Dew Journal January 2016 Issue
Dew Journal January 2016 Issue
Dew Journal January 2016 Issue
com
CONTENTS
ISSN-0971-7242 R.N.I. No. 51048/89 © 2015 Technology Publications
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47 Well Sickness Diagnosis and Treatment Techniques expressly forbidden without the permission
of the publisher. The opinions expressed
53 Composite wrap tackles complex pipe geometries for any errors or omissions.
While every effort is made to ensure that
the contents published in the journal are
57 Chemistry of reservoir rock relative permeability correct and up-to-date, the Publisher, Editors
and Advisors do not accept any responsibility
for any error, omissions and factually
68 Understanding LNG value chain and related market concerns incorrect statements published. This implies
for both editorial and advertising contents.
January 16 the world witnessed what has been hailed as the most significant diplomatic
breakthrough since the collapse of the Soviet Union: the lifting of nuclear sanctions
against Iran.
The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions by the United States and the EU against
Iran, which include oil-related sanctions that have limited Iran’s ability to sell its oil
on the global market since late 2011 will lead to an increase in Iran’s oil production
and exports, which had been subject to an EU embargo among other sanctions. Iran’s
crude oil production has been relatively flat over the past three years while sanctions
were in place, averaging 2.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015, representing 9% of
total crude oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC). To EIA Iran’s annual average crude oil production is forecast at 3.1 million
b/d in 2016 (10% of projected total OPEC production), and almost 3.6 million b/d in
2017. January 26-28, 2016, LAGOS, Nigeria
Consistent with these forecasts for average annual production, Iran’s crude oil The 20th Offshore West Africa
production reaches 3.3 million b/d at the end of 2016 and 3.7 million b/d at the end www.offshorewestafrica.com
of 2017. EIA estimates a subjective uncertainty range of +/- 250,000 b/d surrounding
these year-end projections, with actual outcomes dependent on Iran’s ability to mitigate February 18-19, 2016, GUJRAT, India
production decline rates, deal with technical challenges, and bring new oil fields into International Conference on Energy and
production. Infrastructure Management
Most of Iran’s forecast production growth comes from Iran’s pre-existing crude oil spm.pdpu.ac.in
production capacity that is currently shut in, while the remainder comes from newly February 24-25, 2016, KL, Malaysia
developed fields. Iran has a number of new oil fields that Iranian and Chinese companies Fire Safety Conference
have been developing over the past several years, which have the potential to add www.fleminggulf.com
100,000 b/d to 200,000 b/d of crude oil production capacity by 2017.
Beyond crude oil, Iran’s condensate and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) February 25-26, 2016, NEW DELHI, India
production is currently almost 750,000 b/d, of which 75% is condensate and the Global HSE 2016
remainder NGPL. Iran’s non-crude liquids production has grown over the past few www.iconex.in
years. The main buyers of Iran’s non-crude liquids have been in countries in Asia, March 15-17, 2016, LAGOS, Nigeria
mainly China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Lean Maintenance & Lean Plant/Asset Mgt.
As per EIA’s estimates, Iran’s non-crude liquids production is expected to grow by infocusinternational.com/leanmaintenance
150,000 b/d by the end of 2016 and by an additional 100,000 b/d by the end of 2017,
as more project phases at the South Pars natural gas field come online. More than March 15-17, 2016, JAKARTA, Indonesia
80% of Iran’s condensate production comes from the South Pars field located offshore Gas Indonesia - Summit & Exhibition
in the Persian Gulf, which is Iran’s largest non-associated gas field. Lack of foreign www.gasindosummit.com
investment and insufficient financing, stemming from international sanctions, have March 29, 2016, GANDHINAGAR, India
slowed the development of South Pars. However, some progress has been made in The 2 nd International Conference on
recent years, and sanctions relief is expected to quicken the pace of development of Geothermal Energy
its remaining phases over the next decade. www.pdpu.ac.in
With Iran’s petroleum and other liquid fuels consumption expected to remain
flat over the next two years, crude oil and other liquid fuels from the production May 23-24, 2016, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
increase is likely to be sold in export markets. The pace that Iran will ramp up its The 5th Sabah Oil and Gas Conference
exports now that sanctions are lifted is uncertain. Iran has a considerable amount of & Exhibition
oil stored offshore in tankers (between 30 and 50 million barrels), most of which is www.sahahoilandgas.com.my
condensate, and crude oil stored at onshore facilities. Initial post-sanction increases
June 7-9, 2016, KL, Malaysia
in Iranian exports will most likely come from storage, while meaningful production
The 6 th Annual HSE Forum in Oil, Gas
increases will occur after some of the storage is cleared.
and Petrochemicals
While Iranian crude output and exports are expected to rise in the coming
www.fleminggulf.com
months, it remains to be seen how quickly Iran’s order to its state-owned oil companies
to increase crude output although Iran had recently said it plans to double its oil September 22-24, 2016, YANGON, Myanmar
exports to 2 million b/d within six months of the removal of sanctions. Manufacturing 2016 - 3rd International
Top Iranian officials have said Iran plans to regain its lost market share but in a Manufacturing Machinery, Equipment,
manner that would have the least impact on oil prices. Iran has based its next budget Materials and Services Exhibition
for March 2016-March 2017 on an oil price of $40/b and exports of 2.25 million b/d, a www.manufacturingmayanmar.com
government spokesman has said. Iran even hopes to attract top international oil
companies to its upstream sector to help it develop its vast reserves of oil (estimated at September 28-30, 2016, KL, Malaysia
157 billion barrels) and gas (about 1,200 Tcf). It has designed a new upstream contract The 3rd MOGSEC 2016
model that it will present in London in February. Truly interesting! www.mogsec.com.my
On the global scale oil production from the OPEC has fallen by 130,000 barrels November 15-17, 2016, SHANGHAI, China
per day (b/d) in December on lower volumes from Iraq, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, SIPPE 2016
according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts. www.sippe.org.cn
Crude prices, meanwhile, remain under pressure from oversupply and brimming
stocks, and are trading at multi-year lows. Brent futures sank as low as $27.10/barrel on November 16-17, 2016, KL, Malaysia
January 20, the lowest level since early November 2003. OPEC’s own crude basket, The 4 th Offshore Engineering Malaysia
representing streams from all 13 member countries, stood at $22.48/b on January 20. www.fleminggulf.com
OPEC is not due to meet until June 2, but the relentless fall in prices has November 29-December 2, 2016, SINGAPORE
renewed calls for an emergency meeting from the group’s more cash-strapped members. The 21st OSEA 2016
With OPEC members battling for market share both among themselves as well www.osea-asia.com
as within a larger world of well-supplied producers is a cause of concern. So what
would it take for global oil prices to lift significantly? What sort of news could bump up July 9-13, 2017, ISTANBUL, Turkey
prices and, more impressively, keep them up? The year 2016 has many things in The 22nd World Petroleum Congress 2017
store… AKS www.22wpc.com
StagSeis
An innovation and collaboration success story
Final results from IBALT and DEUX, deliver the desired results,
the first and second surveys of acquisition began.
CGG’s StagSeis™ multi-client StagSeis deploys the largest
program of 871 offshore blocks in technology experts worked closely areal spread of any available
select locations of Garden Banks, with clients to define key acquisition configuration
Keathley Canyon, Walker Ridge parameters to deliver better subsalt (equivalent to the area of
and Green Canyon, are now imaging than was previously Manhattan Island).Operating such
available and widely recognized as possible, within the clients’ a large spread safely and efficiently
the clearest subsalt images in this timeframe. These included better requires strict adherence to robust
complex area of the Gulf of Mexico. sampling of offset and azimuth HSE procedures, and CGG
Final results from the third survey, along with increased bandwidth. maintained an exceptional safety
TROIS, are due next year. The The resulting patented and environmental record during
original IBALT survey commenced StagSeis solution uses multiple more than seven vessel-years of
acquisition in 2012 but planning vessels with a staggered geometry operation.
began three years earlier. At the and orthogonal shooting, delivering Fast-Trax results from a priority
time, wide-azimuth (WAZ) surveys consistent regular fold and azimuth area were delivered in the first three
with advanced processing distribution and providing full months. Initial Full Azimuth Fast-
techniques provided the best azimuthal coverage to 9km with Trax RTM images from DEUX were
subsurface images in the Gulf of ultra-long inline offsets to 18km(on of such high quality that a client
Mexico, but some features below 4 azimuths). BroadSeis™ is also included a data image in an
more complex salt structures employed to provide bandwidth investor presentation, stating that
remained difficult to illuminate and down to 2.5Hzalong with CGG’s StagSeis provided step-change
image fully. proprietary deg hosting and improvements in subsalt imaging,
Building on their experience in imaging technology. Once boosting confidence in appraisal
WAZ capabilities, CGG’s modeling by both CGG and clients well locations and accelerating
subsurface imaging and marine confirmed that StagSeis would maturation of off-setting prospects.
StagSeis Final RTM image (right) shows superior illumination and imaging beneath the complex salt geometry as compared to the WAZ final RTM
image (left)
The project is
expected to be
concluded within
18 months and
will result in
procedures and
guidelines to
help the industry
meet the new
API 1104
requirements
welding in the Twenty-First RTD, address the technical aspects of girth weld
Edition of the well-known repairs and the practical aspects of repair welder
API Standard 1104, qualification during the construction of new pipelines.
“Welding of Pipelines and The project is expected to be concluded within 18
Related Facilities”. The months and will result in procedures and guidelines
updates place more to help the industry meet the new API 1104
requirements on the requirements.
qualification of repair “Repair welds are often made under more
welding procedures and challenging conditions than production welds,
welders. which can potentially reduce the quality of the
The JIP on the completed welds,” says Brad Etheridge, Senior
Development of Industry Engineer, DNV GL – Oil & Gas. “The project fulfils
Best Practice for Girth Weld an industry need to meet new requirements and
Repairs will, in cooperation has the potential to reduce cost and complexity,
with pipeline engineering increase safety and reliability, and deliver better
specialists Kiefner/Applus quality pipelines.”
