 30,646
gross acres (22,079 net acres), also add proved
reserves of 3.2 million BOE (49% oil).
Eni Nets Two Egyptian Oil Blocks
at Auction
Italy’s Eni was the big winner in an Egyptian
auction for oil and gas exploration rights, securing
concessions for two of the four blocks outright,
according to results from the petroleum ministry.
The company also won a third block with BP
and QatarEnergy in the Mediterranean Sea, while

Russia’s Zarubezhneft was awarded a block in the
Nile Delta.
Zarubezhneft’s win is a rare expansion abroad
by a Russian company since the invasion of Ukraine
in February 2022.
Zarubezhneft already operates in seven
countries, including Egypt where it is holds
stakes in production sharing agreements on
offshore tracts.
The Egyptian government in July announced
the start of a $1.8-billion program to drill natural
gas exploration wells in the Mediterranean Sea
and Nile Delta.
Indonesia Tweaks Oil Terms
To Attract Investment
Indonesia’s energy minister announced the
government had made improvements in its oil
E&P NOTES
and gas terms that would allow contractors to
have equity shares of more than 50% in some
new blocks to attract investment.
The nation is keen to boost output from its rich
gas reserves while it still can, as global investors
shift increasingly away from fossil fuels.
Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said 68 of the
country’s 128 hydrocarbon basins remained
entirely unexplored.
Tasrif said the new terms were being offered
starting from the previously announced third
bidding round this year. The nation is offering
three exploration blocks—Akimeugah I and
Akimeugah II onshore blocks, each with estimated
gas resources of 15 billion BOE, and the Bobara
exploration block located off West Papua. Bobara
has estimated oil and gas resources of around
6.8 billion BOE. JPT
 FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing

THE THIRD WAY

How BKV Turned to ‘Hybrid’
Refracs in the Barnett Shale
TRENT JACOBS, JPT Senior Technology Editor

20 JPT | November 2023


A refracturing operation in the
Barnett Shale—one of hundreds
that BKV Corp. has recently
completed in the mature shale
gas play. Source: BKV Corp.
FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing
W
hile refracturing has maintained
a backseat role in the US
shale sector, with capital
overwhelmingly flowing toward new
well programs, there’s been a notable exception
brewing in the Barnett Shale.
Last year, from within the asset that holds
the very well that ignited the shale revolution,
gas producer BKV Corp. announced that it had
become the top refracturing operator in the
US. From November 2020 through February of
this year, covering a span of just 28 months,
the Barnett Shale operator completed an
eye‑opening 369 Barnett refracs.
The breath of life BKV pumped down
those north Texas wells was enough to
temporarily arrest the decline rate of the most
mature of all shale plays. BKV reports that the
Barnett refrac program has generated 371 Bcf/e
of newly proved reserves with a finding and
development cost of $0.79/Mcf/e.
But putting these figures aside, what
else stands out about the campaign is how
it was done.
To rejuvenate many of the vintage
wellbores, the Denver-based operator,
a subsidiary of a Thailand-based energy
conglomerate, said it developed an innovative
approach called the “hybrid expandable
liner system.”
“It is very simply a combination of both
bullhead and liner methods where we attempt
to minimize the downsides and maximize the
positives of both,” Kevin Eichinger, a senior
completions engineer for BKV, explained at a
recent SPE gathering in Houston.
The concept involves installing as little
as a few hundred feet of expandable steel
patches over a well’s original heel-side
perforations to allow for several new plug-
and-perforation stages. The toe-end of the
wellbore is left unlined but new perforations
can be added before it is stimulated using a
bullhead treatment.
jpt.spe.org 21
 FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing
Chart shows production declines were halted after BKV launched a significant refracturing campaign and workovers
with no new drilling activity. Source: BKV Corp./URTeC 3855094.
Eichinger, who leads the operator’s refrac
candidate selection and job design efforts,
described the end result as “liner-like performance
without the cost of a full liner.”
The completions engineer outlined these
and other details while presenting a technical
paper he recently coauthored. The subject of a
number of industry meetings since it was first
published in June, URTeC 3855094 discusses BKV’s
inaugural hybrid refracturing trial that achieved
twice the average output of neighboring bullhead
refracs while also besting legacy liner refrac
performance achieved from operated legacy wells.
The success of this first attempt paved the
way for hundreds of subsequent jobs in the Barnett
where the company operates or holds interest in
more than 6,900 wells across 460,000 gross acres.
More on BKV’s hybrid refracs follows, but
worth noting is that the firm is in the midst
of a “quiet period” pending the outcome of a
potential move to become a publicly traded
company in the US and has refrained from issuing
updates about the current state of its operations
in either the Barnett or the Marcellus Shale
in Pennsylvania.
22 JPT | November 2023
Welcome to Refrac Country
BKV became the largest producer and landholder
in the Barnett following its purchase of Devon
Energy’s assets in 2020.
Notably, the Devon transaction included the
C.W. Slay #1 well that Devon itself acquired nearly
2 decades earlier along with the rest of Mitchell
Energy. The well marks the spot where intrepid
engineers working for Mitchell pumped a slickwater
job that is credited with being the first to prove the
commerciality of shale gas. It also happens that it
was a refrac of sorts since wellbore was originally
completed in the 1980s using foam fracs.
In coming full circle, Eichinger related that
“the pickings are prime for refrac” across the
company’s Barnett asset where cluster spacing
typically ranges from 200 to 500 ft and proppant
intensity is in the low hundreds of pounds per foot.
Modern wells in other shale plays involve cluster
spacings ranging from 20 to 50 ft and proppant
loadings of 3,000–4,000 lb/ft.
Eichinger and other authors from BKV
penned another paper this year on the Barnett
program’s candidate selection process which
adds further perspective.

In URTeC 3869654 they wrote: “In other basins
(i.e., Bakken, Delaware, Eagle Ford, etc.) wells
drilled in 2017 may be considered ‘older vintage’
wells. In the Barnett, ‘older vintage’ wells are about
a decade older than that. These small, very early
generation hydraulic fracturing treatments present
a great opportunity for refracturing treatments to
increase overall well performance.”
A Little Patch Goes a Long Way
The first well selected by BKV to test the hybrid
refrac concept appeared to be an ideal candidate
since at 843 ft its cluster spacing was more than
twice the basin average.
That combined with a longer-than-average
lateral length of about 3,300 ft and a low proppant
intensity of just 375 lb/ft implied there was plenty
of tight gas still hiding behind the pipe.
Thanks to that extra wide cluster spacing,
BKV needed only two expandable liner patches
with a total combined length of 281 ft to cover
the shallowest two clusters of perforated
wellbore—or just 8% of the liner length that
Production allocation by stage for the hybrid expandable liner job, using gas chemical tracers.
Source: BKV Corp./URTeC 3855094.
FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing
would have been needed in a full liner installation.
Eichinger explained that the patches enabled
“liner‑like pressure handling and pump-down for
plug-and-perf operations up to the third cluster
in the well.”
Cemented or packer liner systems could have
also been used in a similar way here to line only a
portion of the well, but expandable patch variants
leave behind larger post-job internal diameters
(ID) which the operator found to be a notable
benefit when running recompletion tools and
long‑distance plugs. The expandable system can
also be set horizontally which BKV said shortened
the required liner length and drove costs down.
With the patching, BKV’s engineers had a newly
isolated section more than 2000 ft in length; room
enough to squeeze in eight fresh plug-and-perf
stages with a total of 40 clusters with an average
spacing of about 50 ft. By contrast, the single
1,300 ft bullhead stage design included 14 clusters
with an average spacing closer to 100 ft.
Chemical gas tracers analysis performed
during the production stage showed 90‑day
jpt.spe.org 23
 FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing
The hybrid expandable liner system stage and cluster design of the first
trial in the Barnett Shale in 2020. Source: BKV Corp./URTeC 3855094.
average post-refrac output from each
individual plug-and-perf stage was 232% of
the bullhead stage.
Magnifying this result is the fact that the
bullhead stage is more than five times longer
than the plug-and-perf stages. BKV’s paper points
out that on a per-foot-of-pay basis, this means the
plug-and-perf stages netted nearly a twelvefold
incremental uplift.
Ultimately, the operator found that its first
hybrid well outperformed not only the median of
more than 180 other bullhead refracs from the
same field, but also the median output seen in
30 of the full liner refracs completed before BKV
acquired the asset.
Avoiding the Worst of Both Worlds
Traditionally, operators have relied on either
bullhead refracturing, which involves simply
pumping the entire lateral as a single stage, or
liner methods, which are more complex and costly
but give engineers a chance to design a modern
multistage job inside an old wellbore.
And as the name suggests, bullheading is
not the most sophisticated approach but it has
24 JPT | November 2023
plenty of champions. They
point out that with a price
tag of around half a million
to a million dollars, bullheads
count as perhaps the most
affordable way to access
bypassed reserves.
BKV’s paper does not include
financial metrics, but Eichinger
noted that BKV has seen “very
economic” bullhead jobs and
that they remain a tool in the
toolbox at the company. That
said, there appears to be a line
of diminishing returns when it
comes to bullheads.
Coauthors on the hybrid
refrac paper include experts
from the ProTechnics division
of Houston‑based Core Laboratories which in
2017 published research showing that bullheading
struggles to stimulate spans of wellbore longer
than about 2,300 ft.
Eichinger said the conclusions drawn by
ProTechnics in that prior work agrees with BKV’s
own findings that bullhead refrac performance
does not positively correlate to lateral length.
He said this strongly supports the idea that “you
will get the same ultimate performance from
a bullhead independent of your well’s lateral
length,” implying that bullheads in longer laterals
are likely leaving behind meaningful volumes of
recoverable resources.
Meanwhile, cemented liners essentially remove
the risk of such poor stimulation efficiency. For this,
the technology has gained traction among some of
the larger operators that have recently ramped up
refrac campaigns in the Eagle Ford Shale and the
Permian Basin.
However, one big limiter for the wider use of
liner-based refracs is that they may cost close to
an order of magnitude more than bullhead jobs.
Additionally, operators have pointed out that
liners face installation risks inside older casing

strings suffering from mechanical integrity issues
or deformation.
But more relevant to some is that as
mentioned, liner jobs reduce ID and in a full
install that counts for the length of the lateral.
Eichinger related that this issue “isn’t just
something that hits you once—ID restrictions hit
you at just about every point in the operation
throughout the life of the well.”
With a tighter ID, Eichinger said operators face
tough choices on what types of plugs they can run
while still being able to set in the larger diameter
casing below the patch and should expect to see
higher treating pressures during a refrac which
tends to drive up pumping costs. And arguably more
important than that, the engineer added that, “when
it’s time to produce, you are producing through that
restricted ID with additional flow losses.”
Validating a Difference Maker
Another compelling argument that the BKV
refrac study hinges on is a “what-if” scenario
the engineering team ran to make sure the
hybrid refrac was a true winner. They did this by
comparing the well’s actual performance under
the hybrid refracturing treatment to a hypothetical
outcome had a conventional bullhead-style
treatment been employed.
Leaning on the gas tracer data once again,
a counterfactual performance estimate was
generated by focusing solely on the production
from the initial bullhead stage. This effectively
sidelined the contributions the plug-and-perf
stages and means that the bullhead portion
of the well would be expected to have similar
performance even if it had been extended to
cover the entire length of the lateral.
The findings were illuminating for the
engineering team and showed the hybrid
FEATURE | Hybrid Refracturing
system’s performance was more closely aligned
with that of a full liner job.
While pointing to a chart showing the
estimated vs. actual performance data, Eichinger
said the team concluded that as a hybrid, the
well performed almost 3 times as well had it been
just a bullhead.
“As a bullhead-only,” he said, “it would have
underperformed the fieldwide average; in fact, it
would have even underperformed the regional
average, but as a hybrid it outperformed the
regional and fieldwide average of fully lined wells—
and once again, we did this by lining only 8% of
the well.”
One final implication Eichinger highlighted is
that with the hybrid refrac well proven, BKV has
recalibrated its candidate selection process: “Wells
with laterals that have really wide cluster spacing
but are too long to bullhead can now be prioritized
as candidates with higher rankings.” JPT
FOR FURTHER READING
URTeC 3855094 Hybrid Expandable Liner System:
A Performance-Enhancing, Cost-Effective
Alternative to Bullhead Refracturing
by Kevin Eichinger, Sam French, Ken Day,
Jared Brady, and Ryan Epperson, BKF Corporation,
and Richard Leonard and Brad Leonard,
ProTechnics, Core Laboratories
URTeC 3869654 Integrated Well Performance
Analysis Methodology to Understand
Production Performance and Identify
Refracturing Candidates in Barnett Shale
by Eric Bryan, Rex Richard, Connor Holasek,
Nima Hosseinpour-Zonoozi, and Dilhan Ilk,
DeGolyer and MacNaughton, and Charles Melvin,
Kevin Eichinger, Brian Rankosky, Brian Ingalls,
Sam French, and Ken Day, BKV Corporation
jpt.spe.org 25
 FEATURE | Lithium Extraction

It Is Easy To Find
Lithium; Turning
a Profit Is Hard
STEPHEN RASSENFOSS, Emerging Technology Senior Editor

Produced water samples gathered in the Barnett Shale to measure

the potential for extraction of lithium and other minerals.
Source: Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin.

F
inding lithium in the water from oil and
gas wells is easy. Finding enough to
make money is hard.
In the US and Canada there has
been growing interest in directly
extracting lithium from the water coming out of
the oil/water separator, which is competing with
more established techniques such as mining and
evaporating lithium-rich fluids.
The race to find lithium is driven by expectations
that fast-rising electric car sales will make the lithium
required for batteries in those vehicles a valuable
commodity. Those chasing direct extraction are also
betting that their innovations can do what they say.
Direct extraction from water started looking like
a real possibility earlier this year when ExxonMobil
paid $100 million to buy a company holding
120,000 gross acres of leases in south Arkansas.

26 JPT | November 2023


The price reflected the location in the heart of
the direct lithium extraction industry of the future.
The area offers a unique combination of lithium-
rich water plus the infrastructure and expertise
needed to transport, process, and dispose of the
billions of gallons of water needed for industrial-
scale mineral extraction.
Commercial production of battery-quality lithium
carbonate in Arkansas is years off. But the sprawling
network of water-producing wells, pipelines, and
processing that have made the state one of the
world’s leading bromine producers, lowers the risk
and cost of commercial lithium production.
The source of the lithium-rich water is the
Smackover—an oil formation discovered near
El Dorado, Arkansas, back in 1921 when a gusher
blew in. A year after that discovery, there were
608 producing wells nearby, according to the
El Dorado News-Times.
Now with lithium looking like battery gold,
investors are rushing in. In this emotional
market, lithium carbonate prices have swung
like cryptocurrency.
As of mid-October, a ton of it was selling for
about $25,000. Over the past quarter it averaged
$32,000/ton. Late last year it stood at $85,000. And
in 2021 it was going for $10,000, said Graham Bain,
vice president for subsurface opportunities
at Enverus. He offered $25,000/ton as a “go
forward price.”
As with oil and gas, hopes of high prices have
a way of rapidly increasing supplies, resulting in
price-crashing gluts. So far, most oil companies
sound curious but far from committed to lithium.
“There’s a big rush. I have received several
requests from companies in the Permian Basin to
discuss lithium in the water,” said Jean-Philippe
Nicot, senior research scientist at the Bureau of
Economic Geology (BEG) at The University of Texas
at Austin.
He is the lead author on recent paper that
offered a primer on what’s known about lithium
brines from oil wells in states from Texas to
Mississippi. It is based on nearly 1,802 water
FEATURE | Lithium Extraction
analyses from the US Geological Survey (USGS)—
some dating back to the 1960s—plus a recent
576‑well survey by the BEG.
The geologists, whose work ranged from hard-
rock mining to water research, said this is an early
effort to begin figuring out how to find the lithium
in subsurface water.
The survey of past data offers a few places
to look for the next Arkansas, starting with the
Smackover in east Texas and elsewhere, as well as
prospects in south Texas and the Texas Panhandle.
The biggest source of US onshore oil production
was not on the list.
“Unfortunately, there is not much lithium as
far as we can tell in the Permian Basin, which is
regrettable because there’s so much produced
water being pulled out of the ground over there,”
Nicot said.
But a consistent message in the report is that
it is early in the hunt. At this stage the available
public data is limited. That and questions about the
quality of analyses dating back more than 50 years
led the BEG to do a survey with support from the
US Department of Energy.
The tricky job of getting permission from oil
companies to sample and test their water was
done by Kristine Uhlman, a hydrogeologist, who
retired from the BEG some years ago but continues
to work on research projects for the bureau.
Her pitch to well owners was, “We’ll collect
your sample and analyze it, and if you have a lot
of lithium, you might make more money from the
lithium than you do from the petroleum,” she said.
Based on the survey, she wondered if that
message was exaggerating the chance of success.
Only about 6% of the wells had commercial levels
of lithium in the water (80 mg/L).
When it comes to lithium claims, landowners
are wise to be cautious, said Laura Capper,
principal at EnergyMakers Advisory Group, an
energy industry consultant specializing in water
treatment for emerging markets.
Based on thousands of water analyses she
has seen, the average lithium concentrations
jpt.spe.org 27
 FEATURE | Lithium Extraction
reported in some industry reports are based on
“wishful thinking.”
It some ways it is like the early days of oil, when
wildcatters armed with little understanding or tools
for finding oil and gas, drilled a lot of dry holes in
search of a big discovery.
While the USGS database is the best available
public starting point for exploration, it has its flaws.
In the 268 old USGS samples in the Anadarko
Basin, the 50 from Texas averaged more than
100 mg/L—with the highest numbers concentrated
near the Amarillo Arch. On the other side of the
border, Oklahoma averaged less 6 mg/L, the BEG
paper said.
When the BEG checked on those results by
trying to sample “the same areas and possibly the
same wells,” the new samples “did not show any
Li [lithium] enrichment.”
The paper concluded that lithium resources
in the Anadarko Basin “need to be more clearly
demonstrated.”
What Looks Good
Based on the recent BEG review, the most
promising spots were the in the Smackover,
ranging from east Texas to Mississippi. Also on
the list were: the gas-producing deep Edwards
formation in south Texas and, to a lesser degree,
gas-producing areas in the Eagle Ford Shale.
And despite their inability to confirm some
old positive results in the Anadarko, it is still
a possibility.
Shale plays generally lack a feature common to
good lithium water sources, the high permeability
needed to deliver high volumes of water. A big
exception is the Permian, particularly in the
Delaware Basin.
While good lithium concentrations have been
found in the Marcellus Shale, the water production
falls short of what is needed to efficiently extract
tons of a mineral measured in parts per million
(ppm). The same is true in the Haynesville Shale.
The Barnett Shale suffers from low lithium
concentrations.
28 JPT | November 2023
The Smackover in east Texas has some of the
highest lithium concentrations outside of Arkansas,
It has attracted the interest of Standard Lithium,
which is developing a $1.3-billion-plus lithium
production project in Arkansas, the company said
on its website.
But even the Smackover is “not a sure bet”
everywhere. Nicot said there are wide localized
swings in the test results. The lithium in 12 samples
from northern Louisiana, just across from prime
acreage in Arkansas, ranged from less than 5 mg/L
to a couple samples exceeding 100 mg/L.
Nicot suspects the differences reflect the
ability of lithium to travel up to the water-
producing formations. “You need a way to
transport the brine because clearly the Smackover
is a clean carbonate with no lithium in the rock
itself,” he said.
One explanation is that lithium comes from
lithium-rich granitic rocks, such as feldspar.
This theory favors carbonate formations
down near the basement rock because the trip
up is short. Concentrations will vary based on the
presence or absence of highly conductive faults.
Lithium Measures Matter
Lithium concentrations in brine are measured
two ways—ppm and mg/L.
In general discussions, 100 ppm and
100 mg/L are roughly equivalent measures,
but not in engineering work.
For those working with formulas, this
matters because lithium is found in fluids with
high levels of dissolved solids—which can
vary widely—leading to significant differences
between ppm and mg/L measures.
ppm should be understood as mg/kg—
mg of lithium and kg of fluid whose weight
will vary based on the density of the dissolved
solids. A volume measure does not reflect the
variability in density.
Source: Kristine Uhlman, Bureau of Economic Geology.

Carbonates are a plus because they are less likely
to combine with highly reactive lithium.
There are other origin stories. A paper from
the Alberta Energy Regulator/Geological Survey
identified promising areas among deeper strata—
the Devonian. Possible sources of lithium include
granitic pegmatites—an amalgam including
feldspar. Another source is ancient deposits of
seawater or meteoric brines that evaporated,
concentrating the lithium.
The huge gap between the number of
produced water samples tested and the number
of possible formations has left Nicot wanting
a lot more samples and the grant money to
collect them.
Nicot said that he is continually asking well
owners for water to test “because many formations
haven’t been sampled, so we don’t know exactly
where they are” in terms of mineral content.
On the list of interesting but undrilled
possibilities includes the Smackover in south Texas.
Because an area has not justified drilling by oil
companies does not mean it is not good for lithium.
“The problem is, you need gas production”
to justify drilling wells, Nicot said, adding, “You
may have high-lithium formations with no oil or
FEATURE | Lithium Extraction
Larger dots show
the location of water
samples with high
concentrations of
lithium. Source:
Bureau of Economic
Geology.
gas nearby. But these formations would be hard
to sample because we’re not going to drill 5,000-
or 10,000-ft wells. It just doesn’t make sense at
this point.”
The Permian Question
In the Permian, old USGS data offered one spot
that looked extremely promising. A well in the
northern Delaware Basin—the accompanying
data did not say exactly where—appeared to
have lithium concentrations riveling the best in
Arkansas—493 mg/L.
The problem was other samples from nearby
wells were not nearly as good. The BEG paper said,
“We believe this isolated concentration might be
too high by an order of magnitude and might result
in a transcription error.”
Even if accurate, that high reading would need
to be repeated many times over a large area to
deliver the volumes of water needed for lithium
extraction. Permian sampling has found relatively
low-concentration water in the Wolfcamp, Bone
Springs, and Spraberry formations. But this huge,
deep basin has many horizons to consider.
Earlier this year, an emailed report summary
from Enverus estimated that five operators in
jpt.spe.org 29
 FEATURE | Lithium Extraction
the Delaware Basin could produce from 3,000 to
11,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year—which
at the current price per ton would be worth from
$105 million to $385 million.
Based on some quick calculations, Nicot said
that would require lithium concentrations of
around 100 ppm, and the samples he had seen
in that area were around 15 ppm.
When asked about the estimates, Bain
said they were focused on the potential of
the enormous volumes of produced water
flowing through Permian pipeline networks.
The water from that growing transportation
network could eliminate two expensive items
from the budget for an extraction facility: wells
and pipelines.
For example, a breakdown of the $1.3-billion
cost of Standard Lithium’s planned extraction
operation in south Arkansas lists the wells as the
highest-cost line item. That plus pipelines equals
nearly one-quarter of the capital cost, and one-
third of the energy cost to run it.
For big oil companies, extraction could
represent an added source of income. While
lower concentrations would likely mean margins
lower than Standard Lithium’s 33% profit (IRR),
Bain said it could still be “wildly economic.”
He said, “There are going to be other player
oil production companies willing to develop
lower‑concentration sources.”
Lithium concentration breakevens needed
for direct extraction of lithium require educated
guesses ranging from details of future lithium
prices to likely performance of new processing
methods. While Nicot uses a 100-ppm limit for
breakeven development, sometimes the paper
dropped to 80 ppm. Uhlman said that in China
45 ppm is used for breakeven.
Enverus also sees potential in data from
the Alberta Geological Survey. Bain said nine
companies have been started up to pursue
lithium extraction in an oil- and gas-rich province
where the highest average concentration
measured is 59 ppm in the Woodbend Group.
30 JPT | November 2023
A paper from the Alberta Geological Survey said
previous Canadian papers have set “exploration
threshold values” at a minimum of 75 ppm for
producing wells, and at an average of 50 ppm as
a regional exploration limit.
A review of a 130,000 formation water analyses
there pointed to lithium levels as high as 130 mg/L
in Devonian carbonates in west-central Alberta.
The paper suggested that like oil exploration, over
time the industry would get better at identifying
top sites for water production.
Standard Lithium said it was able to increase
the estimated average lithium levels in one of
its Arkansas projects by 52% by tightening the
boundaries of its producing area.
On the other side, the prices can rise
significantly based on cost overruns, rising
interest rates, inflation and the other risks
associated with scaling up new technology.
Surface Effects
Finding a source of lithium water is the gateway to
the billion-dollar question: Can you find enough
lithium-rich water production nearby to justify a
billion-dollar development?
Unlike oil and gas development, where a
pipeline connection to the Gulf Coast can make it
possible to sell to customers in China, the volume
of water required for lithium extraction argues for
local processing.
The surface costs shown in Standard Lithium’s
description of its planned lithium extraction
project in Arkansas offer a breakdown based
on estimates of what they will be if the 2-year
construction project begins in 2025 as expected.
The bottom line looks attractive. The
$1.3-billion project is expected to deliver a nearly
33% return (IRR) and be worth $3.1 billion (NPV),
both after taxes.
The capital budget for its Lanxess project
includes 200 miles of pipelines connected to
64 production and reinjection wells covering
150,000 acres of unitized brine leases. The system
is expected to handle 3 billion gallons of brine

annually—more than 1 million gal/D—to produce
30,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year.
That is a huge amount of water, but the high
lithium concentration—an average of 437 mg/L—
means its pipelines and processing units will be
able to produce that much product with a fraction
of system capacity and energy needed for a project
with 100 mg/L water or less.
South Arkansas offers another cost advantage.
Standard Lithium is operating in a place where
it benefits from infrastructure and expertise
developed where extraction has made this one of
the world’s leading producers of bromine.
The Lanxess project is a joint venture named
after Standard Lithium’s corporate partner, which
operates the biggest bromine extraction operation
in Arkansas. Lanxess will provide the brine supply
“via certain commercial agreements—plus access
to Lanxess’ processing infrastructure in the area,”
according to the announcement of that deal.
Standard Lithium assumes that the all-in
annual operating costs will be just over $5,200/ton
and that it will be able to sell its lithium carbonate
for $30,000/ton.
Based on that, lithium extraction will be widely
profitable. In the real world, the price of lithium
is extremely volatile and the cost of getting it
out of produced water is yet to be confirmed by
high‑volume commercial operations.
Predicting at this early stage is so iffy that Bain
described Enverus’ prediction that 500 lithium wells
will be drilled next year as a “hypothetical number.”
Extracting lithium from produced water is one
of many ideas under consideration to increase the
value of what is now mostly a waste product, which
includes projects to process produced water to a
level that has value, Capper said.
Extracting other minerals is a possibility being
studied. Based on what Nicot has seen, nothing
jumps out as a good candidate.
While the BEG study observed high levels of
potassium and boron where lithium was high,
there are low-cost sources of those commodities,
he said.
FEATURE | Lithium Extraction
Factors Associated With High
Lithium Content
• Large faults are located nearby, allowing
lithium to rise to high-permeability
formations.
• Brine has high levels of dissolved solids
other than sodium chloride.
• Concentrations of potassium and calcium
can indicate rock-water interactions that
also could add lithium.
• High boron is a “common companion of
lithium.”
• Carbonate formations are not likely to react
with lithium.
• Rock formed in hot, dry depositional
environments may be a factor.
Source: Controls on Lithium Content of Oilfield
Waters in Texas and Neighboring States.
Unlike the gusher that announced the
discovery of the Smackover, this is not going
to be a sudden change.
“The science is tricky, and big players have
a really long trajectory,” Capper said. JPT
FOR FURTHER READING
Controls on Lithium Content of Oilfield
Waters in Texas and Neighboring States
by Roxana Darvari, Jean-Philippe Nicot,
Bridget R. Scanlon, and J. Richard Kyle,
The University of Texas at Austin; Brent A. Elliott,
Independent; and Kristine Uhlman, The University
of Texas at Austin. Journal of Geochemical
Exploration, preprint, in review.
Lithium and Helium in Alberta: Data Compilation
and Preliminary Observations by S. Lyster,
T.E. Hauck, G.P. Lopez, T.L. Playter, C. Reimert,
D. Palombi, and S.K. Schultz, Alberta Energy
Regulator/Alberta Geological Survey, AER/AGS
Open File Report 2021–04.
jpt.spe.org 31
 FEATURE | Direct Air Capture

Can Direct
Air Capture Deliver?
BLAKE WRIGHT, Technology Editor

Climeworks’ Orca DAC facility in Iceland came online in

September 2021 and is 100% powered by an adjacent
hydropower plant. Source: Climeworks.

