Posts tagged ‘Schlumberger’
Schlumberger Acquires IGEOSS
Schlumberger announced the acquisition of IGEOSS, a developer of cutting-edge structural geology software headquartered in Montpellier, France. IGEOSS develops geomechanical solutions for subsurface modeling, 2D and 3D structural restoration and fracture characterization of complex geologic structures. The IGEOSS applications and expertise will be integrated with Schlumberger’s software to advance customers’ modeling capabilities, particularly in areas with complex geology.
“Recognizing that our clients are exploring and developing in increasingly complicated geologic settings, the IGEOSS software will – in combination with the industry-leading Petrel* and PetroMod* technologies – enable geoscientists to gain the best possible understanding of the complete petroleum system throughout their exploration, development and production workflows,” said Tony Bowman, president, Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS).
Laurent Maerten, co-founder and president of IGEOSS, added: “Geomechanics and structural restoration have traditionally been in the hands of the specialist. By incorporating these technologies into the SIS offerings, a broader community of geoscientists will have access to these capabilities to help them solve the difficult challenges they’re encountering today.”
The IGEOSS capabilities will be embedded in the Petrel software to help geoscientists better understand fractured reservoirs and the impact of stress regimes over time, particularly in subsalt, compressional and shale gas plays.
Schlumberger Launches OPTICall Thermal Profile Service
At the 2009 International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, Qatar, Schlumberger announced the release of its OPTICall* thermal profile and investigation service. This new distributed temperature sensing (DTS) service tracks fluid movements in real time along the wellbore, helping to detect leaks, monitor gas lift and evaluate fractures to improve field productivity.
“This unique on-demand service combines the features of permanent fiber-optic DTS systems and the ease of use of standard slickline systems,” said Claude Durocher, Slickline business manager, Schlumberger. “The OPTICall service offers a low-risk, economical way to troubleshoot issues in all types of wells.”
Schlumberger has successfully run the OPTICall service offshore and on land in more than 250 wells in 11 countries.
The OPTICall service is enabled by OpticLine* fiber-optic line, which provides a thermal profile along the entire length of the line continuously in real time, providing immediate answers onsite. This fiber-optic line, which is deployed in a single run using slickline-type intervention, monitors dynamic temperature events with minimal interference. OpticLine can also run conventional production logging tools in memory mode while monitoring, for single-trip efficiency.
New Electromagnetic Pipe Scanner Pinpoints Casing Corrosion
At the 2009 International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, Qatar, Schlumberger announced the release of its EM Pipe Scanner* electromagnetic casing inspection tool. The new tool combines a slim mandrel with 18 pad sensors that can run through tubing to produce a quantitative scan of the interior surface and thickness of the production casing.
“The unique ability of the EM Pipe Scanner to measure corrosion in production casing without having to pull completion tubing saves customers significant cost,” said Zied Ben Hamad, marketing and technology manager, Schlumberger Wireline. “The service provides a first line of defense in flow assurance. It has been used to identify the precise location of generalized tubing corrosion, grooves and splits, and to monitor corrosion rates to optimize remedial action planning.”
Schlumberger has successfully completed more than 100 jobs in 11 countries around the world, deploying the tool by wireline, tractor and coiled tubing at well deviations up to 90 degrees. The tool is fluid insensitive, operating in liquid or gas environments.
The EM Pipe Scanner tool makes a high-speed reconnaissance run as it descends into the well. This run is used to identify places of interest where diagnostic scans are made as the tool ascends to produce images that identify the exact severity and nature of the corrosion. In time-lapse mode, the versatile tool can provide corrosion rate estimates, identify casing corrosion behind tubing and determine inner tubular radius behind scale.
The slim 2 1/8-in. diameter EM Pipe Scanner tool easily passes through tubing to evaluate casing below the tubing shoe and quantify metal loss in percentage and average inner diameter (ID) of casing ranging from 2 7/8 to 9 5/8-in outer diameter (OD). In double casing strings a continuous log of average casing ID and total metal thickness is recorded.