With NOAS, sonar imagery over a wide field of basis. However, as expected, NOAS performed
view is temporarily retained, providing the operator exceptionally in these difficult environmental
with a recent history of the vessel’s passage. This conditions, producing consistently high quality
feature is expected to be of particular value when navigation sonar imagery.”
manoeuvring large vessels as the depth of the water He added, “The first new-build vessels to be
and potential hazards can be confirmed even when specified with NOAS are close to completion, and
outside of the sonar’s current field of view. we look forward to developing further opportunities
Speaking on the success of the demonstrations, for this unique sonar technology with our commercial,
Nick Swift, Business Manager for Maritime Security private and naval partners.”
at Sonardyne said, “We appreciate the investment in Sonardyne International Ltd is recognised as a
time made by our clients to travel to Plymouth and world leader in the design and manufacture of
experience NOAS first-hand. The prominent spring underwater acoustic positioning, inertial navigation,
tides and high levels of fresh water run-off from the wireless communications and sonar technology
surrounding farmland and Dartmoor, led to extreme systems for the offshore oil and gas, ocean scientific
sound velocity profiles which changed on an hourly and maritime security industries.
Vessel equipment specifiers from across Europe witnessed first-hand the capabilities of Sonardyne’s NOAS as an important new aid to vessel
navigation and underwater obstacle avoidance.
views on the emerging global crude between India and OPEC is in organization of 13 major oil
markets and deliberated on India’s mutual interest and it should be producing countries which together
concerns vis-à-vis oil purchase continued in future. Both India and produce about 40% of the world's
from OPEC member countries. Mr. OPEC reaffirmed their commitment crude oil. OPEC oil exports
Pradhan gave Indian perspective to further increase their co- represent about 60% of the total
on developments in the global oil operation in the oil and gas sector. petroleum traded internationally.
market. He reiterated that The meeting comes amidst the India is the world’s 3rd largest
reasonable and responsible oil backdrop of continuing fall in global importer of crude oil behind only
prices will be beneficial in long crude prices which has recently the US and China. Our imports from
term, for both oil producing and oil witnessed a slide to nearly 12 year OPEC countries constitute 85% of
importing countries. The two sides low of below US$ 30/barrel. our total crude imports and 94% of
agreed that such annual dialogue OPEC is an inter-governmental the gas imports, the minister said.
GERMI
mega-project taken up in the environment sector
under full funding support from the United
A centre of excellence
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
dealing with chemical substitution and
compliance, which is a major highlight of
T he Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute GERMI’s research activity, he added.
(GERMI), a registered society and trust was setup in The institute is poised for integrated growth
Gandhinagar, Gujarat by the Government of Gujarat, with substantial output in the coming few years
promoted by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd. is based on the initiatives being undertaken in the
dedicated to energy related goals-Education, Research and petroleum and renewable energy sectors. With
Industrial Training since its inception. a strong team under it’s arm in the field of
Under the aegis of GERMI, Pandit Deendayal research, training and management, GERMI will
Petroleum University (PDPU) is flourishing with schools soon get the attention of international scientists
namely School of Petroleum Technology, School of stresses Prof. Harinarayana. GERMI has invited
Technology, School Petroleum Management and School of research institutes and organizations to partner
Liberal Studies according to Prof. T. Harinarayana, Director, with it through joint research projects. GERMI-
Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute PDPU are in the process of initiating
(GERMI), India while talking to DEW Journal. programmes - internships to the students,
The research team of GERMI-Research, Innovation and visiting scientist fellowships to the scholars and
Incubation Centre (GRIIC) is presently focusing on three visiting professorship awards to intellectuals to
research wings - Petroleum, Solar and Environment. share their innovative thoughts and give a
helping hand to the
upcoming young scientists,
“The MBA programme of School of Petroleum
Prof. Harinarayana said.
Management (SPM) has been well recognised by School of Petroleum
the industry and business. Excellent placements Management (SPM)
that the students of SPM have been receiving right To cater to the managerial
manpower requirements of
from the inception of the School are testimony of the Energy and
the quality of the programme delivered” Infrastructure Sector, the
“We belong
to the top
tier of In India of international
b-Schools in Visionary leadership, dedicated faculty, bright students,
Energy unparalleled ambience with international standard
sector campus and facilities, School of Petroleum Management
Management (SPM)-Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU)
in India and is in league of best b-schools in India. SPM aims to be
aim to be the top b-school in the energy sector in Asia, says
one of the Prof.(Dr.) C.Gopalkrishnan, Director-in-charge while
talking to Arun Kr. Singhal, Chief Editor, DEW Journal.
top schools
in Asia in
Energy and
Infrastructure
Management
in the
coming
years”
Exclusive to DEW
scale !
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) has
built excellent facilities and infrastructure at par the
best. The School of Petroleum Management (SPM),
certainly play an important “We pay a handsome stipend to the students who
role in India’s energy
basket in a big way in
are doing a full-time Ph.D. at the University. We
future. This would also be would like to make the programme more vibrant
the answer to some of the besides further strengthening our Management
issues related to climate
change and the pledges
Development Programmes in the coming years”
made by India.
provide opportunity to oil companies
What will low oil prices mean for energy security to optimize their operations.
and energy transition?
Low oil prices offers the country a better SPM is organizing ICEIM 2016;
position to address its long term this has drawn many industry
security issues by investing in the leaders in its past. Who are the
sector. big wigs this time?
Low oil price regime may also We have invited leading players
in the Energy sector to grace this
occasion. Many renowned
“Leading players in the
experts from the top
Energy sector and multinational oil companies will
experts from the top be there. Some of these experts
multinational oil also belong to the policy making
bodies of the government. We
companies and policy also expect a few expert faculties
making bodies will from overseas also to address
address ICEIM-2016” the conference. dewjournal.com
FACE TO FACE
Dr. Kaushal Kishore,
Organising Secretary,
ICEIM 2016
issues in changing
key significance’
“ICEIM-2016 in
its 5th edition
attempts to
premeditated,
discuss and
document key
contemporary
issues relevant
to managing
energy and
infrastructure
sector”
Magnetotellurics - a natural EM
source method for oil exploration
A case for mapping 3D Lithospheric electrical resistivity structure
strategy. Additionally, it is
suggested to map the
deep structure that greatly
helps to understand
the evolution of
sedimentary basins and
inturn may provide
clues for exploration
targets. Accordingly, it is
necessary to take up
m e a s u r e m e n t s
with broadband
magnetotellurics in a grid
fashion at each crossing
of the degree as shown in
Fig.5.
Reference
Harinarayana T. Natural
Signals to Map the Earth’s
Fig.5 A schematic map showing the possible locations of broadband magnetotellurics with the objective of Natural Resources In:
preparation of a 3D Lithosphere structure. chapter-1, Earth’s
them are well explored and much detailed exploration using Magnetic Interior, IAGA Special
need to be done in Category-II and seismics. This greatly reduces the Sopron Book Series, Vol.1, pp.1-17,
Category-III type basins. In this cost involved in exploration 2011.
context, it is of utmost important to
about the author
understand the 3D Lithospheric
structure of India. Accordingly, it is Prof (Dr.) T. Harinarayana is the Director of the Gujarat Energy Research
proposed to scan the entire India and Management Institute, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He has over 30 years
through magnetotelluric technique. of experience of working with CSIR-National Geophysical Research
For this purpose long period Institute as Scientist “G”. He is a leading scientist, well recognized for
magnetotelluric technique his excellence in deep EM Technique- Magnetotellurics among the
involving the measurement of national and international scientists.
signals from 1 KHz to 50,000 - Prof. T. Harinarayana holds two doctoral degrees in the field of Electro
100,000 sec. is required. This magnetics-one from Edinburgh University, UK & the other from Indian
helps to map the Earth from School of Mines, Dhanbad. He served as a visiting professor at the
shallow to Lithospheric structure. University of Tokyo, Japan and the University of Texas at Austin, USA.
It is suggested to acquire the data Prof. Harinarayana has worked as Dy. Director at NGRI, Hyderabad. His
for every grid cross point, say 1 X studies includes Geothermal, Hydrocarbon, Earth quake and Deep crust.
1 o . Suggested location map is Dr. T. Harinarayana is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural
shown in Figure 5. Sciences, Moscow. Became a Member of Governing Council of newly
formed IIIT-Vadodara. Recently, he has received ISCA-International
Summary Best Researcher Award-2013. He has received the National Mineral
Magnetotelluric geophysical Award-1991, the Andhra Pradesh Scientist Award-2008. While serving
technique has proved it’s capability as Scientist and Head of the magnetotelluric Division, NGRI, Hyderabad
for various exploration problems. he became a fellow and a member of national (IGU, AEG, APAS etc.)
It’s usage in oil exploration need to and international (IAGA, EMSEV etc.) scientific societies, academic
be applied judiciously to demarcate forums and editorial boards of various techno-scientific journals of
the areas to investigate for more global importance.
Experts catch up on the latest automation trends at Rockwell Automation O&G Forum
A report by:
Automation fair 2015: Bob Buttermore
Highlights from the Windy City Regional Director, SE Asia
Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company
dedicated to industrial automation and information,
blew into The Windy City, hosting its 24 th Automation A t the Rockwell Automation O&G Forum, experts
revisited the state of this market – with its history
Fair, a premier annual industry event. A record- of booms and busts – where oil prices tumbled down
breaking 15,345 attendees buzzed around a slippery slope these last 18 months, and still remain
McCormick Place on November 18-19 – catching up unstable. They recounted how worldwide lukewarm
on the latest automation trends at eight Industry demand and escalating supply had been a recipe for
Forums, enjoying interactive Rockwell Automation shrinking prices, lost earnings, rig
demos at 19 Hands-on Labs, receiving training from decommissionings, slashed investments in
leading manufacturing and product experts at 90 exploration and extraction, aborted orders for drilling
Technical Sessions, and expanding their know-how and extracting equipment, and layoffs of hundreds of
of integrating information, control, power
and safety technologies at over 180 Oil and Gas entities can now become Connected
booths on the show floor. Enterprises by integrating network-enabled plantwide
Attendees at Automation Fair 2015 and in-field devices to collect and analyse critical
recapped their overall impressions from the actionable insights, and then deliver contextualised
event as follows: material seamlessly to team leaders company wide.