C
arbon removal is one, if not the, hottest
topic in today’s battle over correcting
the global course of climate change, and
direct air capture (DAC) is the current
darling of the carbon removal space.
DAC works to gather CO2 directly from
the atmosphere with an engineered system,
like how trees absorb CO2 for photosynthesis,
only faster and with a smaller, but manmade,
overall footprint.
Popular systems use chemical reactions to
extract CO2 from the captured air. Once captured,
the CO2 is compressed and stored in geological
formations deep in the ground, or in some cases,
used to produce low-carbon-intensity products like
diesel or aviation fuel. The rest of the captured air
is returned to the atmosphere.
The Biden administration has put its weight
behind the expansion of DAC facilities in the US.
The recent Inflation Reduction Act included tax
credits for DAC CO2 as well as broadening the
eligibility of qualified DAC facilities. It decreases
the amount of CO2 capture requirements from
100,000 tonnes per year to just 1,000.

32 JPT | November 2023


In addition, the US Department of Energy
(DOE) recently awarded up to $1.2 billion for a pair
of DAC facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Energy
Secretary Jennifer Granholm called the award a
“once-in-a-generation investment.”
When announced in August 2023, it was the
world’s largest investment in engineered carbon
removal. The projects—Battelle’s Project Cypress
and 1PointFive’s South Texas DAC hub—are
expected to eventually remove greater than
250 times more CO2 than the largest DAC facility
currently operating.
The US government isn’t the only entity putting
their money where their mouth is when it comes
to DAC. Some of the most active investors read like
a who’s who of the tech industry.
Microsoft has signed on to use Climeworks
services and agreed to purchase up to
315,000 metric tons of CO2 removal from Heirloom
Carbon Technologies. Climeworks operates a
DAC plant in Iceland. It is one of the biggest
globally, capturing and storing 36,000 mtpa of
CO2. Both Climeworks and Heirloom are partners
in Project Cypress.
Climeworks’ estimated $12-million Orca
plant came online in September 2021 and is
due to capture 4,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air
every year—equivalent to the emissions from
about 870 cars. The captured CO2 is then mixed
with water and injected into basalt rock 1 km
underground, where it slowly turns into a solid
carbonate mineral over a 2-year period.
Amazon is purchasing 250,000 metric tons of
carbon removal credits over a 10-year period from
1PointFive’s $1-billion Stratos DAC project in Ector
County, Texas, and investing in CarbonCapture Inc.
The DAC investment is part of Amazon’s Climate
Pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
In April, online payment firm Stripe teamed
up with Google parent Alphabet, Facebook
parent Meta, Shopify, and McKinsey to launch an
initiative called Frontier, which plans to purchase
$925 million worth of carbon removal by 2030
from carbon removal companies in an effort to
FEATURE | Direct Air Capture
advance research and development efforts and
lower costs.
Big oil is also a leader in the DAC movement,
and that doesn’t excite opponents of the
technology—whether its Occidental’s ownership
of 1PointFive or individual oil company plans to
move ahead with their own air capture projects.
Some see it as a fig leaf for the fossil fuel industry,
something that will keep them adding CO2 to
the atmosphere as fast, or faster, than they can
remove it.
Cost also remains a challenge for the nascent
technology. Today, it is the most expensive method
of removing CO2 from the air. According to the
International Energy Agency (IEA), future capture
cost estimates for DAC are wide-ranging and
uncertain, reflecting the early stage of technology
development, but are estimated at between $125
and $335 per tonne of CO2 for a large-scale plant
built today. Smaller facilities, depending on the
technology deployed, have top-end cost estimates
of $600/tCO2 and higher. With deployment and
innovation, capture costs could potentially fall to
under $100/tCO2.
There is a US federal tax credit supporting
DAC today dubbed 45Q, which provides up to
$35–50 per tonne of CO2 captured through DAC
and carbon capture at point sources ($50/tCO2 if
the captured carbon is sequestered underground
and $35/tCO2 if it’s used for enhanced oil recovery
or elsewhere). Additionally, there have been several
legislative proposals to enhance 45Q by providing
higher credit values and extending its timeline.
According to the IEA, 27 DAC plants have
been commissioned to date worldwide, capturing
almost 0.01 Mt CO2/year. Plans for at least
130 DAC facilities are now at various stages
of development (Fig. 1).
Oxy’s Billion-Dollar Bet
Occidental has been one of the more active oil
companies in DAC. In 2020, the company formed
1PointFive, a development company to finance
and deploy large-scale DAC technology matured
jpt.spe.org 33
 FEATURE | Direct Air Capture
Mt CO2
60 Operating capacity
Advanced development
50
Early development
40 NZE
30
20
10
0 The pellets are then moved to a calciner
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Fig. 1—CO2 capture by direct air capture, planned
projects and in the Net-Zero Scenario 2020–2030.
Source: IEA.
by carbon removal specialists Carbon Engineering.
This past August, Oxy inked a definitive purchase
agreement to acquire all the outstanding equity of
Carbon Engineering for a total cash consideration
of $1.1 billion.
“This is an important step for our company
as it will enable us to accelerate our mission
to lead the world in the large-scale removal of
carbon dioxide from the air and help advance
our shift to a sustainable, net-zero society,”
said Daniel Friedmann, chief executive of
Carbon Engineering. “This transaction will
dramatically enhance our ability to continue
developing the technology through to widespread
commercialization.”
Occidental has been working with Carbon
Engineering on DAC deployment for a half decade.
According to the company, acquiring Carbon
Engineering aligns with its integrated net‑zero
strategy and provides Occidental, through
1PointFive, the opportunity to rapidly advance
DAC technology breakthroughs and accelerate
deployment of DAC as a large-scale, cost effective,
global carbon-removal solution.
Carbon Engineering’s DAC system begins
with a series of large fans that pull air into an air
contactor where it is absorbed into a solution of
potassium hydroxide and water, which bonds to
CO2. The bonding occurs as the air moves across
a PVC packing system that resembles a honeycomb
and is designed to increase the surface area and
34 JPT | November 2023
amount of CO2 captured. The solution is then
pumped into a pellet reactor where it is combined
with calcium hydroxide and forms pellets of
calcium carbonate that hold the CO2. The pellets
are then dried, and the potassium hydroxide liquid
is filtered and recycled back to the air contactors
for reuse.
where they are exposed to high temperatures and
converted into calcium oxide and CO2. The CO2
is sent off to be compressed and either stored or
utilized in the creation of low-carbon products.
The calcium oxide pellets are recycled back into
the process via a slaker where mixed with water it
becomes calcium hydroxide that can be returned
to the pellet reactor and reused to create new
calcium carbonate pellets.
Oxy has a pair of DAC facilities that are
currently advancing through the permitting and
construction process—the South Texas DAC Hub
and Stratos in the Permian Basin.
For the South Texas DAC Hub, 1PointFive
has partnered with the historic King Ranch to
gain access to 106,000 subsurface acres with
surface access that could support a DAC and
sequestration hub with up to 30 mtpa of CO₂
removal through DAC and a storage capacity of
3 billion metric tonnes. Preparations are underway
to drill test wells at the site to gather geologic data
required to obtain a Class VI well permit to safely
sequester CO2.
“At the South Texas DAC Hub, CO2 will be
sequestered in saline formations not associated
with oil and gas production,” said Michael Avery,
president and general manager of 1PointFive.
“For Stratos, we have multiple options for captured
CO2 from DAC, including offering CO2 removal
credits generated from pure sequestration of
CO2 in saline reservoirs. We have announced
agreements with Amazon, Airbus, ANA Airlines,
the Houston Astros, and the Houston Texans, all of
which will be designated for sequestration only.”
“We have always believed that global
partnerships and cross-industry collaboration

would be required to deploy DAC infrastructure
at scale,” added Friedmann.
In April, 1PointFive broke ground in Ector
County, Texas, on Stratos—the world’s largest
DAC plant. The first stage of construction, which
includes site preparation and road work, has
already begun, two UIC Class VI permit applications
are under review at the EPA, and startup is
expected in mid-2025. Once fully operational,
Stratos is expected to capture up to 500,000 metric
tonnes of CO2 per year.
From Stratos, Oxy has pathways to generate
low-carbon products, such as net-zero oil through
enhanced oil recovery, which could make use of
Oxy’s existing fields and facilities, and lower-carbon
aviation fuel through Air to Fuels. The ultimate use
of the CO2 will be driven by customer preference.
Other Projects on the Move
Unlike the Oxy projects, Project Cypress—a
partnership between Battelle, Climeworks, and
Oxy, led by Vicki Hollub (center), and its partners in the Stratos DAC held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new
facility on 28 April. Source: 1PointFive.
FEATURE | Direct Air Capture
Heirloom—uses a different system to capture
CO2 directly from the air. While Climeworks offers
a chemical reaction system similar to Carbon
Engineering but using a solid filter rather than
a liquid compound, Heirloom’s system uses
limestone to capture CO2.
The facility will be sited in Calcasieu Parish,
Louisiana. Project Cypress was one of the projects
selected by the DOE for up to $600 million in
matching funding. The site is expected to capture
up to 1 mtpa of CO2 initially, with that number
ramping up significantly in the coming years. The
current plan is to use both the Climeworks and
Heirloom systems in tandem.
Limestone is made up of calcium oxide
(CaO) and CO2. When CO2 is removed from the
limestone, the CaO wants to return to its natural
limestone state. It becomes dried out and thirsty
for CO2. The rock will act like a sponge, pulling
CO2 from the atmosphere. Heirloom’s technology
accelerates this natural property of limestone,
jpt.spe.org 35
 FEATURE | Direct Air Capture
Artist rendering of the Stratos DAC facility currently under construction in the Permian Basin, Ector County, Texas.
Source: 1PointFive.
reducing the time it takes to absorb CO2 from
years to just 3 days.
Heirloom heats limestone mineral powder
in a kiln to remove the CO2. The powder is then
spread onto vertically stacked trays where
algorithms inform how to treat the limestone to
optimize its ability to uptake CO2. The limestone
powder is looped through the system to
continuously draw CO2 from the atmosphere.
The cyclical process not only reduces costs but
also reduces how much mineral must be mined,
according to Heirloom.
By siting Project Cypress in a region with
a history of fossil fuel production and related
industrial activity, project developers intend
to leverage the existing workforce that has
transferable skill sets to construct and operate
the facility. The result will bring fossil energy
employees into the energy transition and jobs
to southwest Louisiana.
Supermajor Shell is taking a more disciplined
approach in pursuing carbon management
technology and projects, keeping a clear line of
sight to profitable returns and the emergence of
supportive regulatory policies in wider markets.
That said, the oil company does believe that
widespread deployment of carbon management
technologies such as carbon capture and storage
and DAC is significant to the energy transition
as a whole.
36 JPT | November 2023
This past August, Shell announced its decision
to build a DAC industrial-scale demonstration
unit at the US Shell Technology Center Houston
(STCH). With targeted startup in 2025, the company
aims to prove the technical viability of its in-house
developed solid sorbent technology.
In 2020, Shell researchers consolidated their
learnings and began a dedicated technology
program to develop efficient, robust, and low-
cost solid sorbents and a matching process
design. In parallel, the team investigated DAC
demonstration opportunities and scale-up
strategies. In July 2023, the decision was made
to start the construction and operation of an
industrial-scale demonstration unit that will test
the technical viability and performance of Shell’s
DAC process. The demonstration is designed to
provide the data required to prove the viability
of Shell’s DAC technology at scale, which would
enable the capture of larger amounts of CO2. The
company believes the solid sorbent technology has
a high potential to become a techno-economically
competitive solution.
Originally initiated with a handful of scientists,
engineers, and technology experts in the
Netherlands, Shell’s DAC program currently spans
four of Shell’s main tech hubs, including the Shell
Technology Centre Bangalore in India; STCH in
Texas; Shell’s Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam;
and Shell TechWorks in Boston, Massachusetts.

Shell is also involved with the Pelican
Consortium, which includes the University of
Houston and LSU. The group is evaluating the
feasibility of building a DAC hub in Louisiana.
The consortium will focus on evaluating the
potential for scaling up and deploying multiple
DAC technologies and address some of the most
challenging aspects of DAC: energy and water
consumption and land use.
In August, the DOE awarded grant funding
to support the $4.9-million first phase of the
Pelican Gulf Coast Carbon Removal study.
The Challenges Are Real
According to the IEA, capturing CO2 from the
air is the most expensive application of carbon
capture. The CO2 in the atmosphere is much
more diluted than in, for example, flue gas from
a power station or a cement plant. This contributes
to DAC’s higher energy needs and costs relative to
these applications.
Trees are nature’s CO2 removers, and they are
very good at it. However, it takes more than just
planting new trees to meet the targeted carbon-
free goals of both international governments and
many in the private sector. This requires manmade
facilities that while designed to remove carbon
from the air, have their own carbon footprint
in all phases of development—from design and
construction to operations.
DAC is not meant to replace cutting emissions
or to be used as an excuse to kick the can down
the road, but can it be an important part of
the equation?
“I don’t think it fits at all, in any equation,” said
Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford
University. “It flat out increases carbon dioxide.
It increases air pollution, fossil-fuel mining, and
increases fossil-fuel infrastructure. There’s a simple
reason for that: it requires energy and equipment.
It is synthetic carbon capture because you need
equipment and energy to run it vs. natural direct
air capture, such as trees, which don’t require
FEATURE | Direct Air Capture
equipment or energy. So, I’m not sure what the
purpose is.”
In addition to the carbon removal facility
itself, each must also have pipelines associated
with it to move the captured carbon to its final
resting place, usually deep underground. That new
infrastructure also adds to the system’s overall
carbon footprint.
“CO2 is very diluted in the air,” added Jacobson.
“To extract it you need chemicals and energy. In
the best cases, that energy is renewable energy.
But there’s a finite amount of renewable energy
available, and if we use renewable energy to run
direct air capture equipment, just like if we use
renewable energy to run Bitcoin mining, we can’t
use that renewable energy to displace fossil fuel
power plants.”
Breakthroughs in DAC are still anticipated and
needed to make it more economic and sustainable,
such as lowering the overall energy intensity of
the removal process. Scalability is also required to
make the impact proponents are advertising. DAC
also needs a more robust regulatory framework to
guide and incentivize growth; the lack of governing
policy could stunt broad adoption.
DAC may be the flavor of the month when it
comes to carbon capture and storage today, but
it is clear that the technology needs maturity and
financial incentives to live up to the commercial
promise those actively pursuing it believe
it holds. JPT
FOR FURTHER READING
SPE 216660 Innovative Molecular Sponges:
Next‑Generation Direct Air Capture
Technology Enabled by Metal-Organic
Frameworks by A.J. Cruz, I. Parrella, G. Wenz,
J. Storey, and J. Husk, Baker Hughes.
SPE 215735 Solid Sorbent Direct Air Capture Using
Geothermal Energy Resources (S-DAC-GT)–
Model for Region Specific Economic Analysis
by Timur Kuru, Keivan Khaleghi, and Silviu Livescu,
University of Texas at Austin.
jpt.spe.org 37
DRIVING CHANGE
Cultivating an Energy Workforce
for Lasting Prosperity
JENNIFER PRESLEY, Senior Technology Editor

The growing renewables sector
presents an alternative career
option for the oil and gas
industry’s talented and skilled
workforce. Source: Getty Images.
FEATURE | Energy Workforce
T
he old phrase “many hands make light
work” is never truer than when applied
to the energy industry. It illuminates the
world’s darkest corner and energizes its
sluggish economies. Millions of hands also work
together to ensure the power is there to keep the
lights on and global markets humming.
Many also have had a hand over the past
century in building the oil and gas industry into
the multitrillion-dollar industrial sector it is today.
Ironically, it is an industry where a new hire starts as
a “worm,” earns the title of “hand,” and then possibly
ends their career decades later as a “top hand.”
These hands—the industry’s human capital—
are the most important resource in the highly
complex and technical oil and gas industry. From
the oil field to the C-suite, the collective knowledge,
attributes, skills, and experience of the workforce
that inhabit each are critical to ensuring the
industry’s long-term sustainability and future.
According to a recent Accenture study, the
energy industry will experience a lack of up to
40,000 competent workers by 2025. A 2018 study
by Korn Ferry predicted that up to 85 million jobs
could go unfilled due to skilled shortages. EY
reported that Gen Z and Millennials will make up
72% of the world’s workforce by 2029, yet 62%
stated that they find a career in the oil and gas
industry unappealing.
The oil and gas industry is at a crossroads in an
era of rapid technological advancements, shifting
global energy demands, and heightened concerns
over affordability and security. Evolving job
expectations, demographic shifts, and the growing
emphasis on sustainability are expected to play a
pivotal role in shaping the future of the sector.
Technological Advancements
and Changing Job Expectations
Amidst this evolution, one of the industry’s
most pressing challenges is the retention of its
skilled workforce. The seasoned professionals
and specialized experts who have long been the
backbone of this vital sector are now presented
jpt.spe.org 39
 FEATURE | Energy Workforce
US high-voltage transmission capacity growth per year
~1.0%
Historical pace
(2010–20)
Note: Transmission capacity growth measured using gigawatt-miles
Sources: Princeton University, Net-Zero America; Princeton University, Electricity Transmission Is Key to Unlock the Full Potential of the Inflation Reduction Act;
J.P. Morgan, 2022 Annual Energy Paper; Bain analysis
US energy transmission capacity would need to more than double to reach the IRA’s full renewable power generation
potential. Source: Bain & Company.
with an attractive alternative for those looking to
make a change.
The sector is transforming as renewable energy
sources gain prominence and environmental
concerns mount. There is no shortage of big, bold
plans to address the energy needs of the future,
but it is a future made possible by a workforce
possessing diverse tools and technical skills.
“Workforce preferences are changing,
competition for talent is growing, and many industrial
sectors now find themselves competing for many
of the same skills,” said Evelyn MacLean, workforce
energy project director for the International
Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP).
“Our industry also has a reputation challenge
that is damaging our talent pipeline, and therefore,
we have work to do collectively to promote our
industry as a viable career choice for anyone who
wishes to contribute to energy sustainability,
affordability, and security positively,” she added.
Technological advancements are transforming
the oil and gas industry, giving rise to new job
roles and changing expectations. The advent of
automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced
data analytics has shifted the focus from manual
labor to high-tech skills. This digital transformation
40 JPT | November 2023
Projection
~5%–6%
~2.3%
Pace required to unlock Pace required to achieve
full potential of IRA net zero in US
(2020–30) (2020–30)
has necessitated upskilling and reskilling, making
talent retention a strategic priority for the industry.
A recent Bain & Company survey of 600
executives revealed that finding talent to advance
technologies for energy transition is among the
top concerns among executives in oil and gas,
utilities, chemicals, mining, and agribusiness. Talent
shortages, especially for technical experts, are
slowing down progress.
The three most important technologies for
2030 will be renewable energy, digital, and energy
storage. Sixty-seven percent of executives in the
Middle East expect low-carbon hydrogen to be
significant by 2030, according to Bain & Company.
The survey found that digital and information
technology talent is at a premium, with about 60%
of executives expecting digital and AI technologies
to change their businesses significantly by 2030.
Still, they’re struggling to find the talent that
can help manage the change. Nearly 40% of the
executives surveyed said they have trouble finding
digital and IT talent.
Let’s consider, for example, the impact of the
US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the number
of electricians employed by the drilling sector.
The demand for electricians will increase as the

adoption of robotics and automation on drilling
rigs accelerates. Pressure on this demand will
also rise in the years ahead due to infrastructure
improvements brought about by the IRA.
According to Bain and Company estimates,
to support the buildout of US power grids from
2023 to 2031, about 80,000 new electricians must
be added to the workforce each year. The drilling
sector is just one of many that will be challenged to
retain its workforce and recruit new talent.
Out of the 10,000 energy professionals
surveyed for the 2023 Global Energy Talent Index
(GETI) Report, 80% said they’ve been approached
for another job in the past year, with 40% of those
saying more than a quarter of the approaches
came from an outside industry or expertise. Ten
percent have been approached 16 or more times
to apply for a position outside their company.
“The digitalization and diversification of
industry portfolios mean the workforce increasingly
has skills synergies with other sectors, such as
technology, that make them appealing,” said
Ilda Andaluz, executive vice president of global
human resources at Varel Energy Solutions. “Yet
this is also an opportunity to attract talent from
new industries.”
The IOGP’s MacLean views the scale of
potential growth expected in the demand for
skills in the modern era as being like the demand
experienced during the first Industrial Revolution.
“Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050
represents a civilization-wide transformation of
the energy system and a generational opportunity
for many energy and natural resource companies,”
she said. “It will require millions of new workers to
change over tens of millions of pieces of machinery
and equipment across both the energy and raw
materials systems and to develop hundreds of
mines and supply chains for raw materials.”
She added that the current spate of
investments in renewables worldwide will continue
to strain available workforce capacity, with multiple
forecasts predicting scarcity in STEM skills and
many other areas.
FEATURE | Energy Workforce
“Furthermore, digitizing workflows and using
generative AI requires a symbiosis between
humanity and tech—one is enabled by the other.
There’s a lot of excitement about digital across
our industry, which is positive, but we should also
link the discussions to envisioning organizations in
2030,” said MacLean.
However, the magnitude of this challenge
is significant. The younger generation, who are
digital natives, have career aspirations and values
different from their predecessors. They seek
purpose-driven work, learning opportunities, and
personal and professional life balance. Companies
are rethinking their talent management strategies
to align with these evolving expectations.
Demographic Shifts and the Talent Gap
Demographic shifts are another critical factor
impacting talent retention in the oil and gas
sector. The industry is witnessing a talent gap
as experienced professionals retire and fewer
young people opt for careers in oil and gas. This
generational shift exacerbates the industry’s talent
crisis, threatening its sustainability and success.
To bridge this gap, the industry must attract and
retain the next generation of talent. This involves
creating an inclusive and diverse work environment,
offering competitive benefits, and providing
opportunities for growth and development.
According to MacLean, the oil and gas industry’s
diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics lag others,
noting that when “combined with our reputational
headwinds, there is no room for complacency.”
“Even though we enjoy a multi-generational
workforce in many areas today, the reality is that
Gen Z and Millennials, who will make up 72% of
the workforce before the end of the decade, don’t
find our industry appealing,” she said. “Leadership
is needed to recognize the situation, promote
collaboration as an overall sector, become more
in tune with the changing workplace preferences,
and work on our attractiveness.”
MacLean noted that multiple actions could
positively change the current trends, including
jpt.spe.org 41
 FEATURE | Energy Workforce

Executives in the energy sector see talent as a top issue over the next decade
% of respondents who ranked as top three choice

70 68 Industry image, energy

transition success, and talent
all depend on increasing
60 57
diversity, equity, and inclusion

50
41 40
40
34
32
30
22
20

10

0
Image of Energy Attract Organizational Maintaining Adequate Adopting
the industry transition and retain cost and social license capital new ways
workforce complexity to operate of working

The major issues facing the energy industry according to a poll of industry executives. Source: IOGP and Bain & Company.