Schlumberger to Supply Riser Monitoring System for Offshore Angola Field
Schlumberger has been awarded a contract by Heerema Marine Contractors to supply a real-time riser tension monitoring system for nine single-leg hybrid risers (SLHR) for a major project offshore Angola.
“This system enables real-time riser tension and curvature monitoring during operation and the installation process, optimizing the overall riser integrity management program,” said Andy Hendricks, VP Schlumberger Subsea. “The award is a result of significant development and qualification programs in which we have participated in the last two years.”
The nine SLHRs are located around the FPSO turret mooring and connected to it by flexible jumpers. The SLHRs are free standing and are maintained in tension by a buoyancy tank. As part of the project, Schlumberger will install its subC-collar* tension and curvature monitoring system located on each riser immediately below the buoyancy tank.
The subC-collar units are powered by local ROV replaceable batteries, which also include an acoustic telemetry module to transmit the riser tension data to two receiving units located on the FPSO. This capability helps to avoid shadowing effects from the risers and flexible jumpers.
Schlumberger Announces Subsea Control Reliability Milestone
Schlumberger announced that its subsea electronic control module has passed the historical milestone of more than a quarter million operational hours in the field with 100% reliability.
More than 30 modules have been deployed successfully for the control and monitoring of flow boosting pumps and subsea well production. As a power and networking module, its expanded applications include intelligent well control and operation.
Schlumberger subsea control and monitoring technology is an enabler for surveillance in the subsurface and subsea domain delivering an unprecedented level of reliability that is critical to the subsea industry with its high intervention costs.
“Subsea control systems must have reliability as a primary function due to costs involved in remediation following a failure. The reliability of the Schlumberger solution is embedded in subsea applications commercially available today, as well as those under development,” said Andy Hendricks, VP Schlumberger Subsea. “Our subsea light vessel intervention control system also uses this technology as part of its safety system to control subsea trees and the intervention package.”
This high-bandwidth communication subsea control module has been developed using design and engineering processes created specifically for the subsea environment. Long-term accelerated life-testing has demonstrated system survivability for more than 50 years and under conditions far beyond normal operating environments. The module will be used with upcoming subsea technology deployments around the world.
Technip, Schlumberger Announce FlexPipe Monitoring Agreement
Technip and Schlumberger have signed a global cooperation agreement to jointly develop subsea integrity and surveillance solutions for flexible pipes used in deepwater offshore oil and gas production. The new agreement extends the collaboration between the companies that began in 1998.
The agreement is initially focused on surveillance systems activities for new and challenging flexible pipe applications such as those required in the deepwater pre-salt environment in Brazil. Several key Schlumberger technologies used in subsurface applications have been identified for integration into Technip’s new Ultra Deepwater flexible pipe designs.
Alain Marion, Sr. VP Subsea Assets and Technologies, Technip, commented: “By combining Technip’s technical and manufacturing knowledge of flexible pipe with Schlumberger surveillance technology, a new generation of intelligent flexible pipe will be created. The ‘measurement-enabled’ flexible pipe will provide significant value to the industry in safety, reliability and performance. This new combination enhances Technip’s already extensive portfolio of flexible pipe products, which represent key components for the development of ultra-deepwater fields.”
One of the initial integrity solutions that the partners expect to develop and qualify is focused on the use of optical fiber to monitor a variety of parameters characterizing pipe behavior. Andy Hendricks, VP Subsea at Schlumberger, explained: “The extremely robust nature of fiber-optic sensors in deepwater environments, combined with the possibility of using a single interrogation unit for a whole production system, makes this solution both technically and commercially superior.”
The new technology combination extends Schlumberger subsea products and services, which already include other surveillance technologies, production flow assurance engineering, and light-vessel well intervention project.
As part of the collaboration, retrofit solutions will also be pursued to address the large number of flexible pipes in operation utilizing proven technologies and methodologies applied subsurface, but now tailored to the flexible pipe domain.