1. Contemporary industrial engineers
and technical professionals worldwide
are embracing the advent of intelligent
production-which is based on the
convergence of IT and OT leveraged
over a common, standard and secure
EtherNet/IP network-as the foundation
for sharing the ubiquitous flow of
actionable knowledge
2. O&G entities can now become
Connected Enterprises by integrating
network-enabled plantwide and in-field
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production (E&P) business is inescapably the most risky
ventures of the human endeavours with several risks at various stages of E&P right from
exploration, well appraisal, well testing, field development and production planning and
actual production. During the actual production, many of the oil and gas wells fall sick for
one reason or the other. Well sickness symptoms reveal during the actual production
time in terms of low productivity, excessive water cut, Gas Oil Ratio (GOR), wax deposition
and sand production. Sick wells have caused the loss of hundreds of crores rupees
every year to oil production companies. It is therefore imperative to address well sickness
issues scientifically, timely and cost effectively and ensure the best possible optimum
HC production with minimal production loss. Well sickness could be treated as one of
the avoidable risks with proactive and preventive design under ideal conditions, however,
in practice, it is impossible to completely avoid well sickness. The best possible approach
is to anticipate such problems and be ready with the most effective and efficient remedial
approaches suitable for the identified sickness. As each sickness symptom may have
unique combinations of causes, it is therefore imperative to scientifically distinguish
between those over-lapped causes and arrive at the definite cause which is essential for
effective treatment suitable for a particular well sickness. This paper has attempted to
conceptually address the main well sickness issues as precisely as possible based on
the author’s knowledge, experience and the distilled insights from the listed references.
H ydrocarbon Production
Optimization within the
inevitable constraints of the
to the following:
• Mal-operations for want of
relevant experience and detailed
pumping and control system
• Incomplete or incorrect reservoir
PVT data / crude characterisation
production system is one of the operating instructions • Inevitable unknown unknowns
most challenging tasks operation • Unreliable reservoir Most of the above causes
and production engineers characterization would finally lead to the basic
encounter on almost daily basis. • Faulty well completions problem of Sick Well which needs
There could be several • Incorrect simulation and a scientific diagnosis and timely
contributors to the sub-optimal unrealistic production planning treatment with corrective action to
production including but not limited • Defective design of tubing and ensure the best possible optimum
production within the known and treatment techniques. It is possible in the well bore and tubing. Further
inevitable constraints. It is that some of the symptoms remain production log should be critically
possible that even after diagnosing without identifying scientific causes reviewed and checked whether the
the well sickness, some of the due to the limitation of available flow has drastically come down or
causes would remain unknown data, human knowledge and uniformly decreased. Drastic
which are beyond presently experience. The untreated increase in water cut / GOR
available knowledge and symptoms may resurface leading indication of well sickness. By
experience domain, which need to to additional information regarding comparing the flow rate with that of
be treated by trial and error the actual causes and these may the neighbouring well / field
techniques to achieve the new get treated with plausible / should provide further insight to fix
possible optimum production. assumed techniques through trial the real cause of the low HC
The production well may fall and error approach till the actual production rate.
sick several times during its cause is fixed and treated
economic life period and each time completely. Excessive Gas / Water Production
of falling sickness it may pose with High water cut and GOR are the
different challenges of Drastic decrease of HC common problems encountered in
comprehension complexities and production rate oil production wells. These could
unfold new characteristics of the The HC Production logging is one be due to casing leaks,
reservoir and production system. of the ways to monitor the channelling behind the casing,
This article is intended to address production rate pattern. The preferential flow through high
the possible causes, effects and production rate along with well bore permeability zones in the
available treatment techniques for pressure compared with the well reservoirs, or water / gas coning.
the identified causes of well test data provides the insight to The production log data can be
sickness. identify the possible causes of low used to locate the source of gas /
HC production rate. The possible water production and then assign
Diagnosis& Treatment Techniques causes of low HC productivity the actual cause of the undesirable
The well sickness generally could be attributable to reservoir high water cut and GOR.
appears through the following itself or pumping system. The
symptoms: reservoir related causes could be Casing leak and Channelling
• Drastic decrease of HC lower than expected kh (product of Channeling between the casing
production rate permeability and pay thickness), and the formation caused by poor
• Steep increase in water cut lower relative permeability, cementing would cause high water
• Unmanageably high sand formation damage, poorly or gas production rates.
production penetrated or plugged perforations Measurement of mechanical
• Unmanageably high GOR and partially plugged gravel pack. properties of cement behind the
• Erratic flow and pressure It is essential to distinguish the casing using ultrasonic instrument
fluctuations formation low flow from restricted indicates the possibility of
• Frequent pump / motor (ESP) low flow due to borehole damage channeling. Production logs with
damage or completion restrictions. This production rates, temperature,
• Flow tube and line vibrations distinction is possible from the radioactive tracers help to identify
The above symptoms need to transient test to measure kh and the source of water or gas. The
be systematically diagnosed and skin factor. The low flow could be remedial action could be cement
linked to the scientifically identified due to well bore restrictions, squeeze and cement circulation
causes. Each of the symptoms may insufficient drawn-down caused by behind the casing at the location of
have a single or multiple causes faulty lift mechanisms, excessive water / gas passage to prevent
and some of the causes may be pressure drop in tubing, well bore leakage.
shared among several symptoms. scale, fill in the wellbore or casing Figures 1 & 2 above indicate
Identification of scientific causes collapse. A caliper log run should the channeling mechanism
would mostly lead to the effective facilitate to locate the restrictions causing gas / water leakage.
Fig.1 Casing Leak & Gas Channeling [1] Fig.2 Water Channeling [1]
Fig.3 Conformance Problems associated Water Cut Trends Fig.4 Early gas break-through high permeability layer [1]
Preferential gas / water flow Fracturing job went to water could be ascertained through
through high permeability layers Curve 3 and 4: Conning or cresting careful production log/gas injection
Preferential gas / water flow through and Watered-out zone profile monitoring. If the gas
high permeability zones (thief zones) Curve 4: Channel from injector and production is from upper part of the
is a very common cause of high gas/ High permeability streak oil zone, it may be due to gas
water production rate in oil wells. If the water entry location is at coning or channeling and further
This production of high water / gas the bottom of the completed information apart from flow profile
can be identified through production interval, the water source may be is needed for complete and correct
logs. Fig.3 gives high water due to channelization or water diagnosis.
production trends due to various coning. In such cases, additional
causes. test is required to distinguish these Water / Gas coning
Curve 1: Flow behind casing causes. Similarly, high gas Water/Gas coning is another
Curve 1 and 2: Casing Leaks, production due to channelization/ common cause of excess water /
Completion near a water zone and injection gas/gas cap/gas coning gas production rates from oil wells.
Water coning occurs from an the treatments (work overs), that lines. The wax deposition could be
underlying aquifer if vertical can benefit post treatment mitigated and managed by proper
permeability is high enough and production are remedial crude oil characterization
gas coning takes place when a well cementation, re-perforating, amenable for the optimum
completed near a gas / oil contact acidizing, fracturing and water treatment choice, maintaining
and sufficient vertical permeability shutoff or profile modification relatively high flow line velocity, heat
exist for gas to flow downward to treatments. tracing / insulation / mechanical
the wellbore as the pressure is scrappers / periodic pigging /pipe
drawn-down around the well. Excessive wax deposition line inner surface treatment to
Coning is a difficult As the reservoirs of light crude oil make it hydrophilic (water wet) /
phenomenon to diagnose are getting exhausted, it is chemical (solvent / surfactants /
conclusively with production inevitable to depend on heavy dispersants) injections to reduce
logging alone as water could be crude oil reservoirs which pose pour point, viscosity, crystal growth,
due to a high permeability zone or several flow assurance issues stickiness and improve flow and
(and) coning. A noise log including but not limited to high pressure performance. The
responding to flow outside the pressure drops in reservoirs, treatment choice is made based on
casing can eliminate the water wellbore, tubing and flow lines due the crude characteristics and
source through higher permeability to high viscosity and wax maximum cost benefit ratio.
zones. The temperature log will deposition. PVT analysis
respond similarly to both coning performed during well evaluation Excessive sand production
and channeling hence it is not stage provide the data to predict Sand production is due to the
useful. The most conclusive test for wax deposition problem and if the migration of young &
coning would be to produce the well available PVT data is incomplete unconsolidated formation sand
at different flow rates or drawn- with the required crude oil caused by the higher flow rate of
downs as coning is inherently rate characterization including wax reservoir fluids overcoming the
sensitive phenomenon. content then unexpected sand particle form drag force.
production rate decrease due to The sand production begins
Data for well sickness treatment excessive wax deposition will be when the rock around the
Production logging provides useful encountered during the production perforations fails, and the fluids
data for the well sickness treatment time. One of the most common can push the loose grains into the
planning. problems of heavy crude oil is wellbore. Sand production is a
The production flow excessive wax deposition in the process that develops
distribution during various phases flow paths all along from reservoir progressively in three stages:
is used to well work-over planning. to surface facilities. The excessive failure of rocks surrounding an
The production logs are also wax deposition is clearly indicated open hole or perforation from which
useful to measure the through high pressure drops and free sand grains are generated,
effectiveness of the post treatment. low flow rates through tubing / flow disaggregation of sandparticles
Diagnostics plots from failed
with Water Oil material, and
Ratio (WOR) with transport of those
cumulative free grains by the
production time effluents into the
for channeling wellbore, tubing,
and coning and flow lines up
provided in to the surface.