cultural transformation to cater to more diverse
workforces, investment in training programs and
platforms, boosting labor mobility, and providing
greater access to technology and the skills
development to use it.
The IOGP Board in 2022 commissioned a
baseline study of workforce challenges, finding
that there is a “tremendous need for a growing
workforce that is deeply engaged in solving the
once-in-a-generation challenges presented by the
energy transition.”
Additionally, it found that workforce dynamics
are quickly changing with the influx of younger
talent with different demands and expectations
from work.
“The board endorsed the introduction of
a standing Workforce Energy Committee, a
significant milestone, and will be the first of its kind
industrywide collaborative effort to address the
multifaceted challenges we face,” said MacLean.
“The goal is to launch the committee in the first
quarter of 2024, and we invite any interested
parties to contact us. The committee’s 2024
business plan includes introducing five expert
groups to focus on various activities, from sharing
best practices to creating multiple deliverables to
drive improvements in key areas.”
According to the GETI Report, the in-demand
workforce is increasingly empowered to seek
moves based on personal interests, values, and
career opportunities. Eighty-five percent of those
surveyed said they are considering switching to
another role. Career progression remains the
primary driver; interest in the wider industry and
ESG are the second and third most influential
factors, at 14% and 11%, respectively.
Employees are seeking what the report
identified as “sectors at the vanguard of
sustainability and innovation,” with renewables
cited as the most popular energy sector at 49%
and technology at 27% as the most popular
outside the industry to join.
“The future war for talent will be fought on
wider terrain from decarbonization to diversity, as

42 JPT | November 2023


the sector must broaden its skills base by appealing
to new competitor sectors from renewables to
technology,” the report said.
An often-flagged talking point in the energy
transition debate is the potential loss of good-paying
jobs in the fossil fuel sector being offset by jobs in
the renewable energy sector. The IRA, for example,
could create some 9 million jobs connected to
the Biden administration’s climate, energy, and
environmental justice programs, helping to absorb
some of the displaced fossil fuel workers.
A study conducted by researchers at the
University of North Carolina, the College of
Management and Technology in Switzerland,
and the University of Pittsburgh, published in
September 2023 in Nature Communications,
reported that the phaseout of fossil fuels by
2050 could displace up to 1.7 million fossil fuel
workers in the US and many more globally.
Using job transition data from the US Census
Bureau and skills data from the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the study assessed whether
people employed in what it identifies as “fossil
fuel resource extraction” are co-located and have
transferable skills to switch to green jobs.
They found that the workers could leverage
their mobility and switch to green jobs. However,
the researchers noted that many of these workers
are not located where green energy production
occurs and are mostly not located in regions where
green employment will grow despite attaining the
appropriate skillsets.
“While stakeholders focus on re-skilling fossil
fuel extraction workers, the analysis shows that
co-location with emerging green employment
will be the larger barrier to a just transition,” the
researchers said.
The Way Forward
The oil and gas industry’s reputation has impacted
the choices of young generations and those of
employment age. Recommendations from the
FEATURE | Energy Workforce
GETI report on addressing and possibly reversing
those choices include upskilling and diversifying
the workforce to create more cost-effective ways
to boost skills amid rising supply chain and labor
costs. Doing so would help boost talent retention,
as career progression is a leading driver for
career changers.
MacLean sees influencing the workforce of
tomorrow beginning at an early age if “we are
to secure the skills and talents needed in years
to come.”
“We need to tackle our culture and deeply
ingrained biases and emerge with a more
compelling commitment to tackle our diversity and
inclusion shortfalls. Make it a priority to evaluate
the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ during performance
reviews to heighten awareness on building the
necessary behaviors to lead multicultural teams
in this modern world,” she said.
“It is easy to bury our heads in the sand and not
think about leaving the industry adequately staffed
after our time, but I invite everyone to reflect
on how they may contribute to leaving a lasting
legacy in the form of a talent pipeline to ensure
energy sustainability, affordability, and security,”
said MacLean.
Talent retention is a critical factor in navigating
the crossroads of the oil and gas industry. Amid
rapid technological advancements, environmental
concerns, and shifting global energy dynamics,
the industry’s sustainability and success depend
on its ability to cultivate and nurture a skilled and
knowledgeable workforce. JPT
FOR FURTHER READING
Location Is a Major Barrier for Transferring
US Fossil Fuel Employment to Green Jobs
by J. Lim, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill; M. Aklin, College of Management
and Technology; and M. Frank, University
of Pittsburgh.
jpt.spe.org 43
 CASE STUDY
Qualifying Bismuth Plug Technology
in Mozambique
Didhiti Talapatra, BISN
O
ver the past 10 years, bismuth plugs
have been used more often to solve
complex downhole integrity issues and
to permanently abandon wells, both on
and offshore. As bismuth technology is
relatively new to the market, it often needs to be
qualified in-country before use on a larger scale.
This is a significant barrier to the adoption of new
technologies in general within the industry and
not unique to the use of bismuth as a permanent
sealing barrier.
Bismuth and bismuth-based alloys have
unique properties that allow them to be used as
a sealing material that has the potential to change
the industry. It has a specific gravity of 10 which
means it is 10 times denser than water. In molten
form it can displace any fluid in the wellbore. Not
only is it dense but in its molten form it also has
a viscosity like water, which means it can flow
easily and through perforations, cracks, crevices,
or any micro annuli without the need of any
pumping equipment.
The most interesting property however
is its ability to expand on solidification. BiSN
uses proprietary thermite heaters to melt
bismuth‑based alloys downhole, which then
flow into the annulus through perforations
or section milled windows taking the shape
of volume they are filling up. The alloy on
solidification then expands (like ice) which
creates the gas-tight seal against the surface
it is expanding. These alloys not only create
a solid mechanical barrier but are also highly
corrosion resistant to H2S, CO2, acids, and other
wellbore fluid that might be present, thereby
44 JPT | November 2023
creating a barrier that can last forever or be
classified as “eternal.”
Compared to existing traditional sealing
technologies, a bismuth plug requires a
significantly shorter seal, resulting in less materials,
section milling, and time needed for deployment.
For example, a traditional cement plug might need
to be hundreds of feet in length where a bismuth
plug can be set at as little as 6 ft.
Field Test—Context, Challenges,
and Methodology
In May 2023, BiSN was contracted to fulfill a rigless
plug and abandonment (P&A) campaign for Sasol
in Mozambique. Before proceeding, BiSN and
Sasol worked together on a well in Mozambique to
qualify BiSN bismuth technology as a permanent
abandonment solution in the country.
The well chosen for the seal test had several
complicating factors including the need to set the
seal in open hole through perforations and the thin
caprocks located in the region.
The overall goal of the field test was to isolate
gas-bearing silt from shallower formations by
forming an effective seal. To accomplish this, the
bismuth plug was required to be set with a 10-m
shale window identified by Sasol as a suitable
location to set a regional seal to essentially restore
the caprock. Previous explorations had revealed
areas of patchy cement from earlier P&A attempts.
The methodology of the trial was designed
around a typical run of bismuth technology with an
extra two steps: the running of ultrasonic cement
evaluation (USIT) and cement bond logs (CBL) to
establish pre- and post-deployment well conditions

Cement repair tool being prepared prior to being run in hole. Source: BiSN.
by an independent petrophysics company. These
two steps would confirm the results beyond a
doubt by two different, independent tests to verify
the placement, strength, and any contaminants of
the plug during the setting process.
After completing the initial logging tests on
13 May, a scraping operation was conducted on
the 9⅝-in. casing to eliminate potential debris
or pathways for leaks. A perforating gun was
meticulously selected, featuring the desired
exit-hole diameter and shot density to achieve
the necessary flow area for the molten bismuth
alloy to exit into the annulus. The perforating
procedure serves a dual purpose: it establishes
a pathway for the alloy to access the annulus,
and simultaneously rubblizes the cement behind
the casing, creating multiple fractures which
then intersect small leaking gaps or micro annuli
within the cement. This creates a flow path for
the alloy to flow into all those fractures and micro
annuli and seal off any gas migration through the
cemented annulus.
A 1-m section was then perforated in the 9⅝-in.
casing, and once confirmation of the perforation
CASE STUDY
gun run had been achieved, a 33-ft BiSN Wel-lok
cement repair tool (CRT), used to set the bismuth
plug, was run in hole at 15 m/min and activated
by a timer set at 3 hours and hydrostatic switch
by BiSN personnel. After the melting process was
completed at 16 minutes, the heater was pulled
out of hole at the rate of 15 m/min, leaving behind
a molten pool of alloy, allowing the bismuth alloy
plug to cool off and fully solidify and create a gas-
tight seal. The process of deployment, from rig-up
to rig-down was achieved in 5 hours and 5 minutes.
The 9⅝-in. casing was then milled out to validate
the bismuth plug set in the 9⅝×12¼-in. annulus.
The sequence of operations is shown in Fig. 1. The
final step of the field trial was then completed by
running the post-deployment USIT and CBL logs to
determine the effectiveness of the set bismuth plug
in the well on 15 May.
Field Test Results
The BiSN placement was confirmed by two
independent logs—USIT and CBL. Review of the
logs was done by independent petrophysicists,
and comparison between logs acquired pre- and
jpt.spe.org 45
 CASE STUDY
Fig. 1—Sequence of operations. Source: BiSN.
post-placement confirmed successful deployment
of the plug.
There was a clear difference over the zone
where the plug was placed and a very substantial
change in impedance, showing a successful
46 JPT | November 2023
deployment in the
planned zone (Fig. 2).
There was also a
good agreement
between the CBL
and USIT logs, which
are two completely
independent tools,
further substantiating
the success (Fig. 3).
The log is also fully
circumferential around
the casing, verifying
the absence of any
channelling (Fig. 4).
This analysis shows
beyond any reasonable
doubt that the caprock
restoration objective
has been achieved, confirming that the BiSN alloy
filled all available void space, even in regions within
claystone caprocks. The application of bismuth
technology also allows the abandonment of wells
with integrity issues, offering promising solutions
for environments where there is gas trapped under
shallow barriers. The successful results of the
field test allowed for bismuth plug technology to
be qualified for future use in Mozambique for the
effective P&A abandonment of wells.
Conclusion
The adoption of Wel-lok technology led to
several benefits, including improved long-term
abandonment integrity, reduced carbon footprint,
overall cost savings, and the elimination of the
need for extensive section milling. As a result,
significant rig time was saved and health hazards
for rig personnel were mitigated. Additionally,
the CRT effectively eliminated sustained casing
pressure and vent flows in cemented annuli
without requiring surface pumping pressure.
This successful collaboration between
BiSN and Sasol serves as a testament to the
effectiveness in revolutionizing P&A practices,
 CASE STUDY

Fig. 2—Comparison of CBL tests, pre- and post-deployment, run by an independent petrophysics company. Source: BiSN.

Fig. 3—Good agreement between CBL and USIT logs. Source: BiSN.

jpt.spe.org 47
 CASE STUDY

FOR FURTHER READING

OTC 31897 Bismuth Plugs Used to Cap All Wells

During the Final Phase of the Valhall DP
Abandonment Campaign, Offshore Norway
by E. Thorstensen, K. Vadset, M. Straume, and
L. Delabroy, AkerBP; G. Abdelal, Queens University,
Belfast; and P. Carragher, J. Fulks, and D. Mason,
BiSN Oil Tools Ltd.
SPE 214635 Disruptive Plug and Abandonment
Technique Using Bismuth Alloy for Offshore
Operations Enhancing Sustainability by
C. Kuyken, P. Carragher, and D. Talapatra, BiSN.
OTC 32199 Eliminate Section Milling in Plug
and Abandonment Applications With Liquid
Thermite by A. Levchenko, B. Clark, and
P. Carragher, BiSN Oil Tools LLC.

AUTHOR
Fig. 4—Confirmation of good circumferential placement
Didhiti Talapatra, special
of a BiSN alloy plug. Source: BiSN.
projects engineer, plays a
vital role in BiSN providing
with promising potential for broader application technical solutions for
in the oil and gas industry. The results underscore the sales team to respond
the importance of continued utilization of this effectively to operators.
technology in future P&A operations, further Having worked with BiSN for
solidifying the company’s role in enhancing the 8 years, he is the technical expert in
efficiency and environmental responsibility of well the application of Wel-lok technology for P&A and
abandonment processes. JPT well interventions.

48 JPT | November 2023

 Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
23–25 September 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS

IS NOW OPEN FOR 2024

SUBMIT NOW AT
GO.SPE.ORG/SUBMIT-NOW-24

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL BY 26 JANUARY 2024

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO BE A PART OF THE 2024 TECHNICAL PROGRAM
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Drilling and Completion Fluids

Víctor Soriano, SPE, Well Construction Manager, YPFB Chaco

T
oday, the industry faces tremendous
challenges related to safety, efficiency,
sustainability, and socioenvironmental
responsibility. At every stage, well-
construction projects must be concerned about
those aspects to establish measurable barriers
for preventing issues. Therefore, drilling and
completion fluids are critical for achieving project
goals and ensuring operations are executed
as planned.
Drilling and completion fluid selection is a
complex process in which addressing future
downhole conditions for predicting potential
problems is vital to eliminating nonproductive
time. Conventional deep high-pressure/high-
temperature wells in South sub-Andean Bolivia or
unconventional long horizontal wells in Argentina
are pushing drilling-fluid design to its limits with
regard to keeping equivalent circulating density
“Drilling and completion
fluid selection is a complex
process in which addressing
future downhole conditions
for predicting potential
problems is vital to eliminating
nonproductive time.”
(ECD) as low as possible while preventing formation
damage. Paper SPE 211539 describes several
successful applications of low ECD organophilic
clay-free inverted emulsion fluid in reaching project
goals in challenging environments.
On the other hand, constant monitoring of
drilling-fluid properties also is necessary. Fluid

VÍCTOR SORIANO, SPE, is a senior well engineer working as a well

construction manager at YPFB Chaco. He has more than 16 years
of experience in complex onshore drilling, completions, and well-
intervention operations. Soriano holds a BS degree in petroleum
engineering from Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Peru, and an
MS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma.
He is currently pursuing his PhD degree in engineering at Pontificia
Universidad Católica del Peru. Soriano is a registered professional
engineer in Peru; a technical reviewer for several journals, including
Víctor Soriano SPE Drilling & Completions; and a judge in the DrillBotics competition.
Well Construction Manager He can be reached at victor.soriano@ypfbchaco.com.bo.
YPFB Chaco

50 JPT | November 2023

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

properties must be monitored so additives can

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro:
be adjusted to prevent problems. Even though
www.onepetro.org.
conventional monitoring relies on humans for
performing periodic tests, recent technology
developments offer a solution for complex drilling SPE 211509
operations by allowing continuous real-time High-Fluid-Loss Squeeze and Reticulated Foam
monitoring of drilling-fluid properties using sensors Lost-Circulation Material Plugs 40,000-Micron
and artificial intelligence, as fully described in Laboratory Simulated Fracture/Vug Opening
paper SPE 212443. by Sharath Savari, Halliburton, et al.
Finally, discussion of drilling and completion
fluids must mention solids-control equipment. SPE 214171
Ensuring that fluid properties are within acceptable Using Cerium Oxide (6.0 SG) as Weighting
ranges without discarding valuable additives is the Material in HT/HP Drilling Fluids
main objective of any solids-control-equipment by Gholam Reza Soori, Cahya Mata Oiltools, et al.
arrangement. Things become more complicated
when working with low-density drilling fluids, where
a comprehensive understanding of solids-removal
techniques and their customization for a particular
application requires research and laboratory-
scale trials, which are rare in the literature.
Paper SPE 212470 provides relevant and novel
information through a full-scale test program for
solids-control-equipment efficiency optimization
focused on treating low-density muds. JPT

jpt.spe.org 51
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Low-ECD Inverted Emulsion Fluid
Shows Superior Performance
The complete paper describes the success of
using a new low-equivalent-circulating-density
(ECD) organophilic clay-free inverted emulsion
fluid (OCIEF) in gas reservoirs at elevated
temperatures and with differential pressures
up to 4,500 psi. The objective of the paper is to
highlight the superior performance of OCIEF
over barite-based conventional invert-emulsion
drilling fluids and formate-based, water-based
drilling fluids in the study. The fluid overcame
challenges in such an environment without
compromising performance.
Introduction
The new low-ECD OCIEF, using manganese
tetroxide as the weighting agent, was developed
with an aim to offer improved drilling performance
in maturing fields. Its nondamaging nature, the
result of the presence of the acid-soluble and
micronized manganese tetroxide, would help to
complete the well with an openhole design.
In an OCIEF, the organophilic clay and
organophilic lignite are replaced by a polymeric
viscosifier and a polymeric filtration-control agent,
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 211539, “New Low-
ECD Organophilic Clay-Free Inverted Emulsion Fluid
Weighted With Manganese Tetroxide Showed Superior
Performance in Different Fields: Success Story of Drilling
With OCIEF in High‑Overbalance Environment Without
Downhole Problems, Stuck-Pipe Events, and Nonproductive
Time,” by Vikrant Wagle, SPE, Abdullah Yami, SPE, and
Abdullah Al Moajil, SPE, Saudi Aramco, et al. The paper
has not been peer reviewed.
52 JPT | November 2023
respectively. A unique gel structure is provided
by the use of the polymeric viscosifier in the
oil-based drilling fluid. Also, it not only increases
cuttings-carrying capacity but also helps to increase
barite sag resistance in the fluid. In the absence
of low-gravity solids in terms of organoclay and
organolignite, an OCIEF shows low plastic viscosity
and a higher rate of penetration compared with
conventional organoclay-based oil-based muds.
In the OCIEF described in the paper, the solids
content has been further reduced by replacing the
barite (4.2 SG) with manganese tetroxide (4.8 SG).
The acid solubility of manganese tetroxide would
make the drilling fluid nondamaging, especially for
reservoir zones.
Formulation of Low-ECD OCIEF. The OCIEF was
designed for long lateral sections where low
rates of penetration (ROPs) can be observed in a
slimhole drilling environment with a bottomhole
temperature (BHT) of approximately 300°F.
The OCIEF was tested for drilling in high-static
overbalance conditions (3,000–4,500 psi) and
had to be resistant to potential contaminants.
The OCIEF was formulated with the acid-soluble
manganese tetroxide with a water-phase salinity
of 200,000–250,000 ppm.
Two 95-lbm/ft3 OCIEFs were formulated.
The 95-lbm/ft3 OCIEF 1 was developed with an
engineered bridging package of variously sized
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
ground marbles. This formulation was specifically
for short laterals and lower differential pressures.
The acid solubility of the ground-marble-based
package was an additional benefit of the OCIEF 1
fluid formulation.
An alternate, OCIEF 2, was developed for longer
intervals with higher overbalance conditions.
OCIEF 2 was formulated with a bridging package
that included sized resilient graphite, fibers,
and sized ground marble. The bridging package
was designed for longer laterals because it
was expected that the bridging solids would
undergo increased mechanical attrition. A single
polymeric filtration-control additive was used in
both formulations.
Fluid rheology and gel strength were stable for
both OCIEF 1 and 2. The emulsion stability of the
two OCIEFs is demonstrated by the all-oil filtrate
observed in the high-pressure/high-temperature
(HP/HT) tests performed at 300°F. Particle-
plugging-apparatus tests were performed for the
two OCIEFs. Both fluids demonstrated low spurt
loss and total filtrate values.
HP/HT Rheology of 95-lbm/ft3 OCIEF. A standard
HP/HT rheometer was used to determine the
rheology of both OCIEF fluids in HP/HT conditions.
The testing showed that the rheology values were
consistent for both fluids across a temperature
and pressure range. No significant thickening was
observed for either fluid at higher temperatures
and pressures. The test data indicated that low
ECDs could be expected when these formulations
were deployed.
Acid Solubility of Filter Cake. Acid-solubility
studies were performed on the 95-lbm/ft3 OCIEF
with the intention of achieving optimal filter-cake-
removal efficiency. The acid treatment formulated
with a combination of 9% formic acid and 2
wt% hydrochloric acid gave a high filter-cake-
removal efficiency of 94.5%. Fig. 1 shows the filter
cake before and after the treatment with acid-
treatment fluid.
Fig. 1—Effect of acid-treatment fluid on the 95-lbm/ft3
OCIEF 1 filter cake before treatment (left) and after
treatment (right).
Formulation of Production Screen Test (PST)
Fluids. PST fluids were required for the completion
phase. As with the OCIEF, the PST fluid was also
designed for a BHT of approximately 300°F, to be
nondamaging in nature, and to show acid solubility.
Rheology and density measurements were
determined on freshly mixed PST fluid and a
sample of PST fluid contaminated with 50-ppb
sized ground marble. Ground marble was added
to simulate bridging-solids contamination arising
from inefficient displacement. The 95-lbm/ft3
PST fluid showed suitable rheology values for the
intended application. The 95-lbm/ft3 PST fluid
was contaminated with 50-ppb bridging solids
and mixed. The rheology and gel-strength values
of the PST fluid after solids addition increased
as expected.
PST testing results confirmed that the PST fluid
did not blind the 250-µ screen coupons and that no
residual buildup existed on the face of the coupon.
Planning and Field Deployment of OCIEF
Well Overview and Fluids Planning. The target
section was a 5⅞-in. hole section. The plan was
to use a 4½-in. sand-screen completion. Offset
wells showed low ROPs with conventional oil-
based fluids. The OCIEF fluid initially was planned
for use on the 5⅞-in. interval at 85 lbm/ft3 for
wellbore stability. A contingency plan for higher
mud weights of up to 95 lbm/ft3 also was included
in the mud program when needed. The 5⅞-in.
interval was planned to be drilled through the
jpt.spe.org 53
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
target reservoir holding an 89° inclination and
302° azimuth.
Field Deployment of OCIEF: Drilling Phase. The
planned OCIEF density was increased from 85 to
88 lbm/ft3 to provide additional wellbore stability
as observed in offset wells. A total of 1,686 bbl
of OCIEF fluid was mixed at 70/30 and sheared
on surface.
The 5⅞-in. drilling parameters were 70–
100 rev/min, a weight on bit of 14,000–19,000 ft‑lbf,
flow rates of 240–260 gal/min, and torque of
5,000–7,200 ft-lbf. First, the drilling assembly was
run with a 7-in. shoe track to drill 10 ft of rat hole
with 109-lbm/ft3 conventional oil-based fluid from
a previous 8⅜-in. interval. Then, 30 bbl of high-
viscosity 88‑lbm/ft3 OCIEF spacer was pumped
to displace the conventional oil-based fluid. The
88-lbm/ft3 OCIEF high-viscosity spacer was followed
by 88-lbm/ft3 OCIEF. The 5⅞-in. hole was drilled at
an azimuth of 302° and an inclination of 88° at a
controlled ROP (10–28 ft/hr).
Early in the drilling phase, a pressure spike
was noted with increased torque and the
drillstring stalled. The density was increased
from 88 to 92 lbm/ft3 to prevent stuck pipes.
Later, logging while drilling showed indications
of formation breakouts, which also are a
good indication of geomechanics issues and
potential mechanical stuck pipe. The fluid
density was increased to 95 lbm/ft3 to continue
drilling successfully.
A scraper assembly of 9⅝×7 in. was run in
hole with tandem pills for sweeping. Then, a
5⅞-in. cleanout assembly was picked up and run
in hole. Good hole conditions existed, and no
tight spots were recorded. A viscous spacer was
pumped ahead of the 120-bbl 95-lbm/ft3 PST
fluid that was spotted in the openhole section.
The cleanout assembly was pulled inside the
7-in. liner. Then, fluid was circulated over fine
270/325 mesh screens until the OCIEF fluid was
deemed PST‑compliant. The cleanout assembly
was pulled out of hole. Then, 4½-in. sand
54 JPT | November 2023
screens were picked up and run in hole to the
bottom successfully.
OCIEF and PST Fluids Observations.
Increasing OCIEF density from 92 to 95 lbm/ft3
at 16,225-ft measured depth with direct
additions of water-wet micronized weight
material to the circulating system led to an
increase in plastic viscosity and increased demand
on free emulsifier dosages. The subsequent
addition of emulsifiers and increased oil
content decreased plastic viscosity. Fluid-loss
additive and bridging concentration had to be
increased to mitigate the effect of increased oil
and emulsifier treatments.
Conclusions
The authors write that they have used the
oil‑based fluid for more than 25 applications to
date in 10 different fields and in both vertical
and horizontal 5⅞-in. slimhole well designs at
different static overbalanced conditions. Drilling
performance with the OCIEF has been satisfactory,
and no stuck-pipe events have been documented
during drilling or completion operations.
The wells drilled with this fluid have
experienced a reduction in invisible lost time
when compared with wells drilled with formate
fluids in offset wells. This reduction in visible
lost time is shown in elimination of reaming
trips (of between 12- and 24-hour duration)
on wells drilled with formate fluids and other
conventional fluids. No instances of stuck pipe as
the result of improper fluid properties (e.g., sag,
high viscosity) have been recorded. The fluid
also has been reused successfully in drilling
additional wells with minimum treatments based
on density requirements (75–100 lbm/ft3).
The wells drilled with this fluid have showed
a cost reduction of 41% compared with wells
drilled with formate fluids. Production from
all wells has exceeded expectations, validating
the fluid’s nondamaging design and its
successful deployment. JPT
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Method Provides Real-Time Anomaly
Detection for Drilling-Fluid Properties
Online drilling-fluid-measurement technologies
have become an essential tool for drilling
automation. While online density measurements
are widespread, the availability of rheology
measurements is increasing quickly, and
additional properties are central to ongoing
field trials. The complete paper presents
the concept of supervisory and advisory
systems dedicated to support the detection
of abnormal events and to provide guidelines
for fluid treatment.
Introduction
The Laboratory of Fluid Flow of the Federal
Rural University of Rio de Janeiro and Petrobras
developed a flow loop for the proposal and
validation of online sensors for the measurement
of drilling-fluid properties. In previous work, the
authors described the development of a set of
online sensors to measure fluid properties with
control of operational conditions of temperature,
pressure, and fluid flow rate. Following previous
research, this study proposes a new method
using a technique based purely on data to
diagnose and detect deviations in drilling-fluid
properties. The method proposed applies principal
component analysis (PCA) for detecting anomalies
in drilling fluids.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 212443, “Real-Time
Anomaly-Detection Methodology for Drilling-Fluid
Properties,” by Moacyr N.B. Filho, Thalles P. Mello,
and Cláudia M. Scheid, Federal Rural University of
Rio de Janeiro, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Method
PCA-Based Anomaly-Detection Technique.
This method consists of the linear transformation
of the space of monitored variables, which
generates a new space of variables called principal
components, in which each principal component is
a linear combination of the process variable. This
allows the new space of variables to be linearly
independent—that is, the principal components
are linearly independent, allowing the calculation
of process monitoring statistics.
The ability to detect anomalies in drilling-fluid
properties is necessary to train the system in the
normal state of operation. The training based
on the normal state of operation was performed
through the calculation of the principal-component
matrix and the selection of the reduced principal-
component matrix. Once the process model
was trained, the monitoring of new samples was
performed with the help of two statistical tools that
described the health of the process operation: T²
and Q statistics.
The T² statistic measures variations in the main
space. T² only detects variation in the subspace
of the first principal components larger than
those attributed to the dynamics of the process.
The Q statistic denotes the change of events not
explained by the principal-component model. It is
a measure of the difference, or residual, between a
sample and its projection on the model.
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
jpt.spe.org 55
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Fluid-preparation
station
Fluid-monitoring
station
Fig. 1—Front view of experimental flow loop for
drilling-fluid production and monitoring.
The failure-detection procedure based on the
use of PCA consisted of continuous assessments
of whether process statistics were within or
outside an acceptable range. A method previously
proposed in the literature used control systems
based on fuzzy logic to monitor properties of
drilling fluids and propose corrections, which are
performed automatically by an experimental unit
containing actuators for additions of drilling agents
as thickeners and viscosifiers. The application of
fuzzy logic depends on inference rules, which must
be provided to the system by the programmer.
This is a limitation of corrective systems based on
fuzzy logic.
The method proposed in this work is based
purely on process data. The main advantage of this
type of method is that only a reasonable amount
of data from the drilling fluid operating free of
anomalies is required for the main coefficient
matrix to be calculated and the variance of the
system to be modeled. Once modeled, average
error calculations (the Q statistic) can be used
together with variations in the columns of the
main coefficients (the T² statistic) to quantify the
deviation from the current state of the process.
Experimental Unit. Experimental measurements
of fluid properties were performed to build
56 JPT | November 2023
the data sets for training and validating the
PCA technique. The measures were taken in a
pilot plant design for preparing and monitoring
drilling fluids. Fig. 1 depicts the experimental
flow loop.
The flow loop contains one tank (a mixture
tank) for drilling-fluid preparation and storage
and one tank for storage of industrial water
used for properties correction (a water tank).
The preparation tank can produce 150 L of
drilling fluid, and the water tank can hold 300 L
of industrial water. The fluid is circulated through
the plant by a positive displacement pump of
5.5 kW. The experimental unit features a set of
sensors that measures the properties of drilling
fluids, such as viscosity, density, conductivity, and
water content in oil-based fluids, and can measure
the operating conditions of the plant, such as
the volumetric flow rate, fluid temperature, and
ambient temperature.
Data acquisition occurs through the processing
of the electrical signals generated by the plant
sensors using a data-acquisition universal serial
bus chassis. For this work, the properties of
conductivity, density, and apparent viscosity of
the drilling fluid were studied; in addition, the
operating conditions of volumetric flow of fluid
circulation were measured (fluid temperature and
experimental unit temperature). Water-based
fluids were used in this work.
To model the standard state of the process,
the drilling fluid was circulated through the plant
until all process variables had reached steady
state. Once steady state was achieved, the data
acquisition began and the process variables were
measured with 1 Hz of frequency for 1 hour. Once
the test was completed, the flow rate was altered
and another steady-state test was initiated. Three
steady-state tests were performed with volumetric
flow rates of 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 m³/h.
The perturbation tests presented in this
work used the sudden addition of carboxymethyl
cellulose to the drilling fluid to produce a sharp
increase in its viscosity.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Technique Implementation: Anomaly-Detection
Software. The proposed method was implemented
by developing a monitoring software capable of
receiving data from the experimental flow loop
and processing the data using a technique based
on PCA. The PCA-based technique was used to
indicate whether the plant was operating in a
normal or abnormal state.
The software could point out whether a
sample taken in the experimental flow loop was
in a failure state by using a failure-detection
algorithm. In this work, three points in a row in
a state of anomaly would be enough to trigger
the system-failure alarm. For the implementation
of the fault-detection and diagnosis algorithm,
the Python 3 language was used. The developed
software, including its interface, was programmed
in LabView. Its performance is detailed in the
complete paper.
Results and Discussion
This section of the complete paper presents the
PCA coefficient representative of the drilling-fluid
standard steady state and its efficiency to generate
process health statistics and its applications
regarding process monitoring. The complete paper
includes a discussion of the authors’ findings
regarding anomaly detection in drilling fluids.
The experimental method produced a data set
of drilling-fluid properties used to train the model
for the fluid standard state. Each coefficient was
produced by the PCA technique through the linear
transformation of the process variables.
Each coefficient represents a dimension of
the new variable space generated by the PCA
technique, with each variable providing a weight
for the linear transformation that generated
these components. The fault-detection limits
were calculated from the training data set. The
proposed method was able to detect the steady
state of the drilling fluid, with the number of false
positives below 1%.
The method was able to detect the steady state
of the drilling fluid with less than 0.5% of false
positives for Q and zero points of false positives
for T². Once process health charts were calculated,
Q and T² were decomposed to generate the
contribution map of the steady state.
The lack of false positives indicates that the
method can identify the variable contributions
for the steady state of the fluid that is the normal
operation of the process. This result occurred for
Q and T², showing that the training was successful.
Conclusions
The proposed algorithm based on the PCA
technique was able to detect anomalies in the
properties of drilling fluids. The training process
was performed successfully, and the principal
components of the experimental plant were
estimated to capture 99.5% of the drilling-fluid-
process total variance. The trained algorithm
presented less than 1% of false positives for the
detection of drilling-fluid anomalies.
The combination of the monitoring of T² and
Q and the contribution maps of the process health
statistics provides enough information to assess
drilling-fluid health and which anomalies should be
corrected by the operators. The system represents
an initiative for achieving value from a complete set
of online drilling-fluid measurements.
The method’s ability to generate contribution
maps allows the qualitative and quantitative
identification of process failures. The results of
the contribution maps can be fed into decision-
support systems or process-correction systems.
The proposed algorithm does not need the
programming of heuristic rules in each process
variable to be effective in detecting anomalies
and faults. In addition, the method proposed is
versatile because its output is the list of variables in
failure and the magnitude of these failures. Those
outputs can be fed directly to correction systems or
indirectly to decision-support systems. JPT
jpt.spe.org 57
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Light-Density Hollow-Glass-Beads Drilling
Fluid Achieves High Solids-Control Efficiency
Light-density drilling fluids with hollow glass beads
(HGBs) are being used increasingly in applications
for drilling depleted formations with minimal losses
and increasing rates of penetration. Studies about
how best to use typical solids-control equipment
are lacking, however, because current practices
and procedures based on barite-weighted muds
are inefficient. In the complete paper, the authors
report a systematic full-scale test program to
study and optimize solids-control efficiency with
such fluids using centrifuges, hydrocyclones, and
shale shakers.
HGB Fluid Formulation
The fluid formulation developed for the field
test had a target design density of 7.2 lbm/gal.
Significant effort was put into developing an
HGB fluid that matched or exceeded all design
requirements for the existing drilling fluid used to
drill a production hole interval in a depleted field.
The HGB drilling fluid showed excellent fluid loss
and rheology. An overview of the composition
and some of the fluid properties is provided in the
complete paper.
HGB 19K46 is a product with a nominal
hydrostatic collapse pressure rating of 19,000 psi
and a density of 0.46 g/cm3 (approximately
3.8 lbm/gal). The HGBs are almost perfectly
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 212470, “Full-Scale Solids-
Control Testing of a Light-Density Hollow-Glass-Beads
Drilling Fluid,” by Nikolay Kostov, ExxonMobil; Glenn
Penny, SPE, Contractor for ExxonMobil; and James White,
NOV, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
58 JPT | November 2023
round spheres made up of a thin shell of
borosilicate glass a few micrometers thick. The
glass density is approximately 2.50–2.55 SG. The
hardness is approximately 5 on the Mohs scale,
in between barite (3.5) and quartz (7.0).
HGB Large-Batch Mixing
Based on the testing time to reach steady
conditions and the tanks available at the test
facility, it was determined that a volume of
approximately 40 bbl was required for the field-
scale solids-control testing. A mixing plant was
used, and the fluid was mixed over a period
of 3 days. Good agitation is crucial to mix the
additives and HGBs effectively into the base oil.
With the exception of the process used to add
HGBs, however, no special equipment or modified
procedures are needed to mix the HGB fluid.
For adding the HGBs, a hopper was used and an
efficient additive process developed while dust
was eliminated.
A 100-bbl mixing tank unit mounted on a trailer
was used to generate the HGB fluid for testing
(Fig. 1). The unit consists of a multicompartment
100-bbl tank, a diesel-engine-driven centrifugal
pump, a hopper, and a series of control valves for
directing the fluid flow.
One specific modification to the tank was
the installation of large eductors at the ends of
the feeding pipe. This ensured good circulation
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids

of the fluid in the tank,

promoted good mixing,
and eliminated any dead
zones where fluid could
become stagnant.
The large-scale
mixing resulted in
approximately 43 bbl
of HGB drilling fluid.
Samples were collected,
and properties
were measured. All
properties were within
the specification
window, confirming a
successful operation.

Solids-Control
Fig. 1—Mixing tank used to generate HGB fluid.
Testing
With the test volume
prepared, full-scale testing was initiated. A
test stand was used where the centrifuge, the
hydrocyclone, and the shale shaker could be
mounted. The facility allowed monitoring of the
feed density through a Coriolis meter. All reported
densities, however, are based on laboratory-
measured density from samples collected from
each of the three streams: feed, light discharge,
and heavy discharge. Because the largest
uncertainty around the performance of the solids-
control equipment involved centrifuge efficiency,
this was the first device tested. Starting with the
centrifuge also allowed beginning with the fluid as
designed and gradually building up solids content
by adding fine solids first, then coarse solids, and
finally the additional HGB. The full sequence of
testing is provided in the complete paper.
Centrifuge Testing
A 14-in. centrifuge was used that mimics
equipment often used in the field. The
performance was deemed very good, with high
solids-control efficiency and no loss of HGB
concentration in the light-discharge stream. A
critical lesson learned was the importance of
using a large-opening weir dam plate (285 mm).
A small-opening weir plate (242 mm) did not
allow for HGB fluid to discharge easily from the
light-side opening and could lead to plugging. For
optimal performance, high rotational speed (bowl
speed greater than 2,500 rev/min and as high as
2,890 rev/min) and lower flow rates (30–60 gal/min)
are recommended. The complete paper contains
an extended discussion of the method and
results of the centrifuge testing.
Hydrocyclone Testing
The objective of the hydrocyclone testing was to
confirm that HGBs are staying with the liquid phase
and not discharged in a high concentration in
the heavy-discharge stream. Another goal was to
establish the effectiveness of the hydrocyclone to
remove drilling solids in the presence of HGBs. The
estimated flow rate for the 4-in. hydrocyclone was
approximately 50–75 gal/min at 75 ft of head. The
current setup has a manifold capable of running up
to four hydrocyclones simultaneously. Testing was
conducted using one hydrocyclone.

jpt.spe.org 59
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Drilling and Completion Fluids
Overall, the results from the hydrocyclone
showed no significant surprises, and behavior
was consistent with expectations. The HGB
stayed with the liquid phase, and concentration
of HGB in each stream was consistent with initial
HGB concentration. One takeaway was that
the common recommendation of running the
hydrocyclone at a head pressure equal to four times
the drilling-fluid density was not optimal for this
light fluid. The initial fluid density of 7.20 lbm/gal
would dictate a head pressure of 29 psi, and,
when fully contaminated with fine and coarse
solids, the density of approximately 8.2 lbm/gal
would dictate a head pressure of 33 psi. The best
performance was observed with higher pressures
(greater than 35 psi) at flow rates between
60–70 gal/min. As expected, the performance of
the hydrocyclone with the HGB fluid as designed
was not good, with almost no sand-density particles
over 20 microns. With the API 325 silica flour fines
added, again, few particles over 40 microns were
noted and performance was suboptimal. With
the coarse particles (API 12–200) added, enough
larger particles were present so that a notable
difference between the feed, light-discharge, and
heavy-discharge density could be measured. An
improvement in performance with increasing
head pressure was noted; the best performance
was measured at 38-psi head pressure. Higher
pressures also were tested later, and improvements
continued. The authors recommend 35–45 psi
and flow rates in the 65–75 gal/min range as a
reasonable starting value for the field.
Once testing with the coarse simulated drilling
solids was completed, the HGB concentration was
doubled to approximately 22% by volume and the
hydrocyclone was performance tested again. For
these tests, pressures up to 53 psi were used. At
53 psi, roping was observed from the discharge
port, so the authors recommended keeping the
head pressure between 45 and 48 psi, which
corresponds to flowrates of 70–75 gal/min.
These results suggest that good hydrocyclone
performance can be achieved with the HGB
60 JPT | November 2023
drilling fluid. There is no reduction of HGB in the
light-discharge mode, and many of the sand-
density solids were removed successfully, but
solids-control-removal efficiency was lower than
in the centrifuge. It is recommended that the head
pressure be optimized in the field, but values of
approximately 40 psi are a good starting point, as
are flow rates of approximately 70–75 gal/min.
Shale-Shaker Testing
For this testing, a four-screen shale shaker was
used, which is often seen in the field. The shale
shaker performed as expected, with the HGB
staying in the light-discharge phase and large
particles being separated by the screens. The
recommended screen is rated at API 200, which
balances filtering ability and flow rate, but finer
screen sizes (API 230 or 270) also can be used. The
API 325 screens indicated retention of some of the
HGB particles and increased their concentration
in the heavy-discharge stream. Coarser screens
(API 120 and 80) allowed for higher flow rates
and separated drilling solids successfully when
higher HGB concentrations (greater than 20%) are
used. High shale-shaker inclination angles (greater
than 5°) resulted in increased flow-rate handling
but accelerated screen wear, so these should be
avoided. No HGB breakage was detected in any of
the tests. These tests are further detailed in the
complete paper.
Conclusions
The objectives of the full-scale testing were to verify
that existing solids-control equipment can be used
to handle an HGB fluid successfully, to find optimal
running parameters for the equipment, and to
quantify solids-control-removal efficiency.
The successful completion of the full-scale
solids-control testing provided better understanding,
and derisked field use, of an HGB fluid. The testing
results also provided recommended operating
points for various solids-control equipment that
should minimize rig time to reach optimal solids-
control efficiency in the field. JPT
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

EOR Operations
Elizabeth Barsotti, SPE, Career Development Fellow, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

W
e often see and, in some very
unfortunate cases, experience
ravaging wildfires, colossal floods,
and scorching droughts. These
“once-in-a-lifetime” climate events have become
increasingly commonplace. The World Health
Organization has referred to climate change as
“the biggest health threat facing humanity.” The
finger is often pointed at the oil and gas industry
as the source of these tragic events. Indeed,
according to the International Energy Agency,
oil companies emit more than 5,000 million
tons of CO2 every year. Even so, seeing
organizations pitted against the industry and
our livelihoods can be disheartening, especially
because we know the other half of the story
that is overlooked but cannot be understated.
Oil is the bedrock on which modern society is
built. The primary question remains: How can
“Oil is the bedrock on which
modern society is built.”
we continue to produce oil while minimizing its
climate‑harming byproducts?
Thanks to the ingenuity of industry
professionals around the world, new technologies
are emerging that allow us to achieve this goal.
Using these technologies, we can simultaneously
maximize CO2 sequestration and oil recovery. By
using surfactant-alternating-gas or surfactant/
CO2 coinjection processes, oil production and CO2
storage can be tailored to the needs of a specific
reservoir, as discussed in paper SPE 212969. The
same industry that produces the building blocks
for life-saving medical prosthetics can now also

ELIZABETH BARSOTTI, SPE, is a career development fellow in the

Elizabeth Barsotti
Career Development Fellow
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Neurobiology Division at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of
Molecular Biology; a visiting scientist in the Department of Physiology,
Development, and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge;
and an affiliated postdoc at Clare Hall College at the University of
Cambridge. She holds a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from
the University of Wyoming, where she investigated fluid phase
behavior and interfacial phenomena in ultratight reservoirs. Barsotti’s
expertise includes unconventionals, enhanced oil recovery, and
carbon capture and storage. She serves as an associate editor for
SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering.

62 JPT | November 2023

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

recycle the plastic pollutants accumulating in

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro:
our landfills and oceans. Using a combination
www.onepetro.org.
of pyrolysis, chemical functionalization, and
pulverization, Janus carbon nanofluids can be
mass-produced from waste plastics. Under SPE 212949
simulated laboratory conditions, in even ultralow Kuparuk Field Reservoir Management
concentrations (0.01 wt% in brine), they can After 40 Years
alter wettability and reduce oil/brine interfacial by Trond B. Jensen, ConocoPhillips, et al.
tension, as described in paper SPE 214799. And,
while government regulations seek to limit new SPE 212958
exploration and drilling, we now have better Accurate Horizontal Well Placement in
reservoir-management strategies and tools Waterflooded Field’s Drilling Project: A Case
to continue to produce essential energy from Study From Central Sumatra Basin, Indonesia
reservoirs that are approaching their centenary. by Dwiki Fimadoni, Halliburton, et al.
Data from the La-Sa‑Xing Field in the Daqing
Reservoir complex in China documents reservoir URTeC 3870505
management over more than 50 years, including Design of Chemical EOR in Unconventional
the maturation of polymer floods from the first Reservoirs
small-scale pilots in 1972 to fieldwide application, by Johannes O. Alvarez, Chevron, et al.
which continues to the present. A review of the
field in paper SPE 215058 provides insightful
guidance on well spacing, slug size, polymer
chemistry, and profile modifications, among
other aspects.
These developments and more position the
oil and gas industry as an essential player in the
energy transition. JPT

jpt.spe.org 63
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
Study Reviews Largest ASP Project From
Laboratory to Pilots and Field Application
The complete paper presents a systematic
review of the largest alkaline-surfactant-polymer
(ASP) flood project in the world, applied in the
largest oil field in China. First, reservoir and fluid
characteristics are highlighted to understand
heterogeneity of the reservoir. Next, project
history is summarized, including laboratory
studies, pilot tests, industrial-scale tests, and
fieldwide application. Finally, typical ASP flood
performance and reservoir management measures
from over 30 years of experience are presented.
Performances of ASP flood and polymer floods in
the same field also are compared.
Introduction
In the La-Sa-Xing Field, ASP flooding was studied
in the laboratory from 1987 to 1993 and followed
by five small-scale pilots from 1994 to 1999, all
successfully achieving incremental recoveries
of approximately 20% stock-tank oil initially in
place (STOIIP). As a result, industrial-scale pilots
were conducted from 2000 to 2007, resulting in
increased production by ASP flooding from 3,887
to greater than 19,000 BOPD in 2007. Fieldwide
ASP expansion was launched in December 2007.
By 2021, the ASP-flooded blocks registered a
STOIIP of 1.9823 billion bbl. Daily production
was approximately 96,000 BOPD through
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 215058, “A Systematic
Review of the Largest ASP Flood Project in the World: From
Laboratory to Pilots and Field Application,” by Yunan
Wei, SPE, Xiaoguang Lu, SPE, and Jianhong Xu, SPE, C&C
Reservoirs, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
64 JPT | November 2023
approximately 9,650 wells. Average incremental
recovery factor was 20% STOIIP with waterflooding
and 8% with polymer flooding, providing an
ultimate recovery factor of 60%. Cumulative
oil production by ASP flooding had reached
316 million bbl by 2021, making it the largest
ASP flooding project in the world.
Geological Background and
Reservoir Characteristics
The La-Sa-Xing Field is in the north of the
Songliao Basin of northeast China, comprising
the majority of the Daqing field complex. The field
was placed onstream in 1960. The hydrocarbon-
bearing reservoir has a gross thickness of
1,377 ft and a net thickness of 394 ft. Net pay
averages 150 ft.
Initial reservoir pressure ranges from 1,523
to 2,585 psi. Reservoir temperature varies from
113 to 122°F. Crude oil has an API gravity of 33°,
a viscosity of 8.5–10.3 cp at reservoir conditions,
an initial gas/oil ratio of 258 scf/STB, and a
bubblepoint pressure of 1,291 psi. Formation
water salinity is 7000 mg/L. Reservoir rock initially
shows water or weak oil wettability.
Depending on permeability, three types of
reservoir sand (Type I, Type II, and Type III) have
been identified. Currently, ASP flooding is mainly
applied to Type I sand, with partial application to
Type II Sand.
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.

ASP Application History
Industrial-Scale Pilots. Industrial-scale
ASP‑flooding pilots were conducted from 2000
to 2007, starting from Block X2-Z followed by
Blocks S-N5 and S-B1. The X2-Z ASP project had
a STOIIP of 1.76 million bbl, targeting the P-I‑3‑3
sand with an average effective permeability
of 658 md and a net pay of 19 ft. The project
commenced in April 2000 through 17 injectors
and 27 producers on a five-spot patterns at a
30-acre well spacing. A total of 0.68 pore volumes
(PV) was injected, including a 0.0376-PV preflush
polymer slug, a 0.351-PV main ASP slug, a 0.1-PV
secondary ASP slug, a 0.2-PV protective polymer
slug, and a water chase until water cut reached
98%. An incremental recovery of 18% STOIIP over
waterflooding and a maximum water-cut drop of
7% were achieved.
The S-B1 ASP-flooding pilot had a STOIIP of
17.6 million bbl covering a productive area of
475 acres. The pilot consisted of 49 injectors
and 63 producers adopting inverted five-spot
patterns with an injector-to-producer distance
of 410 ft. The ASP flood, commenced in July
2006, consisted of a 0.054-PV preflush polymer
slug, a main 0.351‑PV ASP slug, and a 0.286-PV
secondary ASP slug. Oil production in the central
wells responded positively, increasing from 585 to
more than 2,400 BOPD when 0.10 PV was injected.
An incremental recovery of 26% STOIIP and a
maximum water-cut drop of 17% were achieved
while production was ongoing.
Oil production by ASP flooding increased
dramatically from 3,887 BOPD in 2000 to more
than 19,000 BOPD in 2007. By 2007, cumulative
oil production by ASP flooding had reached
22 million bbl.
Fieldwide Application. Encouraged by the
successful pilots, the fieldwide ASP-flooding
application was launched in December 2007 from
the Eastern Xing 1-2 Area, followed by the South 6
Area in November 2008, the Eastern Xing 6 Block
I in June 2009, and the Eastern Xing 6 Block II
TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
in November 2011. As a result, oil production
increased to approximately 40,000 BOPD as of
2014 from a total 4,240 wells.
The Eastern Xing 1-2 Area has a productive
area of 1,326 acres, a STOIIP of 49 million bbl,
an average permeability of 517 md, and a net
pay of 28 ft. The ASP-flooding project, targeting
the P-I‑3‑(2+3) sands, was conducted through
112 injectors and 143 producers in five-spot
patterns with well spacing of 11.1 acres. By
2010, incremental oil production had reached
4.9 million bbl (10% STOIIP) while the ASP flood was
ongoing. The South 6 Area, Eastern Xing 6 Block I,
and Eastern Xing 6 Block II achieved incremental
oil productions of 4.23 million bbl (7.9% STOIIP),
2.90 million bbl (11.7% STOIIP), and 1.5 million bbl
(4.5% STOIIP), respectively, while ASP flooding
was ongoing.
By 2021, the ASP-flooded blocks had
expanded to a total area of 14,770 acres with
a combined STOIIP of 1.982 billion bbl. Daily oil
production was approximately 96,000 BOPD
through approximately 9,650 wells. Cumulative
oil production had reached 316 million bbl.
Ultimate recovery of 60% was anticipated, of
which 20% was credited to ASP flooding.
Comparison Between Polymer Flooding and
ASP Flooding. Results of ASP-flooding pilots
and polymer flooding pilots conducted in the
same areas were compared, indicating that
ASP flooding outperformed polymer flooding in
reducing water cut. For example, the maximum
water-cut drop for the ASP-flooding pilot reached
19.9% in the S-N5 Block, while the polymer
flooding pilot in the same block was only 7.5%.
The advantages of ASP flooding over polymer
flooding also include a higher percentage of swept
pay-sand thickness, a larger annual recovery of
STOIIP, and improved injection and production
profiles. Overall results of ASP-flooding pilots
suggested incremental recoveries of greater than
20% STOIIP, compared with 12% for polymer
flooding pilots.
jpt.spe.org 65
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
Optimization and Reservoir
Management
ASP-Flooding Process Optimization. Efforts have
been made to optimize the ASP-flooding process
since the start of small-scale pilots, including
well spacing and well-pattern design, productive
layers and pay-thickness combinations, numbers
of injection slugs, and reservoir management at
different stages.
Based on laboratory research and 30 years of
experience, inverted five-spot patterns at a 5-acre
well spacing were identified as the optimal well
pattern in the La-Sa-Xing Field.
Layering and pay-thickness combination was
optimized to avoid interlayer interference based
on the following guidelines:
• The pay-thickness combination for each
production string should be determined
by incorporating surface-injection capacity,
individual well estimated ultimate recovery,
and STOIIP of the project area.
• The permeability contrast should be less
than 2; otherwise, zonal injection should be
implemented.
• The pay-thickness combination is defined by
sand units separated by a laterally extensive
shale barrier.
• When more than two pay-thickness
combinations exist, production should be
conducted from the bottom to the top to
reduce the scope of potential future workovers.
To improve recovery efficiency and reduce
chemical usage, the ASP-flooding process was
optimized to adopt four slugs, including a preflush
polymer slug for profile improvement, an ASP
main slug with high chemical concentrations,
a secondary ASP slug with low chemical
concentrations, and a final polymer slug to avoid
breakthrough of the following water chase.
Based on water cut, ASP flooding can be
divided into four stages, including the following:
• Stage I, with water-cut decline at 0- to 0.15-PV
injection
66 JPT | November 2023
• S tage II, with low water cut at 0.15- to 0.5-PV
injection
• Stage III, with rebounding water cut at 0.5- to
0.65-PV injection
• Stage IV, with high water cut at greater than
0.65-PV injection.
Correspondingly, fit-for-purpose measures,
detailed in the complete paper, were taken for
each stage.
Zonal Injection. To improve vertical sweep
efficiency, zonal injection was implemented
in 1,755 wells (36% of all injectors), leading to
improved injection profiles. Statistics from 14
injectors indicated that the percentage of swept
pay-sand thickness increased from 61 to 82.9%.
Zonal injection was more effective for thinner
reservoir units. The swept pay-sand thicknesses
for flow units with 3.3–6.6 ft net pay and less
than 1.7 ft net pay were improved by 45 and 64%,
respectively.
Profile Modification. Conventional profile-
modification agents were not effective because of
the influence of alkalines. Two types of alkaline-
resistant agents were developed and applied,
leading to improved sweep efficiency and ASP
usage. Statistics from 181 injectors indicated an
average injection-pressure increase of 197 psi.
Meanwhile, the 431 corresponding production
wells had an incremental oil production of 0.96
million bbl and an average water-cut drop of 3.6%.
Scaling Control. Most producers suffered from
pump blockages caused by scale precipitation
on pump beams and on the inner wall of the
tubing. To remediate the damage, progressive
cavity pumps were widely used, extending pump-
maintenance cycles from 87 to 463 days. Scale-
inhibitor and -removal treatments also were
implemented regularly. For wells with formation
damage caused by scaling, hydraulic fracturing
was implemented.