Schlumberger Signs Deal with Rock Deformation Research
Schlumberger announced an agreement with Rock Deformation Research Ltd. (RDR) to provide the RDR structural analysis module within the Petrel* seismic-to-simulation workflow. RDR is a structural geology consultancy focusing on research associated with deformation and fluid flow in the subsurface.
“This is the first Ocean* partner plug-in to be released as a module with Petrel. The RDR plug-in, combined with the wealth of prospect assessment and uncertainty analysis capabilities in Petrel, provides unmatched power to reduce risks associated with exploration,” said Olivier Peyret, VP Software Products, Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS). “This new module demonstrates the strength of the growing community of Ocean developers who continue to expand the Petrel model-centric workflow.”
The new RDR module enables comprehensive analysis of seal and trap, two of the key risks in an exploration play or prospect. Together with the PetroMod Petroleum Systems module’s source, migration and seal analysis capability, Petrel now gives explorationists a unique environment to reduce all the key risks associated with exploration.
“We are pleased to bring high-quality intuitive structural analysis capabilities to the global market within Petrel. This will enable geoscientists and engineers to quickly build structurally sound models in the world’s leading reservoir modeling package,” said Steve Freeman, technical director, RDR. “We also found the Ocean platform to be an extremely productive development environment.”
In addition to enhancing fault seal and structural analysis, the new module includes fault juxtaposition and property mapping capabilities, such as permeability prediction, clay mixing and smearing algorithms – critical tools for development and production environments. This further extends the Petrel workflow to model faults correctly and characterize reservoir compartmentalization to achieve an accurate history match and predict reservoir performance correctly.
This module will be available for Petrel 2010 and will be exclusively sold and supported by SIS.
Schlumberger Releases Merak Enterprise Planning Software
Schlumberger has released its Merak Enterprise Planning (MEP) software, a next-generation technology that enables dynamic oil and gas business planning, including event-driven or evergreen plans.
“With MEP, oil and gas companies can get fast answers to complex business questions for improved decision making,” said Olivier Peyret, VP Software Products, Schlumberger Information Solutions. “This software helps clients to proactively respond to changing market and operational conditions to achieve growth objectives.”
In a preliminary field test with a large integrated, independent oil and gas company, MEP demonstrated 50% reduction in project processing time, increased confidence in results and 75% reduction in analysis time.
Today’s oil and gas business planning process is often lengthy, cumbersome and sometimes ineffective in reflecting recent market and operational realities. MEP uses a unique oil and gas data management cube to align strategy with plans and budgets, simultaneously integrating reserves, production and financial data to reveal critical business insights for timely decisions based on continually updated business plans.
MEP leverages Microsoft technologies to provide a collaborative platform for oil and gas business applications to generate valuable information in context using a robust calculation engine. Its data aggregation and mining capabilities deliver business intelligence and performance analytics in the context of an oil and gas enterprise.
“This is another tangible result of the Microsoft and Schlumberger partnership. The combination of Microsoft’s industry-leading enterprise software platform with Schlumberger´s deep industry knowledge and expertise delivers a high value business solution, enabling faster and better decisions for individual assets as well as complex enterprise portfolios,” said Dr. Ali Ferling, Microsoft’s Global Managing Director, Oil & Gas Industry.
NOV, Schlumberger Form IntelliServ Joint Venture
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) and Schlumberger have created a joint venture to provide high-speed drillstring telemetry systems to improve the efficiency and safety of oil and gas operations. The IntelliServ joint venture is expected to accelerate development and delivery of intelligent drilling solutions through the expanded use of the IntelliServ® Broadband Network, a patented technology that provides high-resolution data in real time to and from the bottom of oil and gas wells as they are being drilled. IntelliServ also will provide along-string evaluation services that will enable real-time monitoring of drill string conditions, and an unlimited ability to actuate downhole tools on demand. The current speed of 57,600 bits per second is up to 20,000 times faster than the transmission speed that is available using conventional mud pulse technology.