Annexure 1 clearly The sand
diagnose the p a r t i c l e s
causes of high disintegrate from
water cuts. Among Fig.7 Sand versus HC production rates [2] its parent rock
first, flow along with the reservoir formation sand grain size is placed unreliable reservoir
fluids in to the wellbore. This between the formation and a characterization, faulty well
happens when there servoir rock screen or slotted liner. The gravel completions, incorrect simulation
has low formation strength and pack sand should retain most of and unrealistic production
fails under the in situ stress the formation sand, but let a very planning, defective design of
conditions and the imposed stress fine particles pass through it and tubing and pumping and control
changes due to the hydrocarbon be produced. The gravel and system, incomplete or incorrect
production. screen shall be sized / designed to reservoir PVT data / crude
The sand production cause ensure maximum permeability of characterisation and inevitable
severe operational problems the grave pack and maximum unknown unknowns which could
ranging from erosion and damage retention of clay particles and not have been controlled and
of downhole and surface formation fines. The gravel packing corrected before the production
equipment such as valves, sizing is based on formation well falls sick. The lessons learnt
pipelines, separators, wellbore particle size distribution through could probably mitigate such
filling-up with sand, collapsed sieve analysis from the samples problems in future for similar field
casing for want of support, clogging of rubber sleeve cores / wells. A scientific diagnosis clearly
of surface processing equipment conventional cores / side wall core. identifying the cause of a sickness
and inhibition of production through The gravel sand size should be is critical to optimally resolve the
well clogging. These issues could larger than the average formation production issues. Besides, proper
be mild or severe depending on the sand grain size and liner screen training of operation and
flow rate and viscosity of the size should be smaller than the maintenance personnel, detailed
produced fluid, and the rate of smallest gravel sand size. operating procedures /
production and accumulation of instructions, adequate
fines and sand grains. The sand Results and Discussions instrumentation and control,
production problems may be It is evident from various facts meticulous production logging,
tolerated to some extent but mentioned above that oil / gas trend analysis and realistically
disposal could be challenging production wells fall sick due to assigning the encountered
particularly for offshore fields. The various reasons including but not symptoms with actual causes
sand production can cost oil limited to mal-operations, would greatly facilitate effective and
companies hundreds of efficient treatment
crores of Rupees yearly. It techniques. It is also
is therefore desirable to experienced that despite of
limit sand production having taken the best
without unduly inhibiting possible actions in terms
HC production rate. of best possible system
Sand production is design with optimal
controlled mainly by using instrumentation and
properly designed gravel control, operating
pack completions, slotted personnel training, and
line completions or sand meticulous production
consolidation treatment, monitoring and logging, it
gravel pack completions is is practically impossible to
the most common avoid well sickness, it is
one.The most common therefore imperative for the
types of gravel packs are production engineers to
shown in Figure 8 below. prudently anticipate such
In gravel pack problems and be ready to
completions, sand that is provide timely optimum
larger than the average Fig.8 Common types of gravel pack completions [1] solutions with minimal
production loss.
Inclusive of grit blasting the pressure had been restored to its Primarily, all phases of the
defected areas, each Belzona original levels, without any project were handled by one
SuperWrap II installation was irregularities, the pipe system was contractor, allowing for a consistent
finished within 6 hours, leaving set back into production. Due to the approach that ensured the
sufficient cure time for each initial planning, combined with the application was successfully
application. Once the entirety of the correct equipment and application achieved within the allotted
repair was completed, it was management, there were no issues schedule. Furthermore, this was
necessary for pressure testing to be during the timeline of the project, significantly aided by the ease and
carried out. After successful consistent with the customer’s speed in which Belzona’s versatile
assessment indicated that the pipe specified shutdown period. composite wrap system could be
applied. Since installation, the
customer has indicated that the
application is functioning well and
is set for periodic inspection, in line
with the specified design life of 20
years. Between 2010 and 2015, a
total of 48 Belzona SuperWrap
applications have been
commissioned by the customer,
across various offshore oil and gas
platforms. This figure has
subsequently risen, after three
repairs executed in August 2015
were completed, serving as an
indication of the product’s strength
and the customer relationship
Ceramic shim plates take the load off developed. dewjournal.com
Chemistry of reservoir
rock relative permeability
Kumar G. Mulemane, Director, Engineering &
BD, TECHINT India. PhD Scholar, Petroleum
Engineering, UPES
Relative permeability, Kr, of Oil and Gas Reservoir rock is a vital parameter to ascertain the
economic viability of any field development plan including enhanced oil recovery schemes.
Many eminent authors have made several attempts for decades to get a handle on it
considering variety of parameters but mostly in terms of physical properties; this paper
addresses this critical parameter through chemistry involving the interactions between the
reservoir rock mineral and fluid molecules. It is scientifically infeasible to dependably
predict Kr as it is an outcome of many geological events taken place billions of years ago.
However, the study of chemistry of the reservoir rock mineral and fluid molecules would
provide much better insight on this vital parameter. This desk study paper qualitatively
identifies the chemistry with enhanced chemical activity of the reservoir rock surface
attributable to surface morphology, surface defects, unbalanced electronic sites attributable
to meso/micro-porous media, coordinatively unsaturated sites, high number of edges and
corners of reservoir rocks including but not limited to adsorption / chemisorption properties
along with the associated molecular forces such as van der Waal forces, dipole-dipole
forces, hydrogen bonding, ionic electrostatic forces andun-satisfied valence forces. This
paper is also expected to catalyse further experimental efforts to find out possible qualitative
as well as quantitative relations between chemical properties of rock mineral and fluid
molecules and relative permeability of a reservoir rock.
Based on the established concepts, such as reservoir chemistry, wettability, chemical
compositions of reservoir minerals, molecular dynamic forces, surface dis-continuity,
free energy, nano structured catalytic properties and enhanced oil recovery process
schemes from the reference literatures, chemistry of the reservoir rock relative
permeability is inductively elucidated through application of intersectional concepts.
It is theoretically anticipated to have a definite correlation between rock mineral
chemical compositions, fluid compositions and reservoir pore surface morphology and
relative permeability of rock. However, it is practically infeasible to conduct representative
experimentations to quantitatively ascertain the possible correlations between rock and
fluid chemical properties and the relatively permeability K r although experimental studies
based on typical reservoir surface morphology, mineral and fluid chemical compositions
are imperative to reasonably ascertain quantitative correlations. It should be possible to
have a gripper handle on the reservoir rock K r considering the reservoir rock minerals’
and fluids’ chemical compositions and surface morphology.
The new knowledge from the chemistry of reservoir rock relative permeability is
reservoir rock with lots of molecular interactions process leading to porosity loss in sandstones.
induced flow resistances. Like in the case of Porosities in carbonates are often much lower and
conventional conduit steady state, one dimensional far more localized than in sandstones, it is difficult to
flow equation needs additional factor dmc to account trend porosity/permeability. According to Choquette and
for molecular forces induced flow resistance apart from Pray, there are fifteen recognizable types of carbonate
conventional factors as illustrated in the following porosities. These are grouped according to the
equation applicable to each phase. environment in which they are commonly created or
according to the degree of rock fabric control over their
dp/ + vdv/g + dz + dhf + dmc = 0 creation. Inter-particle is largely a primary porosity, it
can be enhanced by secondary dissolution of grains.
Where p is fluid pressure, is fluid density, v is fluid Inter-particle is the main porosity type in dolomites.
velocity, z is height from reference point, hf is frictional Moldic porosity is secondary porosity caused by
head and m c is molecular head due to molecular dissolution of unstable allochems such as aragonitic
forces which depends on the chemistry of the shells. It can be an important porosity type in
reservoir rock mineral and fluids. grainstones and packstones but in wackestones it is
The additional flow resistance factor attributable patchy in-effective porosity. Boring porosity is created
to chemical properties of reservoir rock mineral and by boring organisms in consolidated sediments such
fluid molecular forces, dm c is further explicated in as hard grounds. Burrowing porosity is created by
the following sections. burrowing organisms in unconsolidated sediments.
Vugs and caverns porosity are also common in
Porosity, Permeability and Productivity carbonate rocks. Porosity modifiers are generally used
Pore geometry is categorized as inter-granular, inter- with carbonate porosity and these are genetic modifier,
crystalline, vuggy/moldic, or fracture. Pore throat sizes size, type and abundance.
are categorized into mega, macro, meso, and micro- Conventionally permeability is a measure of the
port types. Combining both pore geometry and port ability of a porous rock to transmit a fluid under the
type into a classification scheme is an effective method pressure difference (differential pressure). Absolute
of describing pore systems. Porosity of reservoir rocks permeability (K a ) is the property of a rock that
could vary from mega, macro, meso, micro to nano characterizes the flow of fluids (gas, oil, or water)
with throat size r35 (35% non-wetting phase saturation) through its inter-connected pores at 100% saturation
>10 , 2-10 , 0.5-2 , 0.5-0.1 and <0.1 respectively. with that fluid. Effective phase permeability is the
The effective and connected porosity is important for ability of a rock to transmit one fluid phase (gas, oil,
the reservoir rock permeability and HC recovery. If the or water) in the presence of other fluid phases.
reservoir voids are not connected then HC production Relative permeability to a fluid is the ratio of effective
rate and recovery will be poor. Conventionally, the phase permeability at a given saturation to the
“effective” porosity, in conjunction with the relative permeability at 100% saturation (the absolute
permeability, indicates the ultimate quality of the permeability, ka). The terms kro (=ko /ka ), krg (=k g/k a),
reservoir with HC production rate and recovery. and k rw (=k w/k a ) denote the relative permeability to
Porosity consists of primary and secondary forms. oil, to gas, and to water, respectively (k a is the
Primary porosity is formed when the sediment is absolute permeability, often the single-phase liquid
originally deposited. Secondary porosity results from permeability). The relative permeability is expressed
diagenesis by solution, crystallization and replacement in percent or as a fraction. It ranges from zero at a low
processes and tectonic activity. The primary porosity saturation to 1 at 100% saturation.
in sandstones is mainly inter-particle, generally the Horizontal Kh a is generally greater than vertical
larger the grain size, higher the porosity. The porosity Kv a because of vertical changes in sorting and of
will decrease due to the formation of clays and alteration bedding laminations. High vertical Kv a generally
products after deposition. Compaction and results from fracturing or even burrowing that cuts
cementation after deposition will also reduce the across bedding. Most K a calculations are made from
absolute porosity. Generally, porosity decreases as measurements of horizontal plugs.
depth increases. However, cementation is the principal There is a general relation between air
permeability K a and porosity . The Ka/ ratio reflects contact with the water (e.g. there is only a water-rock
rock quality in terms of flow efficiency of a reservoir contact (water wet rock) and an oil-water contact in
sample. For a given rock quality, Ka increases with the pore spaces), the water tends to surround the oil
porosity . When clastics and carbonates are in the pore spaces.