Weak alkaline was preferred to strong alkaline
in the ASP solution because the former has fewer
scaling problems, a higher liquid-production index,
and greater incremental oil production.
Conclusions
The ASP-flooding project in the La-Sa-Xing Field,
representing the world’s largest ASP-flooding
project, is a proven success and is expected to
achieve an average incremental recovery of 20%
STOIIP with waterflooding and 8% with polymer
flooding. Average ultimate recovery factor with ASP
flooding is expected to be greater than 60%.
The progressive approach from laboratory
experiments to pilots and, finally, to fieldwide
application is a best practice for applying ASP
flooding to a large field. In-house ASP-flooding
studies proved feasibility and led to more than
10 key pilots. Pilot tests helped evaluate recovery
TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
efficiency, identify key issues for field-scale
applications, provide bases for project design,
optimized injection parameters, and tested new
polymer types.
Comparison of ASP-flooding pilots and
polymer flooding pilots indicated that ASP flooding
outperformed polymer flooding, leading to greater
water-cut drops, a higher percentage of swept pay-
sand thickness, faster annual recovery of STOIIP,
and improved injection and production profiles.
Fit-for-purpose reservoir-management
measures such as zonal injection and profile
modification helped improve the ASP-flooding
process. Scaling is a major challenge experienced
during ASP flooding. Weak alkaline, rather than
strong alkaline, was recommended for the ASP
solution, because of reduced scaling, a better
liquid-production index, and greater incremental
oil production. JPT
jpt.spe.org 67
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
Process Synthesizes Janus Carbon
Nanofluids From Waste Plastics for EOR
The complete paper describes nanomaterials—
Janus carbon nanofluids—derived from waste
plastics and demonstrates the potential of
the nanofluids as highly effective alternative
nanoagents for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
applications at reservoir conditions. A novel,
sustainable, cost-effective method has been
developed to scale up synthesis of Janus carbon
nanoparticles (JC-NPs) from waste plastic feedstock
by combined pyrolysis, chemical functionalization,
and pulverization, which allows for production of
the JC-NPs in mass quantities at an industrial scale.
Introduction
Recent research has demonstrated that
nanoparticles with asymmetric surface properties
(i.e., Janus nanoparticles) could achieve a much
higher efficiency of oil recovery factors with
very low concentrations of loading compared
with homogeneous nanoparticle fluids. To date,
however, major challenges facing the exploration
and use of Janus nanoparticles exist, impeding
scalability of synthesis, tailored chemical
functionalization, and the ability to introduce
a diverse set of functionalities. Therefore, new
methods for production of Janus nanomaterials
on an industrial scale are desired.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 214799, “Novel Janus
Carbon Nanofluids From Waste Plastics as Sustainable
Nanoagents for Enhanced Oil Recovery: Scaleup Synthesis
and Performance Evaluation,” by Wei Wang, Sehoon
Chang, SPE, and Ayrat Gizzatov, SPE, Saudi Aramco, et al.
The paper has not been peer reviewed.
68 JPT | November 2023
The authors present a novel technique to
convert waste plastic materials into carbon-
based nanomaterials for EOR applications.
Waste plastics, as a low-cost feedstock, can
be converted into high-value-added carbon-
based microparticles through the controlled
carbonization of polymers. Furthermore, the
carbon microparticles (C-MPs) can be surface-
functionalized by post-chemical treatment
and then their chemical symmetry reduced to
nanosize by a ball-milling technique. The resulting
asymmetrically surface-functionalized carbon
nanoparticles (i.e., Janus C-NPs) exhibit both
nanoparticulate and surfactant-like properties
that can be used as new nanoagents in nanofluid
flooding for EOR applications. Experimental
materials and measurement methodology are
detailed in the complete paper.
Results and Discussion
Synthesis of C-MPs From Waste Polymers.
Approximately 90% of the plastics produced
globally consist of six types: low-density
polyethylene, high-density polyethylene,
polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, polystyrene,
and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Given their
widespread use, these waste polymers constitute
a substantial proportion of global plastic waste.
Therefore, they present an opportunity to be used
as precursors in the synthesis of C-MPs.
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.

This study offers an approach for repurposing
these ubiquitous waste polymers. As depicted in
Fig. 1, the authors propose synthesis of C-MPs
through carbonization reactions using these waste
polymers as feedstock. This methodology offers
dual benefits. First, it presents a practical solution
to the growing environmental concern posed by
plastic waste. Second, it provides a cost-effective
way to produce C-MPs, an essential component in
many technological applications.
The carbonization of polymers is a critical process
in this methodology. It is known as one of the more
crucial reactions in polymer science and engineering.
This reaction involves the transformation of
polymeric precursors into carbonaceous materials
under controlled conditions. The term “controlled”
is significant here because it enables manipulation
and optimization of the reaction conditions to yield
the desired type of carbon-based material. Such
control allows generation of C-MPs with desired
properties and functionalities.
The synthesis of carbon dots is a key part of this
process, wherein a controlled degree of carbonization
is used during the synthesis to functionalize these
particles. The degree of carbonization to control
the properties of the resulting carbon dots can be
adjusted. By manipulating the conditions under
which carbonization occurs, carbon particles
can be generated with specific properties that
can be tailored to various applications, including
use as nanoagents in nanofluid flooding for
EOR applications. This strategic synthesis and
functionalization process offers a way to tune
the properties of the C-MPs to the requirements
of the EOR process.
To illustrate the process, the authors used
waste-plastic water bottles made of PET as an
example. The bottles were first reduced to small
millimeter-sized fragments; approximately 5 g
of these fragments were placed in a crucible. A
temperature-controlled process of heating at
450°C for 30 minutes under a nitrogen atmosphere
led to the conversion of PET fragments into a
carbon black powder. Further grinding in an
TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
n
Polymer
Carbon
Polymer fragments
N2 atmosphere
450°C, 1 hour
Carbon particles
Carbonization
Fig. 1—Schematic of formation of C-MPs from the
carbonization of polymers.
agate mortar enabled the reduction of the carbon
black powder to micrometer-sized C-MPs. The
formation of carbon structures during this process
was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, with the
characteristic D-band appearing around 1365 cm–1
and the G-band appearing around 1605 cm–1.
Surface Functionalization of C-MPs. The as-
synthesized C-MPs possess hydrophobic properties
because of the intrinsic property of carbon
structures. To render these particles suitable
for EOR applications, a post-synthesis chemical
treatment is presented to convert the surface of
C-MPs from a hydrophobic to hydrophilic state
through a sulfonation reaction.
In a typical post-synthesis chemical treatment,
carbon microparticles were placed with sulfuric
acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3) in a flask (2 g
of carbon powder, 10 mL of HNO3, and 25 mL of
H2SO4) connected to a water-cooled condenser.
The flask was heated in an oil bath to 100°C for
15 minutes to allow effective sulfonation on
the carbon surface and then cooled to room
temperature. The treated C-MPs were separated
from the HNO3/H2SO4 suspension by a glass
filtration unit and then washed by water. With
homogeneously generated sulfonate groups on
the surface, the functionalized C-MPs became
hydrophilic and thus dispersible in an aqueous
phase. This water-dispersibility plays a pivotal role
in governing EOR processes.
jpt.spe.org 69
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
Formation of JC-NPs. To generate Janus structures
of the C-NPs, a method is presented to break
homogeneity of the functionalized surface of
carbon mechanically through a ball-milling
process. After the ball-mill-grinding process, the
functionalized hydrophilic C-MPs are broken into
smaller submicron- or nanometer-sized pieces
(i.e., the C-NPs) and new unfunctionalized surfaces
are exposed on the C-NPs while the functionalized
surfaces still partially remain, which generates an
asymmetric surface property (JC-NPs).
For a typical ball-milling treatment, a ball
mill was used for marking the C-NPs. A quantity
equivalent to 140 mL of zirconia beads (0.45‑mm
diameter) was first loaded into the mill chamber
as the grinding medium. Then, 10 g of C-MP
powder was mixed with 200 mL of water in an
open mixing vessel and pumped to flow through
the milling chamber. The milling speed was set
at 3,000 rev/min and the feed material fluids
circulated in the milling chamber at a rate of
100 mL/min. After 2 hours of milling, the C-NPs
fluids were collected and C-NPs were separated
by centrifuge and washed with ethanol.
Before the ball milling, the average size of C-MPs
was approximately 10 µm; afterward, the size was
reduced to approximately submicron range.
Evaluation of Janus C-NPs Nanofluid for EOR.
The synthesized Janus C-NPs were dispersed in a
mixture of water and organic solvent (chloroform
or hexanol). Upon phase separation, the JC-NPs
self-assembled at the interface of water and
organic solvent, implying the amphiphilic Janus
properties of the JC-NPs.
Surface properties of the synthesized Janus
C-NPs were further characterized by Langmuir
isotherm measurement. When JC-NPs in ethanol
suspension were dropped onto water, the JC-NPs
spread on water, while ethanol solvent dissolved
into the water. When lateral pressure was
applied to the surface, the JC-NPs assembled to a
particulate monolayer, and then a bilayer probably
appeared at a surface pressure of approximately
70 JPT | November 2023
14 mN/m. The Langmuir isotherm exhibits typical
features of surfactant-like properties of the JC‑NPs.
For C-MPs functionalized by a sulphonating
treatment, no Langmuir film formed on the water
surface because of their hydrophilic properties.
The Janus nanofluids with a unique combination
of particulate and surfactant-like properties create
significant effects at the water/oil and rock/fluid
interfaces in the EOR process.
To evaluate the efficiency of the Janus
nanofluids for potential EOR applications, interfacial
tensions (IFTs) have been studied in formulations
of the JC-NPs with petroleum surfactants, and the
results have shown that the syngenetic effects
of the surfactant and low concentration of the
JC‑NPs in nanofluids could significantly reduce
IFT at the crude-oil/brine interface. Contact-angle
measurement also reveals that the Janus nanofluids
could alter the wettability of crude-oil-saturated
carbonate reservoir rock. Microfluidic flooding
experiments have demonstrated that the syngenetic
effects of the surfactant with low concentrations of
the JC-NPs in nanofluids could achieve additional
recovery of crude oil in carbonate reservoirs, in
comparison with the use of surfactant only.
Conclusions
The research findings elucidate a cost-effective
process for the conversion of waste plastic
into JC-NPs. This approach contributes to the
management and reuse of waste plastics and
adds value to the waste stream by transforming
the waste into a potentially beneficial resource.
JC-NPs exhibit amphiphilic characteristics and can
be used in EOR surfactant applications. The results
demonstrate that these JC-NPs, combined with
petroleum surfactants, show a synergistic effect that
substantially reduces IFT at the oil/brine interface.
This feature, coupled with the ability to alter the
wettability of crude-oil-saturated carbonate reservoir
rock, positions JC-NPs as a promising tool for EOR.
Future studies will focus on a comprehensive
evaluation of their performance in EOR, specifically
through coreflooding experiments. JPT

Study Evaluates CO2 Storage Potential
During CO2 Mobility-Control Optimization
CO2 mobility control through foam technology has
enabled better sweep efficiency and, consequently,
better oil productivity during enhanced oil
recovery (EOR) processes. Along with enhancing
oil production, a sound potential exists for in-
situ generated foam to enhance CO2 storage.
However, the effect of the different in-situ foam
generation strategies on the combined goal of
maximum oil production and carbon storage is not
well elucidated in the literature. In the complete
paper, the authors methodically evaluate the
simultaneous optimization of CO2 storage and oil
recovery using multiple injection strategies.
Introduction
The current investigation is a continuation of two
previous studies that provided a methodology
for screening and using foaming agents for
optimized CO2 storage in sandstone and
carbonate formations. A base case of tertiary
CO2 flooding was established for comparison
with in-situ foam generation by two approaches:
single-cycle surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG)
flooding and coinjection of CO2 and surfactant.
Additionally, the effect of surfactant concentration
on foam efficiency, CO2 storage capacity, and oil
recovery were evaluated in both approaches at
reservoir conditions.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 212969, “Evaluation of CO2
Storage Potential During CO2 Mobility-Control Optimization
for Enhanced Oil Recovery,” by Alvinda Sri Hanamertani,
SPE, Ying Yu, SPE, and Omar El-Khatib, SPE, University of
Wyoming, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
Materials and Methods
Fluids and Porous Medium. In this study, a
synthetic brine with total dissolved solids of
20 wt% was used as blank brine and laden with a
commercial zwitterionic surfactant that was used to
prepare surfactant solutions with concentrations of
0.5 and 1 wt% active matter in the synthetic brine.
Three core plugs were drilled from an Indiana
limestone outcrop block. The cores were then
cleaned and oven-dried at 95°C.
Experimental Procedure. Vacuum saturation with
brine was commenced for the three cores. The
porosity of the cores was calculated using their dry
and brine-saturated weights. Then, the 100% brine-
saturated core was placed in a core holder and
loaded into an oven set to 90°C. The pore pressure
was fixed at 2,000 psi, and the confining pressure
was controlled at 3,000 psi throughout the flooding
experiment. The brine permeability of the core
samples was evaluated by measuring the pressure
drop across the core at different brine-injection
flow rates.
In the first experiment (IL1), oil drainage with
a flow rate of 0.2 cm3/min was performed to
establish irreducible water saturation of 46.9%.
This total flow rate was kept the same throughout
the three experiments. Then, a waterflooding stage
was begun and the oil recovery was recorded. After
reaching a plateau in oil recovery, supercritical CO2
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
jpt.spe.org 71
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
500
Experiment 1: Gasflooding (no surfactant preflush)
450 Experiment 2: Gasflooding (after 0.5 wt% surfactant preflush)
Experiment 2: Foam coinjection (0.5 wt% surfactant)
400 Experiment 3: Gasflooding (after 1 wt% surfactant preflush)
Apparent Viscosity (mPa.s)
Experiment 3: Foam coinjection (1 wt% surfactant)
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 flooding. Meanwhile, surfactant preflush was
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
PV Injected
Fig. 1—Apparent viscosity profiles established during
gasflooding without surfactant preflush (Experiment 1),
one-cycle SAG and surfactant/CO2 (foam) coinjection
using 0.5 wt% (Experiment 2), and 1 wt% (Experiment 3)
surfactant concentrations.
(scCO2) was injected during the EOR process until
the oil production plateaued.
Using Core IL2, the second experiment was
started by establishing irreducible water saturation
of 46.08% through oil injection at a flow rate of
0.2 cm3/min. A waterflooding stage was established
until a plateau was reached after one pore
volume (PV) of brine injection. A 2.9 PV of 0.5 wt%
surfactant slug followed the waterflooding to
satisfy surfactant adsorption in the porous media
and prepare the rock for in-situ generation of CO2
foam. Then, scCO2 was injected continuously for
in-situ foam generation (single-cycle SAG) until
no more oil was produced. Finally, the coinjection
of CO2 and 0.5 wt% surfactant solution was
attempted with a foam quality or gas fractional
flow of 70% to compare the performance of the
coinjection strategy with that of the alternate
slug injection.
The third experiment in Core IL3 was
procedurally similar to the second experiment but
with a higher surfactant concentration of 1 wt%.
The established irreducible water saturation in the
third experiment was 40.48%. In all experiments,
the oil recovery was monitored for each injection
72 JPT | November 2023
scenario and core-scale CO2 storage was quantified
using mass balance.
Results and Discussion
Assessment of CO2 Mobility Control. Foam
generation was aimed at establishing significant
flow resistance to mitigate the flow instabilities
of injected CO2 and thus create better sweep
efficiency with decelerated CO2 breakthrough.
The first experiment served as a base case, which
did not include surfactant preflush before CO2
3.5
performed in the second and third experiments
at different surfactant concentrations. This step
was also considered as single-cycle SAG, an
initial injection strategy implemented before
the simultaneous injection of surfactant and
gas, noted as foam coinjection. Fig. 1 shows a
noticeable increase in apparent viscosity induced
by in-situ foam generation during gas injection
and surfactant/gas coinjection. In the second
experiment, the surfactant preflush with 0.5 wt%
concentration was able to establish flow resistance
during CO2 flooding of approximately 2.8 times
that of the base case. The subsequent coinjection
resulted in a threefold higher apparent viscosity
than single-cycle SAG. The coinjection of surfactant
solution and CO2 provided a prominent mobility-
control effect for the injected CO2.
Results from the third experiment show that
the increase in surfactant concentration could
establish significantly higher apparent viscosity
throughout gas injection by approximately five
times greater than the apparent viscosity obtained
at the lower surfactant concentration and 14 times
greater compared with the base case (no surfactant
preflush). The mobility-control effect was more
pronounced when coinjection was performed at
a higher concentration. The established apparent
viscosity was triple the apparent viscosity during
coinjection at 0.5-wt% concentration. Increasing
concentration obviously contributed to the
enhancement of foam generation ability; in
particular, the used surfactant (sultaine-based)

has been reported to have a strong foaming
behavior in Indiana limestone. In addition, the flow
resistance exhibited after simultaneous injection
of 0.5-wt% surfactant and CO2 was found to be
comparable with the flow resistance established by
a single-cycle SAG method with 1 wt% surfactant.
This indicates that the use of a lower concentration
with an optimized injection strategy can be an
economic preference for developing a sufficient
CO2 mobility control.
Evaluation of Oil-Displacement Performance.
The oil-recovery experiments were performed
mainly to analyze the combined effect of
two different foam-injection strategies on oil
production. A single-cycle SAG was conducted to
evaluate the surfactant performance in favoring
the injected CO2 to generate foam and maintaining
the strength of generated foam for controlling CO2
mobility without infusing fresh surfactant solution.
In addition, two surfactant concentrations were
considered to evaluate the concentration effect
on the oil-displacement performance.
In each experiment, waterflooding was
performed as a secondary recovery technique.
During waterflooding, two-phase production
was observed early, approximately after 0.2-PV
injection, and the oil recovery from this stage was,
on average, 32.19, 44.94, and 26.27% of original oil
in place (OOIP) in the first (IL1), second (IL2), and
third (IL3) experiments, respectively.
In the first experiment, CO2 flooding was
performed directly after the waterflooding stage
and was able to produce an incremental oil
recovery of 27.46% of OOIP and, thus, a total
recovery factor of approximately 60% of OOIP.
In the second experiment, surfactant preflush
was performed after the waterflooding stage. In
this stage, approximately 2.9-PV surfactant solution
was injected. As expected, the established mobility-
control effect in the subsequent CO2 flooding
induced a significant oil displacement, resulting in
an additional oil recovery of 18.15% of OOIP. This
incremental recovery indicated the effectiveness
TECHNICAL PAPERS | EOR Operations
of surfactant preflush in favoring foam generation
during CO2 flooding that leads to oil mobilization.
Further improvement in oil recovery was achieved
because of the CO2 foam injection following the
CO2 flooding.
The complete paper includes a detailed
discussion of the authors’ experiments to evaluate
CO2 storage potential; this section is not included
in this synopsis.
Conclusions
• In general, the coinjection of surfactant
solution and scCO2 provided a prominent
mobility-control effect for the injected scCO2.
• The flow resistance exhibited after
simultaneous injection of 0.5 wt% surfactant
and CO2 was found to be comparable with the
flow resistance established by a single-cycle
SAG method with 1 wt% surfactant, indicating
that the use of a lower concentration with
an optimized injection strategy can be an
economic preference for developing sufficient
CO2 mobility control.
• Increasing surfactant concentration
encourages more-effective mobility control.
• Compared with the base case, CO2 storage
potential increased by 51% and 66% by single-
cycle SAG in the second and third experiments,
respectively. Furthermore, subsequent foam
coinjection resulted in a 19.1% increase in CO2
stored at 0.5 wt% concentration, and a 15.5%
increase at 1 wt% concentration.
• During CO2 foam injection, the difference in
the established foam strength can affect the
extent of aqueous-phase replacement inside
the core.
• The incremental volume of stored CO2 at
1 wt% surfactant concentration was less
than that at 0.5 wt%, but the oil recovery
was greater.
• A t higher surfactant concentration, storage
potential was offered by the pore space
previously occupied by the oleic phase rather
than the aqueous phase. JPT
jpt.spe.org 73
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling

Mark McClure, SPE, CEO, ResFrac

T
he purpose of hydraulic fracture modeling
is to improve engineering decision-
making. Success requires practical
knowledge, engagement with real data,
theoretical understanding, and critical thinking.
The payoff is tremendous; design improvements
routinely yield major uplifts in well performance
and project economics.
What types of papers push forward the state
of the art for hydraulic fracturing modeling?
In the pure development of models,
practitioners adopt different philosophies. Some
seek faster running models for quicker results.
Others focus on integration of physics, trying to
capture the essential elements of all key physical
processes and how they interact. Still others focus
on high-precision answers to narrower aspects of
the problem. The appropriate emphasis depends
“New types of data collection
and new ways of analyzing
and interpreting data have
given engineers a much clearer
picture of what is happening in
the subsurface.”
on the context of how and why the model is
being used.
Many of the most influential papers of the
past decade on hydraulic fracture modeling have
not been modeling papers at all. Modeling depends
on formulating a realistic conceptual model. New
types of data collection and new ways of analyzing

MARK MCCLURE, SPE, is the CEO of ResFrac, which he established in

2015 to help operators maximize value through the application of
advanced geomechanics and reservoir simulation. Before founding
ResFrac, McClure was an assistant professor at The University of
Texas at Austin in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems
Engineering. After earning a BS degree in chemical engineering and
an MS degree in petroleum engineering from Stanford University, he
earned a PhD in energy resources engineering at Stanford.
Mark McClure
CEO
ResFrac