NOV owns 55% of the joint venture and provides manufacturing, technical and operational support, while Schlumberger owns 45% and brings evaluation and measurement expertise, and will pursue the development of advanced drilling-related systems enabled by the IntelliServ Broadband Network. The joint venture will maintain the open access architecture of the IntelliServ Broadband Network and will seek to become the industry standard for all drilling tools utilizing high data transmission rates.
Pete Miller, Chairman, President and CEO of National Oilwell Varco, stated: “Our new joint venture with Schlumberger will permit us to better serve our customers by opening a range of new, intelligent drilling possibilities and expanding the global reach of the IntelliServ Broadband Network. We are excited about the possibilities this joint venture brings to the marketplace, and we look forward to working closely with Schlumberger to expand further the commercial use of IntelliServ.”
Commenting on the new arrangement, Andrew Gould, Chairman and CEO of Schlumberger, remarked: “The combination of our respective strengths in drilling measurements and telemetry brings a unique opportunity for a step-change in the development of technology capable of significantly improving drilling performance through continuous information about the well and the reservoir as the well is drilled.”
Schlumberger Opens Ocean for Academia Program
Schlumberger launched its Ocean for Academia Program, signing collaboration contracts with Rice, Stanford, Texas A&M and Unicamp universities to develop new technology on the Ocean open software platform.
“Successfully collaborating with universities is critical to the future of the oil and gas industry,” said Meyer Bengio, VP Technology, Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS). “The Ocean for Academia program establishes a collaborative innovation network leveraging the Ocean platform to achieve greater efficiency in bringing research from concept to market. This network includes academia, oil companies and independent software providers.”
The universities will employ Ocean for a number of initial applications. The resulting Ocean plug-ins will augment Petrel seismic-to-simulation workflows in specific research and development (R&D) areas relevant to upstream oil and gas. The program will expand to include additional universities in the coming months.
“Stanford’s agreement with Schlumberger to create Petrel plug-ins using the Ocean platform will greatly open the possibilities for both parties to leverage cutting-edge research and allow fast technology transfer,” said Jerry Harris, assistant dean, Stanford University. “At the same time it provides Stanford with a wide distribution platform for its consortium-based research efforts. Stanford’s initial research will focus on applying ensemble theory to geological model screening, enhancing the general purpose reservoir simulator capabilities and subsalt seismic attribute extraction. This is no doubt a win-win situation. The fact that such plug-ins can be distributed to members of Stanford’s affiliate program will accelerate the development and deployment of geological, geophysical and reservoir engineering technology.”
Steve Holditch, head of the petroleum engineering department at Texas A&M University, said: “Texas A&M is extremely pleased to develop technology on the Ocean platform. The first identified project is a novel approach to reconciling geologic models to historical production data. Schlumberger will field test the resulting plug-in on a project in Asia. The software donations by Schlumberger and frequent contact between the professors and students at Texas A&M with the professional staff at Schlumberger will benefit both organizations and enable more rapid technology development.”
“Unicamp will work closely with Schlumberger to establish a joint, long-term research road-map,” said Osvair Vidal Trevisan, director of the Center of Petroleum Studies at the State University of Campinas – Unicamp. “Our first R&D efforts will center on strategic reservoir management incorporating uncertainty, linking the value of information to reservoir engineering and economics, for long-term asset management decisions. Having access to the Schlumberger technology center in Rio de Janeiro is a critical success factor, providing a local liaison for ongoing expertise and support.”
Research and development efforts at Rice University will focus on development of plug-ins for borehole geology integration with geologic modeling as well as integration of historical seismic data. “This will better prepare our graduates for satisfying careers in the oil and gas industry,” said Jan Odegard, executive director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology at Rice University.
The Ocean for Academia Program broadens the SIS software donation program to provide greater access to equip students in all exploration and production (E&P) disciplines with the latest learning and research tools.
PetroComputing 