deposited, they have a close correlation of particle As per Darcy law, the reservoir production rate Q
size to the Ka/ ratio. 3
(M /s) is directly proportional to permeability (k), pass
Permeability can vary greatly depending on area A, and differential pressure between reservoir
orientation (e.g. vertical permeability maybe far lower pressure (P r )and borehole pressures (P w )and
than horizontal permeability) for the same rock, inversely proportional to viscosity ( ) of the fluid and
especially if micas are abundant. Permeability may length of the passage (L) as per the following
also be strongly influenced by cross-bedding and equation.
other sedimentary structures deposited in practically
every environment, with the primary environments Q kA*(Pr – Pw)/ L
of deposition being river floodplains, lakes, large
deltas, the continental shelves and platforms, and The natural drivers (Reservoir pressure, P r –
the ocean floors. Bore-hole well pressure, P w) in the reservoir are
In the majority of formations there is a derived from Water drive, Gas expansion, Solution
simultaneous presence of more than one phase: (1) gas, Rock compaction drive and Gravity drainage. If
oil and gas, (2) oil and water, or (3) oil, gas, and water. these drivers are not enough for economical HC
The concept of effective permeability is that except recovery then it is necessary to increase permeability
one phase other phases are mobile. While and or decrease viscosity of the fluids. It is some
calculating effective permeability a correction factor time not sufficient or not cost effective to reduce fluid
should be used as a part of the effective pore space viscosity leaving no chance but to increase relative
is occupied by another phase. The magnitude of permeability of the rock. In order to ensure the most
effective permeability depends on rock wettability, i.e. economical HC recovery design, it is essential to
on whether the immobile phase does not wet the solid deeply understand not only physical characteristics
surfaces of the rock and, therefore, occupies the but also chemical characteristics of rock permeability
central parts of the pores, or the immobile phase wets based on molecular interactions between rock
the solid surfaces and thus tends to concentrate on mineral molecules and fluid molecules.
pore surface and in smaller pores. The nature, Darcy’s law for permeability is only valid with
distribution, and amount of immobile phase affect single phase flow in 100% saturated porous media
the effective permeability. signifying it as physical property. When more than
Economic value of a reservoir system depends one fluid is present then effective permeability is
on the capacity of a reservoir to store and transmit oil conventionally used, meaning one rock may have
or gas. The reservoir fluid flow system is determined three permeability values; effective permeability for
by reservoir pore type, shape, volume, throat size oil Kro, water Krw and gas K rg which depend on rock
distribution (including natural fractures), mineral and fluid molecular interactive forces. It is
permeabilities to hydrocarbon, water saturation evident that Darcy equation is too simplistic to account
(hydrocarbon pore volume), lateral continuity, number, for multiphase flows, volume / density changes on
and position of flow units and containers and reservoir the flow passage, static height and rock matrix
pressure and drive mechanisms. These quality minerals and fluid molecular forces.
parameters are shaped by several geophysical and It is proposed to treat the reservoir as a collection
geochemical processes during its geological time of millions of micro-tubes and apply a steady state
period which are the focal point of this paper. conventional one dimensional flow energy
The amount of recoverable hydrocarbons is conservation equation with an additional factor dmc to
directly based on the amount of water in the pore account for molecular forces induced flow resistance
spaces. Therefore water volumes are a necessary apart from conventional factors as shown below:
calculation before any hydrocarbon production
calculation takes place. Because the oil is in direct dp/ + vdv/g + dz + dhf + dmc = 0
Where p is fluid pressure, is fluid density, v is the effective size of the already small pore throats.
fluid velocity, z is height from reference point, h f is Therefore, a greater differential pressure is required
frictional head and m c is the additional molecular for oil or gas to move out of such pore system. Micro-
force related head to be applied to each phase to pore reservoirs have longer saturation transition zones
account for rock matrix minerals and fluids molecular than macro or meso-porous reservoirs; immobile water
forces. This flow resistance factor dmc to be applied saturation is lower in macro-porous rocks.
to each phase. Assuming the flow is horizontal, dz A pore system 100% saturated with any fluid
could be ignored, and assuming velocity and velocity transmits that fluid at a rate relative to the pore throat
change are low, vdv/g may be negligible. For meso/ size and the pressure differential. In the figure 1 (water
micro porous medium, dm c is controlling the flow wet rock) and figure 2 (oil wet rock) below, the absolute
resistance hence when pressure energy exceeds the pore throat size (x) is noted as the distance between
energy due to molecular physical-chemical forces grain surfaces. When a sample contains oil or gas
denoted by dmc then only will the oil flow from reservoir and water (where water wets the grain surface), the
to borehole. Hence by estimating the value of dmc for pore throat size (y) for oil or gas flow is less than the
a given reservoir rock and reservoir pressure it should
be possible to ascertain the oil flow both qualitatively
and quantitatively and it should also be possible to
estimate the value of dm c by knowing the type of
molecular forces.
absolute pore throat size (x). The thickness of the water in case of water
wet (oil in case of oil wet) layer coating the grains is proportional to the
S w (So for oil wet) of the rock. In other words, as S w (So for oil wet)
decreases and the effective size of the pore throat for oil or gas flow (y)
increases and vice versa. Rock wettability nothing but its chemical
property has a profound effect on multiphase rock-fluid interactions.
Wettability affects (a) the microscopic fluid distribution at the pore scale
in the porous medium, (b) the magnitude of the irreducible water
saturation, (c) the efficiency of an immiscible displacement in the porous
medium, (d) the residual oil saturation, (e) the capillary pressure curve
of the porous medium, (f) the relative permeability curves of the porous
medium and (g) the electrical properties of the porous medium.
Rock wettability (chemical property) determines the microscopic
fluid distribution in a porous medium at the pore scale. The wetting
fluid occupies the small pores, coats the surface of the solid grains
and occupies the corners of the grain contacts [3]. The wetting phase
occupies the small pores, which have high specific surface areas
(S=3(1- )/r) and minimizes the specific surface free energy of the system.
The non-wetting phase occupies the large pores and is located at the
center of the pores. In case of oil wet, oil over-saturation leads to oil
drops / globules move along with water as shown in Figure 2 [3].
In the case of water wet rocks, the thickness of water film on rock
pore surfaces decrease in the presence of surface-active substances
clearly indicating chemical property of the rock. For example the
adsorbed film layer is thinner in case of alkaline water containing certain
amount of salts of organic acid soaps.
At low water saturation, water is present as a dispersed
(discontinuous) phase. The intensity of its transition from a
discontinuous phase into a dispersion medium (continuous medium)
is determined by the intensity of coalescence of water droplets and
intensity of their adhesion to solid surfaces depending on rock and
fluid molecular attractive forces. The water saturation at which water
changes from a discontinuous phase into a continuous phase
decreases with decreasing time of coalescence and sticking of water
droplets to solid surfaces and this happens due to higher rock and fluid
molecular attractive forces.
The forces resist the oil and gas flow include (1) viscous friction,
(2) inter phase friction (caused by motions of oil, gas and water relative
to one another), (3) viscosity (or internal friction), and (4) molecular
attraction between the rock walls and moving fluids (capillary forces).
forces, hydrogen bonding, ionic electrostatic forces gas and saline water with acidic/alkaline impurities.
and un-satisfied valence forces. Depending on the pore surface mineral composition,
The following are the possible inter-atomic and structure, pore size /throat radius, intermolecular forces
molecular forces between rock and fluid molecules [4]: are operating between rock pore surface minerals, clay
1. Ion-ion, short range, proportional to 1/r (r = radius molecules and fluid molecules. Water being polar
of atom or molecule) molecule with a significant dipole moment and
2. Hydrogen bond, short range, proportional to 1/r 2 dissolved salts being strongly ionic has significant
3. Ion-dipole, variable, proportional to 1/r2 or 1/r 4 molecular interactive forces. These molecular forces
4. Ion-induced dipole, proportional to 1/r4 have a strong influence on the residual water saturation
5. Dipole-dipole, variable, proportional to 1/r3 or 1/r6 which in turn control relative permeability of rock and
6. Dipole-induced dipole, proportional to 1/r 6 consequent HC recovery for given differential pressure
7. Induced dipole-induced dipole, proportional to 1/r6. and drive mechanism.
The attractive or repulsive electrostatic Presently, relative permeability versus water
interactions between permanent charges in the case saturation graph is used to have some insight on the
of molecular ions, induction (also known as behavior of fluids in a particular pore system.
polarization), which is the attractive interaction However, the study of pore mineral surface
between a permanent multi-pole on one molecule mineralogy, composition of formation fluids including
with an induced multi-pole on another. This interaction water, oil gas, dissolved components causing
is sometimes called Debye force after Peter J.W. intermolecular forces provides the ingredients of
Debye. Dispersion (usually named after Fritz London), permeability insight.
which is the attractive interaction between any pair of The reservoir fluid flow rate fundamentally
molecules, including non-polar atoms, arising from depends on the reservoir differential pressure energy
the interactions of instantaneous multi-poles. between the source (reservoir) and destination
The van der Waals forces are weaker than normal (borehole), various flow resistances, length and cross
covalent or ionic bonds, they are additive and cannot sectional area. The flow resistances are skin viscous
be saturated, have no directional characteristic, forces, inertia forces due to tortuous flow paths, flow
independent of temperature; except dipole - dipole obstructive forces caused by neighboring immobile
interactions, all short - range forces and hence only medium such as sand grain, clay, shelter, vugs, shale,
interactions between nearest need to be considered van der Waals forces, interfacial tension and
instead of all the particles. The greater is the attraction electrostatic forces between rock and fluid molecules.
if the molecules are closer. Traditionally the flow resistances due to molecular
The attractive van der Waal forces between rock forces between rock and fluid molecules are
and fluid molecules caused by induced dipole- addressed in terms of wettability and capillarity which
induced dipole, which vary inversely as the sixth is somewhat a macroscopic approach which needs
power of the intermolecular distances, hydrogen to be microscopically analyzed and understood at
bonding which vary inversely as the second power molecular level.
and dipole-dipole forces which vary inversely as the Since direct observation of pore surface and rock–
third or sixth power of the intermolecular distances. fluid interactions in the reservoir is impossible;
These forces play decisive role in reservoir relative presently capillary pressure and pore size curves of
permeability. These forces control many properties core samples are used to obtain the required insights
of hydrocarbons and water, including adsorption on on relative permeability and the behavior of fluids in a
rock pore surface, solubility in polar and non-polar particular pore system however, every pore type has
media. In the reservoir rock, the magnitude of a unique relative permeability signature.