74 JPT | November 2023


and interpreting data have given engineers a
much clearer picture of what is happening in
the subsurface. Extraordinary field-scale data-
collection projects have given us calibration data
that is not available from any other means. With
a firmer foundation of knowledge, engineers can
construct models that are not only precise but also,
more importantly, accurate, and can apply them to
solve practical problems.
The work flow—how modeling is integrated
with field data, practical knowledge, and
engineering decision-making—is just as important
as the model itself. Thus, papers that offer
practical case studies are valuable because they
demonstrate work flows and success stories that
others can build upon.
Hydraulic fracture modeling continues to be
a vital contributor across a range of applications:
shale, conventional reservoirs, and developing
areas such as enhanced geothermal systems. JPT
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Recommended additional reading at OnePetro:
www.onepetro.org.
SPE 212328
Interpretation of Fracture Initiation Points
by In-Well Low-Frequency Distributed Acoustic
Sensing in Horizontal Wells
by Smith Leggett, Texas Tech University, et al.
URTeC 3864951
Revealing the Production Drivers for Refracs
in the Williston Basin
by Alexander Cui, Novi Labs, et al.
SPE 214784
Application of Hybrid Physics-Based and
Data‑Driven Fracture Propagation Modeling
for Characterizing Hydraulic Fracture Geometry
in Unconventional Reservoirs
by K. Aldhayee, Texas A&M University, et al.
jpt.spe.org 75
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
Modeling Usage of Degradable Fluid-Loss
Additive Revamps Fracturing Design
With the aid of a multiphysics simulator, the
authors recently presented a novel use of a
degradable fluid-loss additive (DFLA) as a fracture
geometry additive to reduce the pad volume while
achieving the same geometry. In this complete
paper, the authors extend advanced slurry flow
modeling with production simulation to propose
the optimal design strategy for fracturing,
which may challenge current treatment-design
conventions. A novel work flow was developed,
with four coupled working blocks of laboratory,
slurry flow modeling, production analysis, and
machine learning. The new digital framework
proposes solutions for the limitations of
current methodology.
Introduction
Across different generations, multiple fluid
additives have been introduced to target specific
treatment objectives; one of these that has been
available for years, but that has been underused,
is fluid-loss additive (FLA). Theoretical and field
bases have been presented for its use in the
following applications:
• Conventional prolific reservoirs to mitigate
high fluid loss and create sufficient fracture
geometry
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 210633, “Multimaterial
Multiphysics Modeling Coupled With Post-Fracturing
Production-Flow Simulations: Revamping Hydraulic
Fracturing Design Strategy,” by Abdul Muqtadir Khan, SPE,
Vadim Isaev, and Ludmila Belyakova, SPE, Schlumberger.
The paper has not been peer reviewed.
76 JPT | November 2023
• T ight gas formations with high tectonic
influence to mitigate poroelastic effects and
fissure-dependent enhanced leakoff
• Unconventional reservoirs to avoid repression
during production
• Openhole wells to control multiple fracture
initiation
• Multipad wells to avoid interwell
communications and fracture hits
• Fracturing treatments aimed at optimizing
and reducing crosslinked pad volume
Despite these benefits, the primary issue of
using an FLA is its potential to damage fracture
conductivity and the reservoir. Some developments
of nondamaging FLA have been presented but are
either operationally complex or difficult to use. This
subject requires special attention to investigate
damage and production loss through laboratory
studies, numerical models, and machine-learning
models and define a tailored strategy with DFLA.
Digital Framework for
Treatment Design
The authors present an end-to-end work flow from
chemistry development to an automated FLA-
assisted fracturing design tailored for a specific
reservoir and well. The framework is broadly split
into three blocks: laboratory testing, fracture
modeling, and production modeling. These blocks
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
can be sensitized together with multiple case runs
and a large digital database. This data set then
can be subjected to regression and classification
algorithms. With enough data built in the toolbox,
a fully coupled data- and physics-based forward
model can be created that can output the fracture
design with DFLA type, concentration, and pad
volume with inputs of reservoir properties and
pore-throat descriptions. The tool infrastructure
is built to allow the model to retrain and update
with real field data addition.
In the first block, multiple laboratory tests
evaluate DFLA performance. The laboratory tests
include static and dynamic leakoff tests to evaluate
reduction in spurt loss and wall-cake building
leakoff coefficient with varying concentrations of
DFLA in the fracturing fluid. Additionally, core-flow
tests are performed to understand the effect of
DFLA on regained permeability and validate the
postulation of its nondamaging nature.
In the second block, the results from Block 1
are fed into an advanced slurry flow multiphysics
fracture model, which is a modified numerical
code. The first step in Block 2 is to run multiple
combinations of leakoff coefficients and pad
volumes and evaluate the fracture geometry. This
approach allows creation of an equivalency of
pad volume to achieve a given fracture geometry
if the leakoff reduction is known from Block 1.
A previous paper explored coupling Block 1 and
Block 2. That paper demonstrated that DFLA
shows a more than 40 and 30% decrease in leakoff
coefficient and spurt loss, respectively, compared
with the baseline borate fluid at loadings of
30 lbm/1,000 gal. Then, 32 cases were modeled
in the multiphysics simulator with pad volumes
and leakoff sensitivities, which allowed calculation
of the reduction of pad volume for given DFLA
performance. The results showed that up to 65%
of volume from the pad can be reduced.
The complete paper includes an extensive
discussion of the procedure and results achieved
in the Block 2 components of multiphysics fracture
simulation. Multiple treatment-pumping schedules
were selected to investigate the effect of type and
amounts of FLA. High-fidelity simulations were
conducted with planar 3D geomechanics coupled
with high-resolution material transport. The
model fully accounts for material degradation as a
function of instantaneous reservoir temperature
and exposure history. Material presence was
defined in each grid cell as a single component or a
mixture of proppant, polymer, and FLA with given
volume fractions. Fracture conductivity distribution
was calculated using laboratory correlations for
fracture damage of each material combination.
The third block involves production modeling
with field operating conditions to study the effect
of degradability of the FLA used and the amount
of FLA pumped. The current paper intends to
couple Block 2 and Block 3. High-resolution
simulations from Block 2 accounting for material
degradation and material delegation for each
grid block (proppant, polymer, and FLA) allowed
calculation of fracture-conductivity distribution and
quantification of fracture damage for each material
combination. The modeling footprint was then
transferred to a fracture-productivity calculator
to analyze the effect of polymer and FLA on post-
fracturing productivity index (PI).
Production Simulations
The results from fracturing simulations also were
transferred to a fracture-productivity calculator
to analyze the effect of polymer and FLA on
post‑fracturing cumulative PI.
Operating Conditions. The productivity
performance was evaluated for multiple cases for
each treatment-schedule scenario to predict the
optimal strategy based on reservoir properties and
conditions. The cases were built on intuitive logic to
relate the permeability, leakoff properties, porosity,
reservoir pressure, and stable drawdown in flowing
conditions. Higher reservoir quality is associated
with faster reservoir pressure depletion and allows
producing the required gas (hydrocarbon) rates
with a lower drawdown.
jpt.spe.org 77
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
Results and Discussion. In considering relative
production for Scenarios 1–4 based on performed
production calculations, the authors observed
the following:
• All scenarios with FLA were pumped successfully
even though pad volume was significantly less
for the FLA case in most scenarios. The resulting
fracture geometry for FLA and non-FLA cases
was comparable for all scenarios.
• Degradable FLA is intuitively less detrimental
for production compared with non-FLA cases.
Cumulative production for scenarios is slightly
better for DFLA, and noticeably better for DFLA
for Scenarios 3 and 4.
• The production simulations demonstrate
that the benefit of FLA is enhanced for higher
leakoff cases and bigger treatment sizes
because the polymer reduction is substantial.
Also, the degradability of the FLA has a much
larger effect in these scenarios.
• The relative production enhancement shown
in Figs. 15 and 16 of the complete paper might
seem low at 2–3%, but absolute production
realization can be significant depending on the
reservoir potential.
Discussion
• T he study largely provides synthetic cases but
also shows the validity on a field case loosely
based on the Oman formation.
• The retained-conductivity-factor approximations
varying as a function of crosslinked fluid mass
are currently represented by linear correlation.
This assumption requires corroboration or
validation against empirical and analytical data.
• Digital advances in core studies and slot testing
can be used to build reservoir-specific DFLA
strategies.
• Multiple machine-learning work flows in
the field of fracturing have been developed.
Following similar predictive work flows, a
descriptive digital database with FLA properties,
core-flow results, and production forecast
coupled with machine-learning algorithms can
78 JPT | November 2023
enable realization of the full digital framework
for a tailored fracturing strategy.
• Near-wellbore diverter particles that can be
used as FLAs in the presence of vuggy fracture
porosity have been discussed in the literature.
Conclusions
• A n approach for calculating effective leakoff
coefficient is presented when FLA is added
to the fluid system. The effective leakoff
coefficient can be calibrated using laboratory-
experiment results.
• FLA can enhance fracture geometry
considerably (up to 30% higher half-length)
and enhance production up to 18%. The
approach used in the complete paper provides
conservative estimates because spurt-loss
reduction caused by FLA addition has not
been captured in the current numerical model.
Experimental results have shown up to a 40%
reduction in spurt loss with FLAs.
• The conductivity evolution across fracture
development is consistent with the distribution
of proppant/FLA volume ratio. Proppant
increases the conductivity, and FLA reduces
it. This effect has been studied through this
multimaterial model in all scenarios.
• Degradability of the FLA can be critical
depending on the mass of the FLA used in
the treatment; the effect on production can
be up to 18%.
• The following benefits have been realized
through modeling of DFLA use:
° Production enhancement
° Reduction in volume of water-treating fluids
° Reduction in the amount of polymer and
associated damage
° Mitigation of poroelastic effects in tight
reservoirs
° Control of the differential pressure at the
fracture face and reduction of consequent
filtrate invasion
° Reduction of flowback and fracture-cleanup
time JPT
-------- C•:> -
LEADING
TECHNOLOGY
ADVANCEMENTS
IN CONIPLETIONS
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
3D Integrated Model-Driven Work Flow
Developed for Shale Hydraulic Fracturing
The Longmaxi shale gas play in China is unique
because of multiple tectonic deformations in its
geological history. While its hydraulic fracturing
design has matured after a decade-long evolution,
the success of every well cannot be ensured
without considering heterogeneity. To address
these challenges, a multidisciplinary team was
formed to work on a pad; through the team’s
efforts, designed proppant volume achieved zero
casing deformations, fewer screenouts, and weaker
fracture hits. The key to effective mitigation was
continuous 3D geological and geomechanical (G&G)
modeling through ongoing iterations with field data.
Background
The Longmaxi shale play in the Sichuan Basin is
approximately 20 000 km2 and is buried between
2000 and 4500 m. This play has more than
10 trillion m3 of gas reserves and is made up
of shallow and deep reservoirs.
Currently, the operator has moved to the
deeper Luzhou and Chongqing blocks buried at a
depth greater than 3500 m. Nearly 200 horizontal
wells per year are planned in the next 5 years.
A fracture hit with tens of MPa increase was
observed. Four casing failures were observed
on 32 of the wells in this block, which made
the unstimulated length more than 200 m and
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 212406, “3D Integrated G&G
Model-Driven Mitigation Work Flow on Screenout, Frac Hits, and
Casing Deformation in Ultradeep Shale Hydraulic Fracturing,”
by Jianfa Wu and Bo Zeng, PetroChina, and Lipeng Wang,
SLB, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
80 JPT | November 2023
cost an extra $300,000 for interventions in each
problematic well.
While the risk of screenout, fracture hit, and
casing deformation is common, risk levels vary for
different reservoirs. No work flow is available that
could be developed to identify and reduce these
hazards. In this study, ultradeep shale gas at Pad X,
buried almost 3900 m in the Luzhou Block, was
selected to recognize and mitigate these risks (Fig. 1),
where four wells were positioned 300 m apart. The
lateral length of X-1 is roughly 1000 m, while the rest
of the wells are roughly 1900 m in length.
3D G&G Modeling
By combining seismic interpretation, seismic inversion,
petrophysical analysis, and 1D geomechanical
modeling while adhering to the Longmaxi-Wufeng
Shale modeling technique used in neighboring
blocks, the authors established a G&G model with
dimensions of 40×40×0.5 m for the Luzhou Block. The
pad model was refined to 8×8×0.5 m by using well
logs to better characterize the variations in stage level.
Natural Fractures. 3D surface seismic data was
the only reliable source available to predict natural
fractures in the shale and design the fracturing job,
though the uncertainty was unavoidable. To display
fault-/fracture-system characteristics, seismic
attributes, including variance, ant tracking, and
curvature were examined.
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
Before hydraulic fracturing, the discrete
fracture network (DFN) model was built, controlled
by ant tracking. The ant-tracking approach had
several input factors to manipulate, making
identification of the best ant-tracking cube
challenging. In most instances, however, the
model could capture the main natural fracture
corridors. From the DFN model, the northeast/east,
north/south, and east/west natural fracture sets
could be clearly identified.
In-Situ Stress Distribution. The in-situ stress
field was simulated using elastic-plastic finite-
element software and calibrated with field data.
The horizontal stress was greater to the east of
Pad X and less to the west and south. Meanwhile,
the azimuth of maximum horizontal stress
was simulated as northeast 85°. The unevenly
distributed stress field may have had an effect on
the hydraulic fracture extension of Wells X-4 and
X-1, which would make Well X-4’s hydraulic fracture
propagate more to the east and Well X-1’s hydraulic
fracture propagate more to the west.
Model-Driven Risk Identification
An average stage length of 65 m, with seven clusters
per stage and other crucial completion parameters,
was used to maximize the stimulation volume.
The focus of this work was not the optimization of
these parameters. Instead, attention was directed
to minimizing hazards while executing the hydraulic
fracturing design in the field.
To identify the key governing factors, it is crucial
to comprehend how hydraulic fracturing hazards
relate to G&G characteristics. The stages with
higher risks of screenout, fracture hits, and casing
deformation then can be identified and mitigating
techniques subsequently advised to guarantee
the success of hydraulic fracturing. The authors
stress that the 3D G&G model is to be iterated
continuously with field data during fracturing.
Screenout Causes and Risk Identification. The
azimuth of the north/south, northeast/east, and
TVD
–3800
–3860
–3920
–3980
Fig. 1—Well depths, spacing, and layout of Pad X.
TVD = true vertical depth.
east/west natural fractures were developed from
the 3D natural fracture model for Pad X. The matrix
permeability could be improved and its strength
could be decreased by 26.1 to 46.6% with the
development of a natural fracture, which would be
easier to activate during hydraulic fracturing.
The hydraulic fracture network was simulated
using an unconventional fracture model based on
the 3D G&G model to determine the actual effect
of different natural fracture azimuths.
Based on the 3D G&G natural fracture
model, 21 stages were identified as having a high
screenout risk. Uncertainty was unavoidable,
however, because of the resolution of the seismic
data; it could be improved by iteration integrating
microseismic data during fracturing. The risk was
refined from 35 to 25 stages after iteration, and the
stages’ location changed significantly.
Fracture-Hit Causes
and Risk Identification
The major controlling parameters for fracture
hits may include any combination of natural
fracture corridors, bedding planes, geomechanical
jpt.spe.org 81
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
features, pressure depletion, well spacing, slurry
rate, and fluid volume. To forecast fracture hits
on Pad X, it was necessary to first examine the
underlying causes.
The primary cause of the fracture hits seen
in Pad X were the natural fracture corridor and
the hydraulic fracture connections. As a result,
close natural fracture corridors for each stage
were found to be at high risk for fracture hits
before fracturing.
Casing-Deformation Causes and Risk
Identification. To identify the factors influencing
casing deformation, a variety of features was
examined. The Luzhou Block’s casing deformation
mostly was caused by shearing across the casing.
The stages with high casing-deformation risks
at Pad X were identified by calculating the natural
fractures’ stability before fracturing. The casing-
deformation risk was updated depending on iteration
of the DFN model and in-situ stress field. Finally, 18
stages with high casing-failure risk were identified.
Risk Mitigation and Validation
Screenout Mitigation and Validation. During the
fracturing job, quick adjustments to the pumping
schedule were necessary to reduce screenout. For
the stages with high screenout risk as the result of
natural fractures, gel breakdown, proppant slugs,
or limited proppant volume were used to mitigate
the risk. For the stages with high screenout risk
because of possible opening of bedding planes,
step-up rate was practiced to limit the bedding-
plane opening. For the stages with less potential
fracture initiation, two more clusters were added.
Ultimately, the average ratio of actual
proppant volume to planned proppant volume
of all high-screenout-risk stages was 97%. For
neighboring stages, performance was improved
after adopting mitigation measures.
Fracture Hit Mitigation and Validation. The
staggered zipper fracture was adopted. The
observed fracture hit indicated by wellhead-
82 JPT | November 2023
pressure perturbation was promptly reduced
to a lower level following the implementation of
mitigation techniques on the fracturing sequence.
Casing-Deformation Mitigation and Validation.
In addition to fracture volume and slurry-rate
control, dynamic evaluation of slippage was used
to optimize the fracture sequence. Increased pore
pressure during fracturing could have a greater
effect on the slippage of natural fractures across
Wells X-3 and X-4 but less effect on that of Well X-2.
The initial fracturing sequence followed a
sequence of Well X-2, Well X-3, and then Well X-4.
Well X-3 is easiest to be shear-deformed, then Well
X-4, and, finally, Well X-2, considering the natural
fracture density and slippage under the same pore-
pressure increase induced by fracture hits. Finally,
the sequence was changed to Well X-3, Well X-4,
and then Well X-2.
Conclusions
After practicing the model-driven work flow on
mitigating screenout, fracture hits, and casing-
deformation risks during Pad X hydraulic fracturing,
most screenouts were avoided, fracture hits were
weakened, and no casing deformation occurred in
the study pad. The authors conclude the following:
• The G&G model is the basis for identifying
hydraulic fracturing risks.
• Easily activated natural fracture corridors
crossing the wellbore at a medium angle were
the main cause of screenout. Proppant slugs
and viscous breakdown at the beginning of
fracturing are the preferred ways to mitigate
screenout.
• The continuous natural fracture corridors and
hydraulic fracture connections are the main
cause of fracture hits.
• Unstable natural fractures are the main cause
of casing deformation. Lowering the effect
of fracture hits by adjusting the fracturing
sequence and controlling the fluid volume
and slurry rate could help mitigate casing
deformation. JPT
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
Fracture Conductivity Work Flow
Models Well Spacing, Completions Design
Combining fracture and reservoir diagnostic
analysis with integrated geomechanics and reservoir
simulation is an efficient and cost-effective approach
to generate realistic fracture geometry, understand
fluid flow behavior, and define fracture-conductivity
distribution in unconventional reservoirs. The
complete paper presents a case study of integrated
geomechanical and reservoir simulation with a
developed fracture-conductivity-calculation work
flow that was validated with diagnostic results to
evaluate well spacing and completions design.
Introduction
This study extends that of previous authors by
matching field fracture diagnostics and reservoir
simulation using variable fracture conductivity.
In the example used by the authors from
the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site 2 (HFTS-2)
development, multiple fracture diagnostic methods
were used to calibrate hydraulic fracture models.
Once the model was calibrated, a new proppant-
conductivity algorithm assigned conductivity values
along the hydraulic fractures based on a physics-
based model calculation of proppant concentration.
Multiple mechanisms, such as stress- and pressure-
dependent effects, time-dependent conductivity
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper URTeC 2023-3864710,
“A Comprehensive Simulation Study of Hydraulic Fracturing
Test Site 2 (HFTS-2): Part I—Modeling Pressure-Dependent
and Time-Dependent Fracture Conductivity in Fully
Calibrated Fracture and Reservoir Models,” by Han Li,
Jichao Han, SPE, and Jiasen Tan, SPE, Occidental
Petroleum, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
degradation, unpropped fractures, and proppant
embedment, can all be considered in the novel
fracture-conductivity-calculation methodology.
Fracture-Conductivity-Calculation
Work Flow
The conductivity work flow developed by the authors
uses simulated proppant concentration from a
fracture model and experimental conductivity
measurements of propped and unpropped
fractures to define variable conductivity along
hydraulic fractures. Conductivity measurements
included sets of long-term (50‑hour) experimental
fracture-conductivity tests with various mesh
sizes, proppant types, and closure stresses.
The conductivity-calculation work flow developed
by the authors was applied to the integrated
simulation project of multifractured horizontal wells
in the HFTS-2 project. Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of
the work flow from fracture propagation modeling
through integrated reservoir simulations. In general,
the work flow consists of developing a 3D geological
model, creating and calibrating parent wells’
hydraulic fracture models, calculating the fracture
conductivity based on proppant concentration,
history-matching the parent wells’ production and
constraints with reservoir simulation, performing
fracture-propagation modeling for child wells, and
history matching and predicting the estimated
ultimate recovery (EUR) for the entire pad.
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
jpt.spe.org 83
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
Completions
Fracture Simulator
Fig. 1—Flow
chart of the
integrated
simulation
work flow.
Geomechanics Drilling and Development Plan
HFTS-2 Project Overview
The HFTS-2 is in the Delaware Basin and is a cost-
shared, field-based project designed to study
hydraulic fracturing processes and production
using state-of-the-art diagnostics, including fiber
optic (FO) distributed temperature sensing and
distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) pressure
monitoring, image logs, cores through the
fractures, and microseismic monitoring. Many
studies have detailed the project overview of the
HFTS-2, and this paper’s authors only include the
overview of completions in the HFTS-2 project.
The BR1H and BR2H parent wells were
completed in the fourth quarter of 2015 with a
geometric stage design consisting of six clusters
per stage at 4 shots per foot (spf) with 32-ft spacing
between clusters for an effective stage length of
192 ft. Well BR1H was completed with 20 stages,
while Well BR2H was completed with 22 stages.
Both wells were treated with a slickwater fluid
system, with average treatment rates of
60–70 bbl/min, 100% Northern White 100 Mesh, a
proppant intensity of approximately 1,400 lbm/ft,
and a fluid intensity of approximately 35 bbl/ft.
Most stages in Well BW1H were completed with
a geometric design consisting of six clusters per
stage at 4 spf with 32-ft spacing between clusters
for an effective stage length of 192 ft. However, five
stages existed in the toe section and five stages
in the heel section that were completed with a
different geometric design consisting of 12 clusters
per stage at 2 spf with 16-ft spacing between
clusters for an effective stage length of 192 ft. All
stages of Well BW1H were treated with a slickwater
fluid system, with average treatment rates of
60–70 bbl/min, 100% WTX Regional 100 Mesh, a
84 JPT | November 2023
Geoscience Rock/Fluid Properties
Reservoir Simulator
Fracture
Conductivity
Calculation
Production Input
proppant intensity of approximately 2,500 lbm/ft,
and a fluid intensity of approximately 55 bbl/ft.
Well BW2H shared the same casing design
as Wells BW3H and BW4H. Multiple stage
configurations with variable perforation and cluster
counts were completed along the Well BW2H lateral.
In all stages, however, the average treatment rate
was held to 60–70 bbl/min, the proppant intensity
was held to approximately 2,500 lbm/ft, and the
fluid intensity was held to approximately 55 bbl/ft.
All stages were completed with a slickwater fluid
system and 100% WTX Regional 100 Mesh.
Because they were equipped with permanent FO
cable behind casing, Wells BW3H and BW4H were the
primary focus of the completions phase of the HFTS‑2
project. Multiple stage configurations with variable
perforation and cluster counts were completed along
the laterals of both wells with an overarching goal of
understanding and improving stimulation uniformity
as a function of completion-design variables.
Although both wells were intended to be completed
with a proppant intensity of approximately
2,500 lbm/ft and a fluid intensity of approximately
55 bbl/ft, some stages were cut short to preserve
the FO cable for monitoring during production. The
simulation of both parent wells (BR1H and BR2H)
and child wells is detailed in the complete paper.
Post-Simulation Analysis
Through use of a fracture-conductivity algorithm that
is both pressure-dependent and time-dependent
in the new work flow, the investigation of drainage-
length calibration and evaluation was performed
by integrating multiple diagnostic data sets in
the HFTS-2 project. Two interference tests were
conducted in the HFTS-2 area at different times.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Hydraulic Fracturing Modeling
The first FO-based well-interference and
production-logging test was performed using a
proprietary procedure developed by ConocoPhillips
with an 18-hour shut-in period. The analysis of
Well BW4H DAS data showed no identifiable well
interference between Well BW4H and the offset
wells, but the shut-in and open intervals were too
short to record sufficient pressure-gauge response
for estimating well-interference behavior.
The second interference test was performed in
September 2020 with longer shut-in and open time
periods (3–6 days) on two child wells, BW3H and
BW4H. In general, this two-well interference test did
not show any meaningful evidence of interference,
but several vertical- and slant-well pressure gauges
captured clear pressure responses from the shut-in
and open well events. By integrating the pressure
derivative analysis and pressure response from
gauges in Wells B5PH and B6S during the two-
well interference test, it could be observed that,
during the second interference test, the conductive
fractures from Wells BW3H and BW4H did not
severely overlap each other because no meaningful
interference signature from pressure derivative
analysis was recorded, but some mild degree of
conductive fracture overlap between the two wells
was expected based on the pressure response from
multiple gauges in Wells B5PH and B6S.
In evaluating the initial fracture conductivity
from the child wells’ simulation results, a large
degree of well interference is expected during
the early period of production in the HFTS-2
wells. Because propped fracture conductivity
decreases over time as the result of production
depletion and time-dependent effects, however,
fracture conductive length and the degree of well
interference should decrease over time.
In a reservoir simulation model, creep effect can
be modeled using a transmissibility multiplier placed
in the schedule section. Within the simulation grid,
the fracture dimensions become smaller over time
as proppant-pack conductivity is lost.
To demonstrate the effect of creep
deformation on fracture-conductivity change
and well interference, the time-dependent fracture
conductivity was calculated for simulated fractures
in Wells BW3H and BW4H.
The mild degree of overlap observed between
the conductive fractures of Wells BW3H and
BW4H may explain the observation that two-
well interference tests did not show meaningful
evidence of well interference, but several vertical-
and slant-well pressure gauges captured a clear
pressure response from the shut-in and open-well
events. The hypothesis of fracture-conductivity
degradation over time caused by production
is shown to be plausible by integrating the
observations of multiple diagnostics data sets
together. By including the pressure-dependent
effect from production into the fracture-
conductivity calculation, the calculated fracture
conductivity is expected to be lower.
Conclusions
The authors reach the following conclusions:
• By using multiple diagnostic data sets,
calibrated hydraulic fracture models can be
developed for both parent and child wells.
• A rigorous fracture-conductivity-calculation
methodology was developed based on
simulated proppant concentration and net
closure stress. Multiple physical mechanisms,
such as pressure-dependent effect, unpropped
fracture conductivity, and time-dependent
conductivity degradation, are considered in
the methodology.
• By applying the fracture-conductivity work flow
and measured far-field pressure constraints
in a test case, the production history was
matched for full wellbore simulations of both
the parent and child wells.
• Creep deformation can result in propped
fracture-conductivity loss and conductive
fracture dimension shrinkage over time. Along
with the fracture-conductivity work flow,
creep deformation is critical for estimating an
accurate EUR and for optimizing well spacing in
unconventional reservoirs. JPT
jpt.spe.org 85
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Flow Assurance
Celestina Yaaba Kissi, SPE, Offshore Chemist, ChampionX

T
his year has seen a focus on gas
development projects and the energy
transition. Flow assurance plays an
interesting role in this area. Even
though the attention has been on the energy
transition, where gas development is concerned,
the production processes through which gas is
produced cannot be ignored. Thus, flow-assurance
issues remain prevalent today, and an analysis of
existing solutions, key to the success of oil and gas
producing facilities, needs to be addressed.
Tackling mixed-scale issues in the oil field using
a novel robust scale dissolver (RSD) was studied
in paper SPE 211187. Scaling, an incompatible-
fluids-related flow-assurance problem in oil and
gas wells at various locations in the Malaysian
basin, results in rapid oil production decline. RSD
is said to be capable of dissolving up to 100% of
“Flow-assurance issues remain
prevalent today, and an
analysis of existing solutions,
key to the success of oil and
gas producing facilities, needs
to be addressed.”
mixed scales in 24 hours at well temperatures
with no incompatibility with production chemicals,
pumping, and wireline components. This was
done under laboratory conditions. A field trial was
completed, with outstanding results for the RSD as
it proved capable of reviving the well by resolving
mixed-scale issues.