molecular interactive forces between fluids and rock The wettability is generally calculated on the
molecules depend on the pore space, geometry, rock basis of core sample weights measure at various
surface mineralogy and fluid composition including testing modes which is expensive and time
ionic and polar impurities. consuming. There is a need to find out a reasonably
The rock and clay are mainly of mineral oxides, accurate analytical method to estimate the magnitude
silicates, carbonates and the fluids are mainly HC oil, of these molecular forces governing economics of
formation water and will become more negative with oil. In the case of hard water, on the other hand, the
increasing pH. All members of smectite group oil becomes a dispersed phase at higher water
(montmorillonite, beidellite, nontronite, saponite and saturation in a porous medium than in the case of
hectorite) swell in water and they exchange their alkaline waters. The intensity of the transformation of
cations with the cations in solutions. Because of these oil into a dispersed phase is greater in the alkaline
two factors - swelling and ion exchange, than in hard waters. As in case of non-polar oil, the
montmorillonite has a strong influence on porosity and attachment of oil to solid surfaces is negligible in the
relative permeability of the reservoir rocks. presence of both alkaline and hard waters, there is
Under the proper physical conditions of the no change in critical saturations and hence the
adsorbent, similar chemical exchange can occur with recovery of oil and water is the same in each case.
the anions. Some of the constituents in formation that Mutual solubility of fluids, as a factor promoting
are capable of exchange and adsorption are fluid flow, significantly varies with increasing
argillaceous minerals, zeolites, ferrichydroxides and temperature and pressure. The role of sorption and
certain organic compounds [2]. Particle size hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties of rocks
influences the exchange rates and capacities if the decreases with increasing temperature. The issue
solids are clays such as montmorillonite, illite and of the contacts and fluid separations (w-o-g) in the
kaolinite. The ion exchange rate increases with reservoirs is especially important if oil-water
decreasing particle size due to increase in mobility. emulsions are present in the accumulations.
However, if a large mineral has a lattice, the exchange The emulsions are electrically charged and
can easily occur on the plates. Higher exchange can electro-chemically active. The major obstacles for the
takes place when the solution is highly concentrated movement of colloidal solutions are the size of the
with dissolved solids. particles (0.1 – 0.001 mm). According to Eremenko
Clay minerals, authigenic or allothigenic, in and Chilingar (1996), the particles move
reservoir rocks may occur in a dispersed form in pores unobstructed through the pores where the pore throat
and pore throats, on lining detrital grains and as large (or canal) diameter is at least three times greater
discrete crystals or grains. Different types of clay than the particle size. When micelles form, the size of
minerals distribution affect the effective porosity and the resulting globules may be comparable or even
relative permeability in a drastically different manner. greater than the diameter of pore throats as in the
Distributed clays (leafy crystals, irregular plates, case of polymer flooding to improve sweep efficiency.
fibers etc,) in the pore space occur as discrete
particles, coating on elastic grains by inter-grain clay Conclusions
crystal lining and clay crystals bridging across the The economic viability of an oil reservoir throughout at
pore space. For pore lining allows reservoir varies stages of its economic life, entirely depends on
permeabilities of about one to two order magnitude the quantity of accumulated Original Oil In Place (OOIP),
higher (k = 1 to 100 md). Discrete clay particles still the production rate over a reasonable production period
allow higher permeability in excess of 100 md and in and the extent of Hydrocarbon (HC) recovery. The HC
to Darcy range but it depends on clay distribution. production rate is controlled by drive mechanism, which
In the case of sandstone rock (silicates) and clay in turn governed pore pressure, aquifer pressure
with silica is acidic, basic constituents in water and support, and relative permeability of the rock which is
oils will readily be absorbed resulting in water or oil- controlled by pore shape, geometry, throat size, lateral
wet or mixed wet surface. In contrast, the carbonate continuity, matrix mineralogy, texture, surface
(CaCO3) water interface is basic and will attract and characteristics, fluid physical and chemical properties
absorb acid compounds. Since crude oils generally causing adsorption due to electrostatic forces, van der
contain acidic/neutral polar compounds, there is a Waal forces and hydrogen bonding. Most of current
tendency for silicate rocks to be neutral or water-wet methods of reservoir rock permeability measurements
and carbonates to be neutral or oil-wet. are based on petro-physical properties of the reservoir
Attraction of non-polar oil to solid surfaces is rocks and this paper highlights the necessity to
negligible and that the mobile oil presents less consider chemical properties of reservoir rocks and
resistance to flow of water than does the immobile fluids. Oil and Gas Reservoir rock and fluid molecular
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profitability of LNG
value chains,
LNG is being increasingly recognized as an important
leading to a factor in the global energy trade. Significant research
advances have been made in the LNG value chain and
substantial the understanding and management of the associated
reduction in the cost risks/safety issues during the handling, storage, and
transport of LNG. Recent developments in the LNG
of LNG value chains production chain have focused on optimizing the process
for efficiency improvement, particularly those in the
liquefaction and re-gasification processes, of which
several have been implemented.
Considering LNG prices, current differentials between
Eastern Asia and the rest of the world are based on the
lack of alternatives for the main importers, Japan and South
Korea. Increased supplies and a certain arbitration
capacity for the Chinese buyers may lead to a structural
lowering of the price level on the East Asian markets.
However, the strength of the final demand in the region is
likely to justify a positive differential between Asian and
non-Asian price seven in the future decade.
reduction in the cost of LNG value found onshore or offshore, as located onshore or offshore (to date,
chains. Concrete values depend associated or non-associated gas. most liquefaction plants have been
upon different factors, including All forms of natural gas need to onshore), and may have a number
traded volume, transportation be treated to remove impurities (e.g., of parallel systems (called trains)
distance, and/or employed carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, of heat exchangers and gas or
technologies. The upstream gas nitrogen, and mercury) and/or steam turbines driving the
prices mainly depend upon the heavier hydrocarbons (e.g., butane compressor. The natural gas is
reservoirs, while the liquefaction and propane) before the gas can be liquefied into LNG via cooling it to
cost depends upon feed gas sent to the downstream liquefaction 112 K, reducing the volume of
composition and the liquefaction plant. The pre-treatment may natural gas by a factor of 600. The
process in use. The shipping costs consist of three main stages: acid LNG product is then stored in
are determined primarily by the gas removal, dehydration, and insulated double-walled tanks
distance between the sellers and mercury removal. Impurities in the designed to maintain the low
buyers, while re-gasification prices gas stream are referred to as acid temperatures of the LNG. These
are dependent upon the gas, removal of which can be storage tanks contain an inner
construction costs, re-gasification achieved via using an amine solvent cryogenic nickel/steel tank,
technology, and storage capacity. mixed with water. If significant surrounded by insulation and then
hydrogen sulfide is present in the followed by a pre-stressed concrete
LNG PRODUCTION CHAIN acid gas, then a separate stream or mild steel outer tank (when mild
A LNG production chain transforms for sulfur recovery is required. Gas steel is used as the outer tank, a
the raw natural gas into LNG as a leaving the acid gas removal berm is constructed to contain the
carrier product for the transport and system is generally saturated with LNG in the case of a spill).
distribution of natural gas to the end water vapour and, therefore, passed The rising demand of LNG has
users. It consists of four crucial through a dehydration system. This led to the development of the
stages, including upstream gas is to prevent freezing when the gas gravity-based structure (GBS) and
production and gathering, reaches the main liquefaction the floating LNG (FLNG) concepts
liquefaction, shipping, and re- exchanger and is attained by first aimed at exploiting offshore natural
gasification, each of which is briefly cooling the gas with water, air, or a gas reserves that are too remote
explained below, including some refrigerant and then passing it or not economically viable for
recent R&D advances. through a molecular-sized sieve. onshore liquefaction facilities.
Upstream gas production and The final stage of gas pre-treatment Essentially, the GBS is an artificial
gathering is mercury removal. Which corrode island, where LNG production and
All fossil fuels are formed when aluminium, of which most storage will take place, and is
remains of plants, animals, and equipment in the heat exchanger is intended for shallow waters. In the
microorganisms are compressed made of. it is crucial that this case of FLNG, the system is floating
underneath the earth under high process is carried out. Mercury and mobile, unlike the GBS. The
pressures and temperature for removal is achieved by passing the idea is that the structure will be
long periods of time. The suitable feed gas through a sulfur- prefabricated onshore and sunk to
geological conditions breaks down impregnated carbon bed, during the seafloor at the required
the carbon bonds in organic matter which the mercury becomes a non- location. This technology has been
to form natural gas, oil, or coal, with volatile mercury sulfide. The natural applied to multiple oil production
more oil produced at lower gas after this series of pre- facilities. However, such LNG
temperatures but more natural gas treatment is then sent to the facilities also suffer from some
produced at higher temperatures. liquefaction plant. undesired disadvantages,
Natural gas is normally trapped LNG Production / Liquefaction, including large footprint, large
under ground in a reservoir or by Storage and Shipping construction costs, constant
sedimentary rock (shale gas) and, The natural gas leaving the upgrading for existing onshore
at times, interacts and is absorbed production facilities is piped to a facilities, only applicable to a
by coal (coal seam gas). It can be liquefaction plant, which can be smaller range of water depths, and
potential safety risks. The rising demand of LNG has led to the
Various liquefaction processes
have been developed by different
development of the gravity-based structure
companies, as reviewed in a recent and the floating LNG (FLNG) concepts aimed
publication and the fundamental at exploiting offshore natural gas reserves
principles of these processes can
that are too remote or not economically
be found in other related
publications elsewhere. These viable for onshore liquefaction facilities
processes have different single
train capacity and efficiency
(relative to cascade or C3MR) and
deploy a range of refrigerants and
heat exchangers for pre-cooling,
liquefaction, and/or sub-cooling.
The recent research advances
on the topic has been focused on
the optimization of the LNG
liquefaction process, via several The world’s second-largest LNG exporter after Qatar, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) of
Malaysia is ready to deliver a game-changer to the LNG industry with one of the world’s first floating
possible strategies. Design or liquefaction plants (FLNG1) in early 2016 and its second floating liquefaction facility (FLNG2) by
Selection of Optimized Refrigerant the year 2018. The photo shows PETRONAS FLNG1 vessel. (Photo Courtesy: PETRONAS)
Mixture can be made using the to approx. 160 years at current Nigeria, by contrast, has a
method proposed by Khan et al production levels. Due to its large decreasing internal consumption
which is a knowledge-based internal production and significant and large reserves, but it is facing a
optimization (KBO) method for international investments at the deteriorating security environment,
selecting mixed refrigerant, that beginning of the 2000s, the country which prevents new international
achieved a total reduction in power has dominated LNG markets for a investments in upstream and export
of 30 and 13% in the SMR and decade. Exploiting its geographical capacity currently limited to 22 bcm.
C3MR LNG processes, respectively position, Qatar is a major supplier Other major supplies of LNG are
but within certain limitations. it is to both Asian and European small producers. The largest is
quite robust and can result in a importers, partially rerouting its Trinidad and Tobago, which
higher energy saving than other flows according to the evolution of exported 18 bcm in the 2013, Oman
methods, such as that provided by final demand, a strategy which is (11 bcm), Brunei (9 bcm) and
Alabdulkarem et al. Optimization of not available to competitors reliant Yemen (9 bcm), followed by several
the Pre-cooling Cycle is possible on pipelines. In 2013, Qatar other still smaller ones.
Via HYSYS simulations. Recent exported 104 bcm via its twelve The most important is Russia,
research progress has been made LNG trains. the world’s biggest exporter of gas,
on the smart use of the cold energy Beyond Qatar, there are four which in 2013 supplied more than
of sub-cooled LNG that can be medium-sized producers strongly 200 bcm to international markets,
easily implemented into existing focused on the Eastern Asian 14 of which via the Sakhalin
facilities for improving the efficiency market: Malaysia, Australia, liquefaction terminal. A similar
of the LNG liquefaction process. Indonesia and Nigeria. Malaysia amount was exported by Algeria,
and Australia each export more than while a much smaller amount was
LNG SUPPLY TO A GROWING 30 bcm of LNG, i.e. 10% of the global exported by Norway (4 bcm).
MARKET market. Their gas industries are Incidentally, all three countries are
LNG production is currently growing.. Indonesia on the other major suppliers of the EU market
dominated by Qatar. Unlike its Arab hand is a mature producer which is via pipeline, thereby limiting the
neighbours, Qatar has relatively striving to maintain its current export incentives to promote a massive
limited oil reserves but massive levels (25 bcm) and to supply its development of their LNG capacity
gas reserves: 25.000 bcm, equal rapidly growing domestic market. to supply their core markets.
primary energy consumption Europe. Demand in the region has Currently, all Indian imports are
combined with a particularly small been significantly reduced following via LNG and the construction of a
domestic production of energy. As the economic crisis and massive pipeline from Turkmenistan has
a consequence, it relies on subsidies provided to renewable just been initiated. As a
imported fossil fuels both for sources. Four countries constitute consequence, LNG will supply the
transport (oil) and power the EU core markets: Spain (12 additional import demand of the
generation (mainly natural gas). In bcm), the UK (9), France (8) and Italy Indian market. According to the
2010, Japan imported 92 bcm of (5). Germany, the main European IEA’s predictions, India will
natural gas - 32% of the world total- gas market, has no re-gasification increase its imports from 17 bcm
exclusively via LNG. After the capacity, relying on piped gas from in 2013 to 25 bcm in 2020 and 54
Fukushima Daiichi disaster, Japan Russia and Norway. The only other bcm in 2030. The sheer size of
substituted a significant share of relevant natural gas market in the India’s estimated demand will
its nuclear power generation with region, Turkey, imported 6 bcm via affect global markets, creating
natural gas, increasing its LNG in 2013, and was not affected more competition.
dependence on LNG imports. Thus by the EU’s economic crisis.Latin
in 2013 Japan imported 116 bcm, America is a smaller but more OUTLOOK TO 2020 AND BEYOND
37% of the world total. dynamic regional market. Overall, its LNG is an Eastern Asian business
South Korea is similarly consumption amounted to 25 bcm and the situation is unlikely to
dependent on imported gas for in 2013, with an annual growth of change significantly within the
power generation, and it is the 34% and a global share of 8%. current decade. Asian economies
second final market at the global The Key Drivers are growing, driving up energy
level: it imported 54 bcm of LNG in East Asia will represent the core demand. China and India will lead
2013, i.e. 17% of the world total. final market for LNG in the future. this trend, but smaller developing
The third is China, which imported However, a major shift is underway: countries in the region will also
54 bcm (9%). Unlike Japan and while current demand is coming see their energy imports grow
South Korea, the Chinese economy mainly from Japan and South steadily. Moreover, industrialised
currently has a low level of Korea, new demand will come from economies, namely Japan and
dependence on imported energy, China and, to a lesser extent, India. South Korea, will continue to rely
since it retains a large domestic In 2013, China imported 47 bcm of on massive energy imports,
production. However, its increasing gas, of which 25 via LNG: less than including LNG.
final consumption and the need to a quarter of the Japanese Outside the region, a significant
reduce coal consumption in imports. However, according to the increase in LNG imports is likely
several polluted regions are driving base scenario proposed by the IEA, only in Latin America, despite some
a significant increase in natural gas Chinese natural gas imports will uncertainty in the fundamentals of
imports, both via pipeline and LNG. be nearly 130 bcm in 2020 and economic growth. Northern America
Besides those three large more than 200 in 2030. LNG will is set to become an exporter of LNG,
consumers, other growing Eastern represent a sizeable share. completely reversing expectations
Asian economies represent a India will also play a smaller of just a few years ago.
dynamic market for LNG. In though still relevant role in the The European case is more
particular, Taiwan is a relatively evolution of the global LNG market. complex, but the outlook for LNG
mature market, while India is set Currently, India has significant demand is likely to remain very
to become one of the most regasification capacity: 4 terminals weak during this decade, and at
important players at the regional with a combined capacity of 38 bcm best uncertain for the next one.
and global levels in the coming per year, of which 12 were
decades. Both countries imported commissioned in 2013. Moreover, THE IMPACT OF LOWER OIL
17 bcm each in 2013, i.e. slightly another terminal of 7 bcm per year PRICES ON GLOBAL GAS AND
more than 5% of the world total. is under construction and several LNG MARKETS
Outside Eastern Asia, the most others are at various stages of The Oxford Institute of Energy
important LNG regional market is planning. Studies ( University of Oxford) in its
Qatar cuts gas price for India under long-term deal with Petronet LNG
Petronet LNG has reworked its long-term gas deal The biggest Indian gas importer, Petronet had
with Qatar’s RasGas that will halve the import price been forced to buy one of the most expensive liquefied
and waive the penalty of Rs. 12000 crore for lifting natural gas (LNG) in the world this year due to a 25-
lower than the contracted amount, a sign of the year contract that didn’t quickly reflect the global price
changing global commodity market and the related crash. The spot LNG prices have fallen to $6.7 per
shift of power to the gas consumers. unit but Petronet had to purchase LNG at $12-13 per
unit under the contract. This price will fall
to $6-7 per unit from January under a
reworked pricing formula, India’s oil
minister Dharmendra Pradhan said,
following the agreement between the two
companies after negotiations that lasted
several months and involved multiple
interventions from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Pradhan and the head of
the state Qatar.
“It’s no more a buyer-seller
relationship. We are now advancing
towards a partnership,” Pradhan said,
referring to the success of the
The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan addressing
negotiations and the key consumers like
at the signing ceremony of Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements between Petronet LNG India have gathered in the global
and other companies in New Delhi on December 31, 2015. The Secretary, Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr. K.D. Tripathi and other dignitaries are also seen. commodity market lately.
publication N 99 of July 2015 component (US/North America) re- and re-gasification processes, of
entitled “ The Impact of Lower Gas connects with the global system in which several have been
and Oil Prices on Global Gas and the form of 77 bcma (and counting) implemented.
LNG Markets” has dealt with this of new LNG export projects. Europe Considering LNG prices,
subject in detail Part of the will be a passive recipient of excess current differentials between
summary and conclusions are supply at a time when its gas Eastern Asia and the rest of the
reproduced from the document demand growth is at best tepid, but world are based on the lack of
which is self explanatory. its import requirement may be alternatives for the main importers,
“The aftermath of warmer than rising due to declining domestic Japan and South Korea. Increased
normal 2013/2014 winters in production.” supplies and a certain arbitration
Europe and Asia, evidence of The impact of this change has capacity for the Chinese buyers
slowing Asian LNG demand growth been experienced by our country, may lead to a structural lowering of
through 2014 and the collapse of as reported in the Indian Economic the price level on the East Asian
the oil price in late 2014 has Times dated January 1, 2016 under markets. However, the strength of
resulted in a painful ‘new normal’ the item “QATAR CUTS PRICE FOR the final demand in the region is
for key players in the global gas INDIA UNDER LONG TERM DEAL likely to justify a positive differential
system, specifically LNG project WITH Petronet LNG. The statement between Asian and non-Asian price
investors and Russia/Gazprom. further reads: seven in the future decade.