CELESTINA YAABA KISSI, SPE, is a chemical engineer based in Accra,

Ghana. She started her career as a graduate process engineer with
Ghana’s Tema Oil Refinery for her National Service. Kissi then moved
on to Shell Ghana as a graduate trainee, working on fuel scheduling
on the downstream side of the industry. While there, she had the
opportunity to work offshore as a chemist on a rotational basis
with Baker Hughes. Kissi has more than 8 years of experience as an
offshore chemist and a total of 15 years of experience in the oil and
gas industry. She is currently an offshore chemist with ChampionX
Celestina Yaaba Kissi
in Ghana. Kissi has been a member of SPE since 2011, and she was
Offshore Chemist the young professionals chairwoman from 2017 to 2018 and section
ChampionX
chairwoman from 2019 to 2022. Kissi is currently a member of the
Diversity and Inclusion Committee in Ghana, a section director, an SPEI
Awards Committee member, and a member of the JPT Editorial Review
Board. She can be reached at CelestinaYaaba.kissi@gmail.com.

86 JPT | November 2023

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Paper SPE 211943 discusses a thermodynamic

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro:
modeling approach for prediction and prevention
www.onepetro.org.
of wax deposition. Wax deposition, an oilfield
problem prevalent with aging wells, requires
a degree of accuracy with prediction to have SPE 213817
better control over prevention approaches. The Multifunctional Flow Assurance Inhibitors:
paper discusses the thermodynamic modeling Three Birds With One Stone?
approach used to determine the wax appearance by Malcolm A. Kelland, University of Stavanger, et al.
temperature in a well. This tool also confirmed the
optimal depth at which to place a wax-inhibition SPE 215003
tool based on the life-cycle expectations of the well. Significant Reduction of the Viscosity of Waxy
This improved well availability by 30%. Oils by Electrical Treatment
Paper OTC 32170 addresses performance by Hao Wang, The University of Texas at Austin, et al.
mapping of a multiphase-flow model. Exploration-
data-analysis techniques were used that enabled SPE 213808
a comprehensive analysis of several independent Calcite Scale Mitigation in a Very-Low-Water-
data sets from various origins. The analyses Cut, Low-Salinity, HP/HT Environment: Lessons
provided actionable and more-general insights Learned in Surveillance, Mitigation, and Scale-
that would have been otherwise obscured were Inhibitor Performance Monitoring for an
individual data sets to be analyzed independently. Onshore Field
These papers addressed prevailing issues by Jonathan J. Wylde, Heriot-Watt University, et al.
critical for success and production optimization.
Addressing the dissolution of mixed scale is a
pressing need in modern operations without
necessarily finding the scales in isolated conditions.
Wax remediation relies highly on accurate
temperature data for maximum efficiency and cost
savings. I highly recommend reading the second
highlighted paper to understand how the well
availability of 30% was achieved. Data analytics
in oil and gas enables actionable insights easily
identified by the last reviewed paper.
I trust, with these updates in flow assurance
in recent times, we are well placed and assured of
production-facility support for the coming years,
contributing positively to the goals of the energy
transition through fuels such as gas. JPT

jpt.spe.org 87
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
Robust Scale Dissolver Mitigates
Mixed-Scale Issue in South China Sea
The evaluation of a recently developed robust
solid dissolver (RSD), from the laboratory phase
through pilot deployment, is presented in the
complete paper. Based on laboratory tests, the
RSD can dissolve mixed scales completely in
24 hours at well temperatures while experiencing
no incompatibility issues with production chemicals
and all pumping and wireline components. The RSD
was developed based on the total organic system
that can prevent corrosion and is compatible with
hydrocarbon. The RSD was piloted at oil Well 1 in
Field PN and successfully removed mixed scales,
allowing the well’s revival.
Introduction
Solid scale deposition is one of the most frequent
flow-assurance issues both in subsurface and
at the surface. The scale can be classified as
organic (wax or asphaltenes), inorganic (calcites,
sulphates, sulfides, halites, carbonates, and
oxides), soap-related (naphthenates and
carboxylates), gas-related (hydrates), or mixed
scales. Scale occurrence, quantity, and severity
mainly are determined by mineralogy, water
chemistry, reservoir pressure and temperature,
and the flow characteristics of the producing
fluid in the well. Furthermore, scale formation is
exacerbated by higher pH conditions and a higher
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 211187, “Tackling Mixed-
Scales Issue in an Oil Field Using a Novel Robust Scale
Dissolver,” by Nora Aida Ramly, Luky Hendraningrat, SPE,
and Latief Riyanto, SPE, Petronas, et al. The paper has not
been peer reviewed.
88 JPT | November 2023
water-cut environment, as would be expected
in oil fields where water is to be injected for
pressure maintenance.
The most common type of scales found in
Malaysian oil fields are organic and inorganic
scales. The operator’s previously deployed scale-
dissolving chemical in its fields only could cater
to a single type of scale treatment at a time,
which was ineffective for dissolving mixed scales
simultaneously. Another method is the use of a
mechanical solution using a coiled tubing unit
(CTU). Removal mechanically by CTU in tubulars
is a successful method in removing hard barite
scales, but the cost is high and the method
requires several days of production deferment.
An improved and cheaper mixed-scale removal
approach was needed to clean out mixed-scale
issues in more‑challenging brownfields.
The RSD technology was developed for
wellbore cleanout caused by mixed scale based
on a stable microemulsion solution consisting of
acid and solvent components. The solution was
proposed to dissolve both organic and inorganic
scales simultaneously in the near-wellbore area
and tubing string of an oil well. The very small
droplet size formed by the surfactant system
and solvent is a significant advantage of using
microemulsion and can allow penetration even
in tight formations with small pore throats
and promotes more-uniform surface coverage
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.

(a)
Fig. 1—Dissolution test with the RSD at room temperature. (a) A 5-g deposit was placed in a test tube; (b) the RSD was
added; and (c) the sample was left overnight, after which the deposit sample was more than 98% dissolved.
because of the increased interfacial area of the
droplets. Previous studies have reported that the
microemulsion can be pumped without causing a
significant increase in pumping pressure.
Problem Statement
Field PN is in the South China Sea off eastern
Malaysia and has been categorized as a marginal
field. It is one of the waxiest fields in Malaysia;
the water cut for its wells is reasonably high from
sandstone reservoirs. Therefore, scale-buildup
tendency and wax precipitation are high and
may cause production tubulars to bottleneck,
leading to a declining production rate. Well 1 in
Field PN suffered from mixed scales, verified by
laboratory analysis and observed from the wellsite
throughout the tubing string and the near-wellbore
casing. The total downtime of Well 1 was more
than 95%, mostly because of sand and scale
cleanout. The RSD formulation was applied and
evaluated. The success criteria of RSD deployment
in Well 1 were tubing clearance and well revival to
resume production.
Methodology
The deposit characterization was performed
through saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene
TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
(b) (c)
(SARA) analysis; determination of microcrystalline
wax using high-temperature gas chromatography;
measurement of composition ratio of deposits
through loss-of-ignition (LOI) tests; and mineral
characterization of inorganic component by
X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and X-ray
diffraction (XRD). The XRF serves as a chemistry
analysis, while XRD identifies and measures the
presence and amount of minerals. Dissolution and
compatibility tests were performed with crude
oil, pumping, slickline components, and current
production chemicals such as scale, corrosion,
and wax inhibitors.
Results and Discussion
Laboratory Analyses. Several laboratory
analyses were conducted for pre- and post-RSD
pilot execution in Well 1. Detailed SARA analysis
indicated that the sample contained both macro-
and microcrystalline wax. A saturate compound
was the major component (more than 50),
showing that the sample was highly waxy. The
wax appearance temperature is 71.4°C, and pour-
point temperature is 54°C. The manual laboratory
practice considered the volatile nature of the
crude oil present in the deposit; a portion of this
composition was dissipated through the testing
jpt.spe.org 89
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
apparatus and processes. The standard deviation
of up to 7% is a widely accepted range in laboratory
practice for establishing SARA composition.
An LOI test was conducted, revealing that the
deposit was 99.56% organic and 0.44% inorganic.
Further analysis was conducted on the inorganic
sample to determine the probable inorganic
content. XRF analysis determined that the major
inorganic content element was chlorine, while XRD
determined that the major mineral was halite.
Halite, commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral
form of sodium chloride. Thus, the results between
XRF and XRD are consistent.
The dissolution test was conducted by using
the RSD. Based on the LOI results, organic content
contributed 99.56% of the total deposits sample.
As observed from the wellsite, the recovered
sample was retrieved at shallower depths where
organic scale was likely to be deposited, whereas,
in deeper sections of the tubing, inorganic scale
was most likely to be deposited. The dissolution
test was conducted with a wellbore temperature
of 50°C (Fig. 1). The results showed that the RSD
can dissolve the deposit sample more than 98%.
Meanwhile, at higher temperatures, the RSD can
dissolve 100% of the sample.
Compatibility tests with production chemicals
such as scale, corrosion, and wax inhibitors also
were performed. The RSD was tested individually
with those production chemicals, and the results
showed that no incompatibility issues existed
between the RSD and the production chemicals.
Before job execution, a compatibility test
was conducted with the pumping and wireline
components, including plunger seal, rubber seal,
pump-plunger packing, suction and discharge
valve, butterfly-valve rubber seal, O-ring, segment
seal-plug valve, hose, and stainless-steel wire. The
objective was to evaluate the compatibility between
the pumping and wireline components with the
RSD. The sample was weighed and transferred into
a breaker. Approximately 100 mL of the RSD was
added into the beaker and soaked for 24 hours
at room temperature. The sample was removed
90 JPT | November 2023
from the beaker and was cleaned. The sample was
dried and weighed to determine the percentage
of weight loss. No obvious physical changes or
weight loss were observed in the pumping and
wireline components.
Post-Job Treatment Evaluation. The treatment
was designed for the pumping phase. The scale
cleared in the bottomhole portion after RSD
treatment accessed the end of the tubing and
was completed successfully. Well 1 was revived
after RSD treatment, but overall well revival was
inconclusive because of operational constraints.
Thus, performance evaluations can be performed
using simulation analysis. Prejob liquid production
was 152 B/D with a matched tubing size of
1.35 in., whereas fullbore is 2.991 in. Based on
simulation analysis performed through tubing
sensitivity, Well 1 has the potential for post-
job improvement by clearing the tubing, which
will increase production from 30 to 90 B/D with
pretreatment well-parameter conditions.
Conclusions
The Well 1 sample of organic and inorganic
deposits was dissolved successfully using the
RSD. By elevating the temperature to 50°C, scale
dissolution was expedited and the RSD formulation
completely dissolved the deposit. Accordingly,
field-equipment-compatibility tests showed that
the RSD was compatible with pumping components
and slickline wires. The RSD pilot in Well 1 has
demonstrated that mixed scales were cleared
from the entire tubing after the wellbore-cleanout
phase; the end of the tubing was accessed, and a
through-tubing operation was performed. After
receiving RSD treatment, Well 1 was revitalized;
however, because of operational challenges, the
overall success of the well revival was inconclusive.
Thus, simulation analysis was used to evaluate
performance. The results demonstrated that Well 1
has the potential to increase its liquid production
from 30 to 90 B/D while maintaining the same well-
parameter conditions as before RSD treatment. JPT

Thermodynamic Modeling Approach
Assists Mitigation of Wax Deposition
Well MERO-006T is an oil development well that came
into production in March 1988 and has been plagued
with incessant wax buildup. Research indicates that
a wax-inhibition tool can be deployed in the well.
The complete paper highlights the thermodynamic
modeling approach adopted to determine the wax
appearance temperature (WAT) in Well MERO‑006T,
the well-modeling approach to estimate the depth at
which wax formation would occur, and the optimal
depth for the wax-inhibition tool based on life-cycle-
production expectations from the well.
Introduction
Problems associated with wax deposition can
occur anywhere in the production system, from the
reservoir to the terminal. Wax deposits result from
the cooling effect of oil flowing from high-pressure
reservoirs through the wellbore to the surface.
Depressurization of the oil as it is produced leads
to its expansion and temperature drop, which
induces crystallization of wax. Considering the
effects of wax deposition on producing wells
and facilities, prevention of the phenomenon
is preferable to correction.
Challenges
Well MERO-006T was drilled and completed as
a single-string single in November 1981 on the
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper SPE 211943, “Prediction
and Prevention of Wax Deposition in MERO-006T:
A Thermodynamic Modeling Approach,” by Obiora Nwosu,
Olugbenga Daodu, SPE, and Basil Ogbunude, SPE, Shell,
et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
Q2100X sand. The crude oil in the reservoir is
waxy and has resulted in several wax-cutting
jobs across the production life of the well. By
February 1989, the production rate had declined
to 198 BOPD on 28/64-in. bean. A dewaxing job
was completed, and production rose steadily,
peaking at 1012 BOPD at 195-psig tubinghead
pressure and 0% basic sediment and water in
May 1991, after which the well quit production
because of wax by November of that year. Several
unsuccessful attempts were made to produce
the well until March 1994, when stimulation, wax
cutting, and nitrogen-lifting intervention was
performed. In April 1994, the interval produced
dry at an average rate of 160 BOPD on 36/64-in.
bean until January 1995, when it quit again. Wax
cutting was performed in June 1997; the interval
produced dry at an average rate of 300 BOPD on
36/64-in. bean. The well produced at approximately
300 BOPD until March 2003, when production rate
dropped to 170 BOPD. Solvent soak and dewaxing
was performed in Q4 2004, and the well was
opened to flow; production fluctuated between
500 and 100 BOPD. The well was closed in for
low productivity as the result of wax formation
in October 2005. However, in 2017, the well’s B
annulus pressure was found to be higher than
maximum allowable annulus surface pressure at
the wellhead. Post-risk assessment, the well was
classified as high-risk. In 2018, a remediation using
For a limited time, the complete
paper is free to SPE members
at jpt.spe.org.
jpt.spe.org 91
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
Fig. 1—Examples of the wax-inhibition tool.
conformance control was performed, but this
was unsuccessful. It was decided to carry out a
workover to restore well integrity. The cumulative
production from this interval has been recorded
as 1.485 million STB.
Wax-Inhibition Technology
The wax-inhibition tool (known commercially
as the Silver Hawg) is an alloy composed of
dissimilar metals (Fig. 1). Its operation is based
on the fact that physical characteristics of a
flowing liquid change or are modified by contact
with a particular alloy. During oil production,
crude oil is drawn in through the open lower
end of the tool’s inner tube by pressure into
the inner tube. This causes multiple streams or
jets of crude oil to emanate from the radically
bored holes in the wall of the tube to bombard
the copper/nickel walls of the annular chamber
and the center insert. Electrons released from
the copper in the walls of the chamber combine
with molecules of the hydrocarbons and other
minerals, thereby altering certain physical
characteristics of the crude oil, produced water,
and the other entrained minerals that otherwise
clog the tubing and impede the upward flow of
the crude.
The crude oil and its entrained minerals
treated in the tool pass through the string of
the tubing to the surface. The treated crude
oil not only keeps paraffins and other waxes in
suspension but also breaks up the long chain
hydrocarbon molecules, thereby making the
oil slicker.
92 JPT | November 2023
Well MERO-006T Pressure/Volume/
Temperature (PVT) Characterization
To properly capture the wellbore-fluid interactions
at different pressures and temperatures in the well
model, a full characterization of the fluid properties
was required using the appropriate equation of
state (EOS) model. This significantly improves
the accuracy of WAT prediction at any given
operating condition.
PVT characterization was performed with
the PVTSim suite. Typical consistency checks
using mass-balance and Buckley plot techniques
were applied, and results confirmed validity of
the PVT experiments conducted on the reservoir
fluid sample.
To characterize the reservoir fluid, the
Peng-Robinson 78 EOS model was used based
on its improved acentric factor and fugacity
parameters. Peneloux volume-correction factor
was applied for liquid-density corrections. Heavier
components were split with the Katz method
before weight-based lumping for components
with similar K values. The critical properties for
the compositional plus fractions were estimated
using the Lee-Kessler correlation, while the
Lorenz, Bray, and Clark correlation was applied
for viscosity estimation.
Tuning of the correct parameters (e.g., omega
coefficients, binary interaction coefficients,
critical properties, and C-Peneloux factors) within
the expected range across the constant mass-
expansion, differential-liberation, separator, and
viscosity experiments resulted in a good match
for the fluid properties at different pressures,
including saturation pressure and temperature.
Because of the importance of the fluid-phase
separation in the well model for WAT prediction,
attention was given to the review of the phase map
generated from the fluid characterization with
regard to the PVT match.
Well MERO-006T WAT Modeling
Well MERO-006T is the only drainage point on
the Q2100X reservoir. The original reservoir

static pressure was 3,453 psia, while the initial
bottomhole temperature (BHT) was 218°F. The
well was completed in 1988 with 3½-in. tubing.
Model predictions indicated that wax
precipitation would begin when the fluid
temperature decreased from the initial BHT
of 218°F to the predicted WAT of 151.8°F. For
selection of the correct wax-inhibition tool,
considerations were made to ensure that
installations were made a few feet below the
depth corresponding to the cloud point, as well as
possession of a flow area large enough to ensure
zero effect on oil-production rate. However,
sensitivity was carried for late-life water cut (82%)
to achieve a single installation for the remaining
well life cycle, arriving at the corresponding depth
of 4,419 ft along hole (ftah). Based on these critical
long-term factors, the sensitivity of installation
at 3,000 ftah provided the best overall well-
performance outcome. This will ensure effective
performance at the initial stage and mid- and late
life of the well. It was also essential to create a
profile close to this nucleating point (3,000 ftah)
for hanging the tool in the installation design.
The closer the tool is to the nucleating point, the
more effective its performance. Plans are in place
to monitor closely the effectiveness of the wax-
inhibition tool after deployment for purposes
of optimization. The worst-case outcome will be
remedied by the typical wax-cutting approach
for the well.
Results
Well-model predictions indicated that WAT for
Well MERO-006T was predicted to occur at 172.5°F.
The wax appearance depth corresponding to
TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
this depth was estimated at 2,529 ftah; however,
considering the expected late-life production
profile (increasing water cut), the wax appearance
depth is estimated at 4,419 ftah. The wax-inhibition
tool is proposed to be installed at approximately
3,000 ftah in the production tubing in order to
account for mid- to late-life production. A profile
will be created at this depth in the production
tubing to install the tool with functionality to
remove and replace it by wireline when its life
cycle is exceeded.
Conclusion
Because of the historical, incessant wax buildup
in Well MERO-006T, which has led to production
deferment and loss of revenue, a longer-term
solution was proposed to install a wax-inhibition
tool in the production tubing to mitigate this
flow-assurance issue. Based on past experience
where the tool has been installed and wax buildup
continued unabated, it became necessary to
determine the temperature and depth of wax
formation in future wells in order to optimally
install the tool and improve its probability of
success in eradicating wax buildup. A well-
modeling and thermodynamic-modeling approach
was adopted, therefore, to address these critical
questions of temperature and depth. The tool also
is proposed to be wireline-retrievable to facilitate
tool replacement and maintenance without
carrying out a full-scale workover. It is estimated
that installing this tool would improve Well
MERO‑006T’s availability by 30% and avoid biannual
costs of approximately $2 million associated
with repeated wax treatment and intervention
in the well. JPT
jpt.spe.org 93
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
Experimental Data-Analysis Methods
Analyze Multiphase-Flow Data Sets
In the complete paper, the authors present
exploratory data analyses to evaluate
comprehensively the performance of a steady-
state multiphase-flow point model in predicting
high‑pressure, near-horizontal data from
independent experiments. This effort provides
wide-ranging insight that can reflect the current
state of the art of multiphase-flow modeling and
pinpoint areas where improvements are needed.
Much of the complete paper is devoted to the
literature relating to the authors’ work; these
specific citations are not included in this synopsis.
Introduction
The emergence of “big data” has encouraged the
use of data from various sources to enhance the
decision-making process. The authors write that,
unfortunately, multiphase-flow studies often are
performed in theoretical silos, within which specific
experiments were performed and upon which
certain model improvements were proposed.
Therefore, it is easy to lose sight of the larger
context in terms of current understanding and
modeling capability. This disconnected approach
also has produced an ever-growing, potentially
unmanageable list of closure relationships, which
can be counterproductive for model development.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter,
contains highlights of paper OTC 32170, “Performance
Mapping of Multiphase-Flow Model—Connecting the Dots
From Experimental Data,” by Auzan A. Soedarmo, SPE,
Eduardo Pereyra, SPE, and Cem Sarica, SPE, The University of
Tulsa. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2023
Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.
94 JPT | November 2023
Experimental Data-
Analysis Methodology
For their study, the authors collected near-
horizontal (–5° to +5°) gas/liquid data from
literature with a gas density of 5 kg/m3 or greater.
Atmospheric data were excluded because gas
and air at such conditions are typically very
compressible, meaning that superficial gas velocity
can vary considerably along the pipe. One also
can argue that high-gas-density cases are more
relevant to typical high-pressure field applications.
The authors collected more than 2,000 data points
for pressure drop, holdup, and flow patterns.
This accumulated data set by no means can be
categorized as “big data” in a traditional sense;
however, the authors write that it is sufficient
for demonstrating how exploratory data analysis
may extract actionable insights from data sets
from various independent sources. This data
set is henceforth called the “HP data set.” No
high‑viscosity liquid (10 cP or higher) is included
in the HP data set.
When comparing experimental data
collected under different conditions, it is helpful
to reduce the problem’s dimensionality (down
from 10 dimensions in two-phase gas/liquid
flow, excluding the gravitational acceleration
constant). A traditional approach would be to use
dimensionless numbers such as Reynolds and
Froude numbers. A single dimensionless number,
The complete paper
is available for purchase
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

however, can only account for limited parameters.
For example, the Reynolds number only considers
the inertia and viscous effects, while the Froude
number only considers the inertia and gravity
effects. Therefore, a mechanistic multiphase-flow
model is used in this study that accounts for all
dimensions of the multiphase-flow problems and
reduces them into one dimension, namely the
discrepancy between the predicted value and
experimental data.
The mechanistic model discrepancy analysis
offers wide-ranging insights into the current
multiphase-flow predictive capability, which
can be used as a basis for future improvement
efforts. Dimensionless numbers then can be used
to provide information on operating conditions
where improvements (or special attention to the
uncertainty estimates) are particularly needed.
This analysis also can be used to reveal outliers
(a subset of experimental data that differ from
the model prediction in substantially larger
margins than the rest of the data). As a general
rule, experimental data are more trusted than
model predictions. Mechanistic models have been
extensively validated, however, establishing that
discrepancy outliers may reveal valuable insights
into the data or the model.
In traditional flow-pattern-prediction accuracy
assessments, experimental flow-pattern data are
superimposed on the flow-pattern map predicted
by a model for constant fluid properties and
pipe geometry. This analysis cannot be extended
when the latter parameters are varied. In this
study, the authors adopted a confusion matrix
used for classification problems used in the
literature. This analysis has been used for flow-
pattern-classification accuracy in low-pressure
data. Four general flow patterns were considered:
stratified, annular, intermittent, and dispersed
bubble. Subpatterns are grouped into one of
these four categories. For example, stratified wavy
and smooth are grouped into stratified flow; and
churn, slug, and elongated bubble are grouped
into intermittent flow.
TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
Quantitatively, the precision, recall, and F1
score metrics were used for this analysis. The
precision is defined as the fraction of relevant
instances among the retrieved instance, while
recall is defined as the fraction of relevant
instances that are correctly retrieved.
Neither precision nor recall can be used
independently to assess overall model accuracy
in predicting flow pattern. A model that almost
always predicts stratified flow will likely produce
high stratified-flow recall but low stratified-flow
precision. On the other hand, a model that only
predicts stratified flow in obvious cases will
produce the opposite. Many approaches exist to
combine precision and recall into a single metric
that captures classification accuracy. The authors
used the F1 score, which is appropriate when
the precision and recall are evenly weighted. The
Tulsa University Fluid Flow Projects (TUFFP) Unified
Model (henceforth “model”) was used for the
analysis presented thereafter.
Flow-Pattern Analysis
The confusion matrix of the model flow pattern for
the HP data set is described and analyzed in the
complete paper.
The model formulation allows simultaneous
modeling of flow-pattern transition and
hydrodynamics by the slug unit cell model.
Starting with the slug-flow assumption, the model
solves for the film- (bubble-) zone fraction, which
is the fraction of the slug unit cell not occupied
by the slug body. When the film-zone fraction
approaches zero, the model predicts a transition
to dispersed bubble flow. Conversely, when it
approaches unity, the model predicts a transition
to segregated (stratified or annular) flow. This
approach can estimate the flow-pattern-prediction
uncertainties for a given computed film-zone
fraction value.
Pressure-Drop Analysis
Outlier Analysis. An essential step in the model-
performance analysis is identification of prediction
jpt.spe.org 95
 TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
outliers, where the discrepancy between data and
model is substantial. These outliers may indicate
deficiencies in either the data or the model or both.
An efficient way to identify such outliers is through
a violin plot, which displays the data distribution for
several categories (in this case, the data source).
The plot consists of the “violins,” which represent
the data distribution for each category, computed
with a kernel density estimation. Within each violin,
a white dot represents the median (Q2), a thick
black line represents the interquartile range (Q1
to Q3), and a thin black line represents the 95%
confidence interval of the data. The violin plot for
the model pressure-drop prediction on the HP data
set is shown in Fig. 3 of the complete paper. The
analyses of the violin, parity, and discrepancy plots
are detailed there as well.
Combining Pressure-Drop Analysis With
Flow-Pattern Confusion Matrix. The authors
combined the pressure-drop and flow-pattern-
prediction accuracy analyses. This analysis is
useful to assess whether pressure-drop prediction
errors stem from flow-pattern misclassifications
or deficiencies in the hydrodynamic model within
the flow patterns.
Misclassification of annular flow as stratified
flow, even though it is very common, does not
contribute to significant pressure-drop errors. On
the other hand, misclassifications of intermittent
flow as stratified flow, and stratified flow as
intermittent flow, have noticeably more significant
effects on pressure-drop errors. Nevertheless,
when the stratified flow in experiments was
correctly predicted by the model, the pressure-
drop prediction error was even higher. It is
important to note that this group of data was
quite sizeable compared with other boxes in the
confusion matrix, indicating that the stratified-flow
model needed improvement.
Holdup Analysis
Outlier Analysis. A similar data-screening work
flow using a violin plot was implemented for
96 JPT | November 2023
liquid holdup. An additional screening criterion
was implemented: the measured holdup shall
not be smaller than the no-slip holdup for
horizontal and upward-inclined flow. Once again,
these figures showed noticeable outliers for
upward low-liquid-loading data sets, particularly
around the onset of liquid accumulation.
Some data sets seemed to be systematically
underpredicted by the model; however, they
were still well within the standard deviation of
the errors. The holdup value was always between
0 and 1, so the model could not underpredict
more than 100%. The violins may reach values
smaller than –1, however, as an artifact of the
kernel density function used to generate the
data distribution. Parity and discrepancy plots
for the holdup analysis are detailed in the
complete paper.
Closure-Relationships Analysis
The performance of mechanistic models depends
on the quality of the closure relationships used
to complement the conservation equations. From
the HP data set, several closure relationships
were evaluated: entrainment fraction, slug or
pseudoslug length, slug or pseudoslug-body
holdup, slug or pseudoslug frequency, and
slug or pseudoslug translational velocity. The
interfacial friction factor is one of the more
commonly tuned closure variables because it
serves as a catch-all term used to match the
model to data. To the authors’ knowledge,
however, the variable itself is not directly
measurable (it is inferred from measured
holdup by assuming a particular modeling
framework). Therefore, the interfacial friction
closure validation was excluded in this paper.
The authors also analyzed closure relationships
for wave celerity, amplitude, and frequency.
Because they are not used in the TUFFP unified
model, however, they also were excluded from this
paper for the sake of brevity. The results of the
closure-relationship analysis are detailed in the
complete paper.

Conclusions
Various exploratory data-analysis methods were
applied in analyzing high-pressure multiphase-
flow data sets in the literature. These analyses
are useful to connect experimental data from
various origins and with different measurement
objectives, providing actionable insights that are
otherwise obscured because individual data sets
are analyzed in silos.
The confusion matrix indicated that the
transition between stratified and annular flow
is very poorly predicted. The misclassification
between stratified and intermittent flow comes a
distant second in terms of frequency of occurrence;
however, it contributes more significantly to bulk
parameter-prediction errors.
For pressure-drop and holdup-prediction
analysis, the violin plot can be used to identify
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TECHNICAL PAPERS | Flow Assurance
outliers quickly with respect to the discrepancy
between model predictions and data. The outliers
can represent both model and measurement
deficiencies. A discrepancy plot can complement
the traditional parity plot because it helps locate
where in operational parameter space the
model is good or bad. These plots highlight the
conditions where the models perform poorly,
such as low‑liquid-loading slightly upward-
inclined, downward-flow, and high-gas-flow-rate
conditions. Regarding closure relationships,
except for slug translational velocity, most
closure parameters are still poorly predicted.
Entrainment fraction deserves special attention
given the expected importance of the separated
flow-model accuracy. The closure relationships
for slug characteristics do not perform well when
applied to pseudoslug flow. JPT
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jpt.spe.org 97
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
SPE Technical Papers Available for Download
SPE technical papers synopsized in each monthly issue of JPT are available for download
for SPE members for 2 months. These October and November papers are available now.
You’ll also find links to the technical papers at the bottom of each synopsis.
OCTOBER 2023
(available here through 30 November)
OFFSHORE DRILLING AND COMPLETION
Optimizing Future Drilling-Center Location Using
Advanced Analytics and Machine-Learning Algorithms
Offshore Abu Dhabi
Healthy Caspian Experience Helps Boost Drilling
Performance in Turkey’s Onshore UGS Project
ARTIFICIAL LIFT
Optimizing Artificial Lift Timing and Selection Using
Reduced Physics Models
Electric Submersible Generators: Using ESPs in an
Unfamiliar Way
Gas Lift Performance Enhancement Strategies by Downsizing
and Using Dummy and Venturi Valves: A Paradigm Shift
in Gas Lift Systems-Management Philosophy
DATA ANALYTICS
Eagle Ford Parent Well-Frac-Hit (Frac-Driven Interaction)
Impact Characterization, Prediction, and Mitigation
Reconstruction of Missing Segments in Well-Data History
Using Data Analytics
Physics-Assisted Transfer Learning for Production
Prediction in Unconventional Reservoirs
SAND MANAGEMENT
Development of Plasma-Sprayed Coatings To Improve the
Erosion Resistance of Wire-Wrapped Screens
A Subsea Multilateral Oil Producer, Completed With AICD
Sand Screens and Selective Inflow Valves, Is Evaluated by
Combined Acoustic and PL Tools, Identifying the Sand-
Producing Branch and a Tubing Leak in a Single Operation
An Automated Work Flow of Simplified Representative
Elementary Volume Approach to Sand Prediction and
Control Monitoring Using Web-Based Interfaces To
Reference With Operation Efficiency Improvement in
Zawtika Field, Myanmar
TOPICS COMING UP IN DECEMBER
Reserves Management | Production and Facilities | Bits and Bottomhole Assemblies | Water Management
98 JPT | November 2023
NOVEMBER 2023
(available here through 31 December)
DRILLING AND COMPLETION FLUIDS
New Low-ECD (Organophilic Clay-Free Inverted Emulsion
Fluid) Weighted With Manganese Tetroxide Showed
Superior Performance in Different Fields: Success Story
of Drilling With OCIEF in High-Overbalance Environment
Without Downhole Problems, Stuck-Pipe Events, and
Nonproductive Time
Real-Time Anomaly Detection Methodology for Drilling-
Fluids Properties
Full-Scale Solids-Control Testing of a Light-Density Hollow-
Glass-Beads Drilling Fluid
EOR OPERATIONS
A Systematic Review of the Largest ASP Flood Project in the
World: From Laboratory to Pilots and Field Application
Novel Janus Carbon Nanofluids From Waste Plastics as
Sustainable Nanoagents for Enhanced Oil Recovery:
Scaleup Synthesis and Performance Evaluation
Evaluation of CO2 Storage Potential During CO2 Mobility-
Control Optimization for Enhanced Oil Recovery
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING MODELING
Multimaterial Multiphysics Modeling Coupled With Post-
Fracturing Production Flow Simulations: Revamping
Hydraulic Fracturing Design Strategy
3D Integrated Geological and Geomechanical Model-Driven
Mitigation Work Flow on Screenout, Frac Hits, and Casing
Deformation in Ultradeep Shale Hydraulic Fracturing
A Comprehensive Simulation Study of Hydraulic Fracturing
Test Site 2 (HFTS-2): Part I—Modeling Pressure-
Dependent and Time-Dependent Fracture Conductivity
in Fully Calibrated Fracture and Reservoir Models
FLOW ASSURANCE
Tackling Mixed-Scales Issue in an Oil Field Using a Novel
Robust Scale Dissolver
Prediction and Prevention of Wax Deposition in
MERO‑006T: A Thermodynamic Modeling Approach

SPE Joins Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions
Initiative To Magnify Access to Knowledge
and Best Practices Across the Globe
SPE recently became a supporting organization
of the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions
Initiative, which aims to reduce methane
emissions from oil and gas operations to
near zero by 2030.
Reducing methane emissions from the oil
and gas sector will be essential to meeting the
objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement and
is a top priority for the Oil and Gas Climate
Initiative (OGCI), which launched the initiative
last year.
SPE, a not-for-profit professional association
with over 119,000 global members working in
oil and gas exploration and production, joins
more than 90 companies and organizations,
including private and state-run energy companies,
service firms, technology providers, NGOs,
and consultancies.
OGCI Executive Committee Chairman Bjørn
Otto Sverdrup said, “SPE is the leading forum for
sharing technical and professional knowledge in
our industry and their support will be invaluable in
helping oil and gas companies to reduce methane
emissions at their operations so we can meet
net‑zero goals.”
2023 SPE President Med Kamal added,
“The measurement, reporting, and cost-effective
abatement of methane emissions has become
an area of increased focus for SPE members.
In response, SPE has expanded its educational
content and opportunities for members to
connect, including the establishment of a new
SPE NEWS
Methane Emissions Management Technical
Section. The SPE Board of Directors approved the
recommendation to join OGCI’s initiative to magnify
access to knowledge and best practices across
the globe.”
Signatories and supporters of Aiming for Zero
recognize that virtually all methane emissions from
the industry can and should be avoided.
Supporters endorse the initiative, encourage
new signatories to join and, where relevant,
support signatories as they reduce their
methane emissions.
The initiative’s clear and straightforward
ambition aims to help companies galvanize action
within their organizations, fast-track the deployment,
maintenance, and upgrading of physical assets,
and invest in new technologies and training to help
reduce virtually all methane emissions.
Background
OGCI is a CEO-led organization bringing together
12 of the world’s largest energy companies
to lead the oil and gas industry’s response to
climate change.
The group aims to accelerate collective action
towards a net-zero emissions future in line with the
Paris Agreement.
Aiming for Zero complements a number
of other multistakeholder initiatives to reduce
methane emissions, including the Methane Guiding
Principles, the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0
and the Global Methane Alliance.
jpt.spe.org 99
 SPE NEWS
SPE Awards: The Oscars for Petroleum
Engineers
Matthew T. Balhoff, SPE, Department Chair and Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Nominations for SPE International and
Regional Awards are open. Identify your
colleagues who best qualify and submit your
nominations soon. International Award
nominations close on 15 February, and Regional
Award nominations close on 1 March.
I attended my first SPE awards banquet in
2007 at the Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition (ATCE) in Anaheim, California. I was
a new assistant professor at The University of
Texas at Austin and relatively new to SPE and
the industry.
I was mesmerized by the whole awards
banquet experience: the entertainment, dinner,
flashing lights and music when winners were
announced, fancy awards, and speeches. It was
like the Oscars, but for engineers!
At the time, I only recognized the names of
a few of the winners but would later learn that
these were the professionals that wrote landmark
books, developed impactful equations, and made
discoveries that changed the trajectory of our
energy future.
Since that first memorable experience, I have
attended the awards banquet annually, nominated
dozens of colleagues, and written dozens more
letters of recommendation. I was honored to
receive the 2014 SPE Regional Young Professional
Outstanding Service Award, 2017 SPE Distinguished
Membership, and most recently the 2022 SPE
Lester C. Uren Award.
Receiving these awards were some of the most
exciting, fun, and humbling nights of my life. I hope
to share that wonderful experience with as many
SPE members and colleagues as possible.
My advice to anyone aspiring to nominate a
colleague, or be nominated, is as follows.
100 JPT | November 2023
1. Start the process early. Although
nominations are due 15 February for International
Awards and 1 March for Regional Awards, it is
important to identify a candidate for nomination,
letter writers, and supporting documents as early
as possible.
2. Identify a nominee and the award
most suited for their accomplishments.
Have a discussion with the nominee about their
career and where they best fit in and be sure
that they meet the eligibility requirements. I
suggest reviewing recent winners of the award to
determine if the nominee’s accomplishments are
comparable. If you believe that there is an award
for which you are best suited, don’t be shy about
approaching a colleague about nominating you.
3. Consider a Regional Award before an
International one or a technical award/SPE
Distinguished Member Award before the more
prestigious ones like the SPE John Franklin Carll
Award for Distinguished Professionals or SPE/AIME
Honorary Member Award. Importantly, winners of
Regional Awards are automatically nominated for
the International Award the subsequent year. Also
consider awards that are historically overlooked
by nominators, for example the SPE/AIME Charles
F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal and the SPE/AIME
Robert Earll McConnell Award.
4. The nominator should work closely
with the candidate to develop a thorough
nomination form. I recommend including very
specific accomplishments, possibly in bullet form,
that the review committee can consider and
compare to other nominees.
5. Identify and contact up to six colleagues
to write letters of recommendation for the
nominee. Ideally, these colleagues should be very

familiar with the candidate’s accomplishments,
willing to write a thorough letter, and are well-
known and respected within SPE (consider past
winners of the award and other SPE awards for
references). I suggest providing the referees
with the completed nomination form and any
other helpful material to write the reference
letter, including a discussion with the candidate
and/or nominator about their most impactful
accomplishments. Remember that the referee
is providing a service and favor so be respectful
of their time and provide sufficient notice, at least
1 month.
6. The candidate should try not to be too
humble when sharing accomplishments with
the nominee or referees. There will be plenty
of time for humility when you see the impressive
group of colleagues on the stage and the previous
winners of the award.
7. Don’t get discouraged if you or your
nominee are not selected for an award. The
selected SPE winners are an impressive group,
and it is an honor to be considered. Nominations
at the international level remain active for 3 years,
and very few people are selected for an award on
their first try. Many are even renominated after
3 years and may then be selected as an awardee.
8. Regardless of whether you or your
nominee wins an award, attend the SPE awards
banquet and support your colleagues. It is a
lot of fun and the closest most of us will get to
attending the Oscars!
When it comes to SPE award nominations,
Wayne Gretzky, former professional ice hockey star
and coach, said it best: “You miss 100% of the shots
you don’t take.”
Unfortunately, there are countless
accomplished SPE members that are never
considered for these awards and the once-in-a-
lifetime experience.
Learn more about SPE awards and how you can
get involved.
SPE NEWS
AUTHOR
Matthew T. Balhoff is the
department chair and a
professor in the Hildebrand
Department of Petroleum
and Geosystems Engineering
at The University of Texas
at Austin. He holds the Lois
and Richard Folger Leadership Chair
in Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and
Bank of America Professorship in Petroleum
Engineering. He also co-leads the Industrial Affiliate
Program on Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery.
Balhoff became an SPE Distinguished Member
in 2017 and is a winner of the 2022 SPE Lester
C. Uren Award, 2014 SPE International Young
Member Service Award, and 2012 SPE International
Teaching Fellow Award. He has 96 peer-reviewed
publications and 39 conference papers in the
areas of enhanced oil recovery, carbon storage,
unconventional resource production, and
fundamental processes of flow and transport
through porous media.
He holds BS and PhD degrees in chemical
engineering from Louisiana State University.
jpt.spe.org 101
 SPE NEWS
SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen Week:
Unlocking the Potential of Hydrogen
SPE organized its first hydrogen symposium
and forum during the SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen
Week in September, at the Perth Convention and
Exhibition Center, Australia.
Over 4 days, more than 130 attendees
from 12 countries offered insights into the
evolving hydrogen landscape. Regional experts
deliberated on the future of hydrogen, highlighting
key opportunities to scale up infrastructure
development and investments, optimize existing
infrastructures for clean hydrogen supplies, and
address challenges in policies, regulations, and
low‑cost production.
“SPE’s first hydrogen symposium was a great
opportunity for a group of diverse and passionate
professionals to get together and talk about the
Menno Weustink, vice president, new energy projects,
Woodside Energy, and SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen
Symposium co-chair.
102 JPT | November 2023
issues that matter,” said Menno Weustink, vice
president, new energy projects, Woodside Energy,
and SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen Symposium co-chair.
“We know this kind of collaboration is the key
to unlocking opportunities in our industry, just
as it was in the development of the LNG industry
many years ago. We don’t just need new sources
of energy, we need entirely new technologies,
infrastructure, products, and regulations that do
not exist today, or at least need to be modified,”
he said.
“During discussions over the 4 days, I
was impressed by the great ideas and the
demonstrated collaboration focused towards
building this entirely new supply chain.
“I thank SPE for all their efforts developing
a program of such productive and interesting
sessions, supporting the development of the
hydrogen industry in the Asia Pacific region. To
me, it’s clear that we’re on the cusp of a new
chapter and it’s a fascinating time to be involved,”
Weustink said.
Advanced technologies for hydrogen
production took center stage, with presentations
covering both blue and green hydrogen production
methods, focusing on improving efficiency
and reducing costs. Innovations in electrolysis,
particularly proton exchange membrane
technology, and advancements in steam methane
reforming were extensively discussed.
Efficient and safe storage and transportation of
hydrogen are critical for its widespread adoption.
SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen Week showcased
developments in hydrogen refueling infrastructure,
pipeline technology, and maritime transportation,
illustrating the progress made in creating a regional
hydrogen economy.
Attendees also discussed the emerging
application of hydrogen, in areas such as power

L to R: Patrick Hartley, leader, Hydrogen Industry
Mission, CSIRO, and forum keynote speaker; Chris
Kalli, adjunct professor, The University of Western
Australia, forum co-chair; and Maung Maung Myo
Thant, head of hydrogen technology, Group Research
and Technology, Petronas Research Sdn. Bhd., and
forum co-chair.
generation, industrial processes, transportation,
and heating. The potential of hydrogen fuel cells for
powering vehicles and the integration of hydrogen
into existing natural gas networks were particularly
emphasized, demonstrating the versatility of
hydrogen as an energy carrier.
Furthermore, the event addressed the crucial
role of government policies and investment in
driving hydrogen adoption. Discussions revolved
around the development of regulatory frameworks,
incentives, and international collaborations to
support the growth of the hydrogen economy.
Insights into the strategies adopted by countries
leading in hydrogen initiatives, including Australia,
SPE NEWS
were provided, offering a roadmap for others
to follow.
The SPE Forum ‘Pathways to a Hydrogen
Future,’ which was part of the SPE Asia Pacific
Hydrogen Week, was conceived as a frank
exchange of ideas on the role that hydrogen
will play in a low-carbon energy world; the
technical, commercial, and regulatory challenges;
and the innovations required to meet them.
As intended, the forum resulted in a diversity
of freely expressed views that were received
critically but respectfully.
Experts and leaders in their fields opened
each of the eight sessions over the 2 days of the
forum on topics ranging from production, skills
transfer, storage/transport, commercial, and
the regulatory structures needed to encourage
hydrogen innovation and project development.
Each session resulted in a lively Q&A, with
delegates offering a variety of perspectives.
The fundamental technical challenges
associated with the production, storage, and
transport of hydrogen was a recurring theme,
and two lines of thought were that the future
role of hydrogen was necessarily limited and that
hydrogen could transform some industries given
the intelligent application of infrastructure and
associated technologies,” said Chris Kalli, adjunct
professor, The University of Western Australia,
and co-chair of the forum.
The SPE Asia Pacific Hydrogen Week fostered
an environment of networking and collaboration,
bringing together stakeholders from academia,
industry, and government. The platform facilitated
the exchange of ideas, fostering partnerships, and
laying the groundwork for future collaborative
projects. This networking aspect underscored the
importance of a united approach to overcoming
the challenges facing hydrogen adoption.
jpt.spe.org 103
 SPE NEWS
2023 SPE Annual Report Available
Our annual report for 2023 is now live, showcasing
our journey through the past year and our vision
for the future. Discover our milestones, including
the hiring of a new CEO, Simon Seaton; strategic
planning; and industry collaboration on a global scale.
The year 2023 was marked by a dynamic global
landscape, where technological advancements,
shifting market dynamics, and a growing emphasis
on sustainability continued to influence our industry.
Leading the industry with more than 119,000
members in 138 countries, our membership is
expanding our reach. SPE geographic and technical
sections are evolving with the industry’s current
and foreseeable needs.
We continue to develop Technical Sections
to meet the growing needs of our members. The
Pix Force Claims Top Prize at 7th Annual SPE
Energy Startup Village Competition
OSPE and Rice Alliance for Technology and
Entrepreneurship have announced the winners
of the seventh annual Energy Startup Village
Competition, part of the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) held on
17 October in San Antonio, Texas.
After hosting the event virtually for the past
3 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
competition returned to its original in-person
format with leaders from 10 emerging energy
technology companies participating.
Pix Force, a computer vision startup from
Porto Alegre, Brazil, led by president and cofounder
Renato Gomes, was the standout winner, earning
both the “People’s Choice” award with a prize of
$3,000, and the “Best in Show” award of $25,000.
The “Rising Star” accolades went to two
promising startups. Flow meter specialist
Saher Flow Solutions, represented by its
CTO Muhammad Akram Karimi, hailing from
Towal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and WellWorth,
104 JPT | November 2023
Hydrogen Technical Section and the Plug and
Abandonment Technical Section were created
to share knowledge and technology in these
evolving critical sectors.
SPE is part of a technical consortium that
has been awarded a $165-million grant from
the US Department of Energy, “Geothermal
Energy from Oil and Gas Demonstrated
Engineering (GEODE).” This collaborative
effort signifies a milestone in our ongoing
dedication to advancing sustainable
energy solutions.
Read the complete annual report for
further information about SPE membership,
knowledge, events, publications and multimedia,
financials, and leadership.
a Houston‑based financial modeling startup
led by cofounder and CEO Samra Nawaz, each
received $5,000.
The competition culminated in an award
ceremony attended by the 2024 SPE President
Terry Palisch. Bryant Mueller, chairperson of
the Startup Village Committee, officiated the
competition as the master of ceremonies, while
Palisch spoke about the importance of innovation
and startups in the industry ecosystem before
presenting the winners with their awards.
The ATCE Startup Village has been a
collaborative effort between SPE and the Rice
Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship since
its inception in 2017. With over $385,000 awarded
to date, the competition continues to be a central
platform for fostering innovation in the upstream
oil and gas industry.
For more details about the competition and
a full list of participating companies, visit the
Startup Village website.

EUGENE ALLEN “AL”
BREITENBACH, 1994
SPE President, passed
away on 31 August. He
was 86. Breitenbach’s
career began at Mobil
Oil and later Marathon
Oil before starting his own
company, Scientific Software
Corporation, an energy consulting company. He
is credited with writing one of the first computer
programs for black-oil reservoir simulation. In
1968, he coauthored SPE 2020 on fluid flow
simulation equations.
An SPE member since 1960, he served
on several committees including Reservoir
Monitoring and Testing (1970–1971), Education
and Accreditation Committee (1975–1980),
Symbols and Metrication (1965–1984),
Distinguished Service Award (1983–1986),
SPE/AIME DeGolyer Distinguished Service
(1988–1991), Denver Section Officers (1986–1992),
United States Council (1990–1993), Middle East Oil
Show Program Committee (1992–1993, 1995–1997),
Nominating Committee (1990–1991, 1993–1995),
Distinguished and Honorary Member Award
committees (1994–1995), and SPE Foundation
Executive (2000–2002). He also served as
chairperson of the Education and Accreditation
Committee (1978–1979), chairperson of the
Distinguished Service Award Committee
(1985–1986), SPE/AIME DeGolyer Distinguished
Service Committee (1990–1991), chairperson of the
United States Council (1993–1993), and chairperson
of the Nominating Committee (1994–1995).
He was the recipient of the SPE Regional Service
Award, SPE John Franklin Carll Award, and SPE
Distinguished Membership.
As SPE President, he focused on “Winds of
Change.” He summarized this theme as “political
PEOPLE
changes in the world made immature basins such
as those found in the former Soviet Union, China,
several countries along the Pacific Rim, and many
countries in South America become available
for exploration for the first time in decades.”
Throughout his tenure, he highlighted his four
goals: to review the SPE financial system so that
SPE could more accurately investigate costs and
income and return to profitability; to define the
new SPE worldwide organization that would reflect
the changes that were occurring; to adopt a policy
and proceed with intersociety relations; and to
begin to solve the question of how to provide our
technology to the new generation of “competent
generalists.” Speaking about his presidency
during SPE’s 50th anniversary in 2007, he said
“My role during this challenging period was to be
the designated SPE cheerleader leading the pursuit
of our vision. It was an honor to serve.”
Breitenbach held bachelor’s, master’s, and
PhD degrees in petroleum engineering, all from
Stanford University.
In Memoriam
This section lists with regret SPE members
who recently passed away. If you would like
to report the passing of a f­ amily ­member
who was an SPE member, please write to
service@spe.org.
Ernest G. Dugas, Lafayette, Louisiana
Cary Griggs, Midland, Texas
William B. Hopkins III, Houston, Texas
William G. Lowrie, Columbus, Ohio
Stephen J. McClaine, Midland, Texas
Kerry Lloyd Zemp, Denver, Colorado
jpt.spe.org 105
 SPE EVENTS Visit www.spe.org/events for a complete list.

7–9 November | Denver

Events Sand Control Completion Challenges

8–9 November | Muscat

6–9 November | New Orleans
Production Chemistry in EOR
Addressing Today’s Technical Challenges To
Commercialize Future Carbon Transport and 13–15 November | Fort Worth
Sequestration Projects Forum Field Performance and Design of Water
Injectors: Injectivity, Fluid Conformance,
7–8 November | Kuala Lumpur
and Containment
CCUS Management Symposium
14–15 November | Englewood
14–15 November | Brisbane
Geothermal and Oil & Gas—Mutual Challenges
Asia Pacific Unconventional Resources
and Solutions
Symposium
20–21 November | Kuala Lumpur
14–15 November | Abu Dhabi
Digital, Data Analytics, and Automation
Unlocking Gas Resources Through an
in Upstream E&P—Evolution for Industry
Innovative, Profitable, and Sustainable
Excellence
Approach Symposium
28–30 November | New Orleans
21–23 November | Baku
New Perspectives in Well Performance Analysis
SPE Caspian Technical Conference and
and Production Forecasting
Exhibition
29–30 November | Kuwait City
27–30 November | Banff
Maximising Value Through Wells, Reservoir,
SPE Thermal Well Integrity and Production
and Facilities Management
Symposium
4–5 December | Kuala Lumpur
4–6 December | Buenos Aires
High Pressure High Temperature
SPE/AAPG/SEG Latin America Unconventional

Call for Papers

Resources Technology Conference

4–7 December | Galveston

Reducing the Impact of Casing Deformations
SPE/IADC Asia Pacific Drilling Technology
in Multifractured Horizontal Wells Forum
Conference and Exhibition
Deadline: 6 November

Workshops
6–8 November | Santa Fe
Completion Optimization Focused on the
Near‑Wellbore Region—Methods, Techniques,
Sales
and Technologies That Are Critical for Mike Buckley Danny Foster
Continued Process Improvement Media Accounts Manager Associate Director,
7–8 November | Calgary Tel: +1.713.457.6828 Americas
Accelerating CCUS—Milestones Towards mbuckley@spe.org Tel: +1.713.457.6312
a Greener Petroleum Energy Future dfoster@spe.org

106 JPT | November 2023