Although this paper has used a “India’s biggest gas
similar approach to previous work importer Petronet LNG will buy BIBLIOGRAPHY
by the author relating to global LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) from The article is based on the
interactions, the context in mid 2015 Qatar’s RasGas at virtually half the following four recent documents:-
has changed markedly and while original cost, the government said 1. LNG MARKET: TRENDS AND
the gas industry has in the past in a statement recently. The price OUTLOOK, March 21st,
experienced and weathered cut will help Petronet save Rs 40 201512:00am Posted In:
periods of low prices, this time ‘it billion ($604.69 million) a year, oil LNG, News By Country,
really does feel different’. minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Russia, China, Iraq, Featured
At one level we can rationalise reporters, adding that the Qatar- Articles, Qatar, Expert Views.
the slowdown in Asian LNG based supplier has also waived off 2. The Impact of Lower Gas and
demand and stagnant European the penalty fee for lower off take.” Oil Prices on Global Gas and
gas demand as having a direct GAIL is also expected to sign LNG Markets,N G99,The
causal impact on European hub LNG deal with US company for one Oxford energy Institute ( Oxford
and LNG spot prices. The oil price of the LNG terminals as well. University) July 2015.
fall has in parallel brought oil- 3. Some Recent Advances in LNG
indexed gas and LNG contract price CONCLUDING REMARKS Production, Spill, Dispersion, and
levels down to levels unimaginable LNG is being increasingly Safety: Walter Chukwunonso
just two years ago. With project recognized as an important factor Ikealumba and Hongwei
economics challenged and cash in the global energy trade. Wu * ,School of Chemical and
flows crimped, investors in new gas Significant research advances Petroleum Engineering, Curtin
supply projects, especially LNG, have been made in the LNG value University, GPO Box U1987,
will inevitably hold back, cut costs chain and the understanding and Perth, Western Australia
and await a more positive market management of the associated 6845,Australia, Energy
outlook. At a more fundamental risks/safety issues during the Fuels, 2014, 28 (6), pp 3556–
level however, what we may be handling, storage, and transport of 3586.
about to witness is a significant LNG. Recent developments in the 4. Qatar cuts LNG price for
disruption to regional gas equilibria LNG production chain have India, Reuters, New Delhi
as a wave of new (Australian) LNG focused on optimizing the process December 31, 2015 & Indian
supply meets a slowing Asian for efficiency improvement, Economic Times January 1,
market and a significant regional particularly those in the liquefaction 2016. dewjournal.com
Face to Face: Timo Koponen, Vice President, Flow & Gas Solutions,
Mr. Timo Koponen is the Head of the Flow & Gas Solutions business line within
Wärtsilä’s Marine Solutions Division. In his role he has the end-to-end business
responsibility for Wärtsilä’s pumps & valves and gas process technology
operations globally. The businesses include various world class brands for pumps
and valves, as well as leading gas value chain related technologies such as
small scale liquefaction, reliquefaction and regasification for both land-based
and marine applications. He is one of the main architects of Wärtsilä’s shift to
the gas age, advocating the benefits of wider use of LNG in marine and related
industries. DEW Journal talks to Mr. Timo to learn about ‘Wärtsilä Mobile LNG’,
an innovative solution that provides a flexible means of meeting small and
medium scale LNG power generation, a concept unthinkable uptill now.
offers a flexible and mobile option for small to areas where access for larger vessels would
medium requirements,” says Timo Koponen, not be possible without major jetty
Vice President, Flow and Gas Solutions, constructions or dredging operations.
Wärtsilä Marine Solutions. Compared to constructing conventional
The Wärtsilä Mobile LNG has been landbased terminals in difficult soil conditions
developed for challenging locations where and areas with an undeveloped infrastructure,
pipelines and large-scale LNG receiving the barge can represent a significantly lower
terminals are not feasible, or where the capital investment (capex) and faster delivery.
quantities of LNG needed are smaller. It Furthermore, being mobile, it can be easily
represents an ideal solution for shallow water re-located giving it a high resale value.
was that this was something customers need and was missing from the market. When looking
at the conventional solutions, there has been two options, to either build a land based terminal
or go for an FSRU solution. To offer more flexibility than these solutions can provide, Wärtsilä’s
Marine Solutions and Energy Solutions businesses have combined their expertise in
developing a concept that can meet the market need. Our new, innovative solution provides a
flexible means of meeting small to medium scale requirements where pure land-based LNG
options are limited.
segments, and will benefit both utilities and Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle
end-users. Most especially, the flexibility of power solutions for the marine and energy markets.
location can bring clean energy to areas By emphasising technological innovation and total
that have only limited or no access to the efficiency, Wärtsilä maximizes the environmental
national electricity grid. and economic performance of the vessels and
power plants of its customers
How does the Mobile LNG concept work?
The all-in-one solution includes an LNG receiving system, LNG storage and regasification plant
on a barge. The barge can be used in combination with a fixed or floating power plant with
installed capacity of up to 250MW, which is ideal for many medium-sized communities that lack
or have limited access to the national grid. Its capacity can be ramped up by floating a second
barge next to it. Alternatively, it can be used to supply conventional land-based power plants.
Wärtsilä’s solutions support ranges for the entire gas value chain. Mobile LNG innovation
is an important step towards completing the company’s infrastructure offering. How?
Most existing facilities are geared for larger-scale users, whereas the Wärtsilä Mobile LNG
offers a flexible and mobile option for small to medium requirements.
RasGas proactive in
embracing changes;
continue to evolve with
changing trends in LNG
A growth rate
of approx. five
per cent per
D espite some
turbulence, the global
business environment
recent
for
year from liquefied natural gas (LNG)
2015 to 2025 remains strong, and a continuous
is anticipated, growth in demand is expected for
and during this years to come, said Khalid Sultan
period LNG R. Al Kuwari, Chief Marketing &
demand is Shipping Officer of RasGas
expected to Company Limited.
outpace the Presenting his ‘Overview of
overall growth the LNG Industry in the Year Past,
in natural gas the Present and the Future’, Al
demand Kuwari said that a growth rate of
approximately five per cent per
year from 2015 to 2025 is anticipated, and during
this period LNG demand is expected to outpace the “As Asia’s LNG supply has increased
overall growth in natural gas demand. and demand has eased, the traditional
He acknowledged that “As Asia’s LNG supply Asia premium has been challenged.
has increased and demand has eased, the This, combined with the recent drop in
traditional Asia premium has been challenged. crude prices and the resurgence of
This, combined with the recent drop in crude nuclear and coal for power generation,
prices and the resurgence of nuclear and coal for has changed the familiar landscape for
power generation, has changed the familiar LNG in Asia, and brought into question
landscape for LNG in Asia, and brought into economics for some new and some
question economics for some new and some planned LNG projects”
planned LNG projects”. However, new customers - Khalid Sultan R. Al Kuwari
and new markets for LNG are also increasing at an Chief Marketing & Shipping Officer, RasGas Company Limited
ever faster pace.
“LNG is still a business requiring significant joint stock company established in 2001 by Qatar
capital investments in production, liquefaction, and Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas acts
transportation. As such, LNG requires reliable as the operating company for and on behalf of the
participants, like RasGas with a long term vision owners of the LNG projects RL, RL (II) and RL3
and the resilience to overcome short term (Project Owners). With operations facilities based in
uncertainty… I am still very optimistic that RasGas and Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, RasGas’ principal
the gas industry as a whole will be able to proactively activities are to extract, process, liquefy, store and
embrace change and to continue to evolve the business export LNG and its derivatives from Qatar’s North
to meet the growing needs of our customers and to Field. RasGas, on behalf of the Project Owners,
meet the objectives of our sponsors and exports to countries across Asia, Europe and the
shareholders,” said Al Kuwari while talking to DEW. Americas. It has a total LNG production capacity of
RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) is a Qatari approximately 37 mtpa. dewjournal.com
projects showcased and particularly the LNG sector in the last 15 months.
As long as the price of oil stays low, the existing
downward price pressure on gas projects will
increase. In addition, the sector has to cope with
rising operating costs.
But in the face of this rather bleak situation my
message is: “Let’s not waste a good crisis!”
By this I mean that now is a great opportunity to
get rid of inefficiencies in the value chain, in order to
create a simpler, more transparent industry
structure. This calls for more common standards
D uring the last year, the oil & gas market has
changed significantly. We are all feeling the
effects of the nose dive in the oil price. After a long
and enhanced industry collaboration.
Mr. Eriksen broadly talked about overcoming
today’s challenges in the LNG sector through
period of escalating cost levels, the drop is particularly increased collaboration, standardization and
painful. The shipping market is also seeing oversupply technical foresight.
in many of the segments resulting in fierce competition Over the years I have learned that an effective
and pressure on charter rates. So let me take this approach to staying ahead of the game is to combine
opportunity to give you a brief market update and expertise from different stakeholder groups across
outline how technical foresight, standardization and industries. The challenges we face cannot be solved
increased collaboration can help the industry by the knowledge within one industry alone, so we
talks to DEW
must tap into the expertise
from many industries.
One good example of
our systems thinking is
deploying battery-hybrid
technologies on complex
offshore supply vessels –
incorporating knowledge
from many disciplines and
applying it where you can
create value – offering
reduced operating costs,
reduced emissions to air
and improved functionality.
LNG bunkering,
It’s about connecting the
dots.
As a company that
works across the maritime, gas carrier
oil & gas and renewable
energy sectors, DNV GL
technology and
will continue to foster such
c r o s s - i n d u s t r y
LNG as ship fuel
collaboration, in order to
drive innovation in the gas
to significantly
sector. Every year we run increase in the
coming years:
about 60 Joint Industry
Projects and receive great
Group President
support from our partners
because they create
significant impact on the
industry’s development.
& CEO, DNV GL
The LNGreen: Next-
generation LNG carrier concept by DNV GL, HHI, GTT performance of equipment and appliances, but also
and Gaslog can be classed as the LNG carrier of the transmission and distribution systems. LNG
future, Mr. Eriksen emphasised. compositions may also vary substantially depending
The gas industry also needs to put the right on their geographical origin due to differences in
regulatory and political frameworks in place to ensure natural gas sources, production technologies and the
fair and robust commercial value for LNG and other target market.
types of gases. The industry needs to work together to develop a
Let me give you an example: Typically, gas derived set of common standards, to create a level playing
from LNG has a higher calorific value than pipeline field for gas.
gas found in gas networks. This not only affects the Many of you know that DNV GL has been in the
LNGreen: Next-generation
business of setting standards for 151 years. We focus
on standards that add value. And standardization that
unlocks value. This builds trust between businesses
DNV GL recently completed the LNGreen joint
and between businesses and society.
industry project with specialists from GTT, Hyundai
A good example is our updated Recommended
Heavy Industries (HHI), and shipowner GasLog to
Practice for the development and operation of LNG
develop a state-of-the-art next-generation LNG carrier.
bunkering facilities which will be presented to you
The resulting concept vessel has exceeded initial
in more detail in just a few minutes. Our revised RP
expectations and has generated a lot of interest from
is the first document providing guidance on how to
the industry. Using existing technology the project
perform quality measurements and quantity
partners developed a ship with an improved
metering of LNG fuel from bunkering, something I
am very proud of.
Another example from DNV GL is the recently
introduced class notation for gas bunkering operation
from ship to ship, which ensures safe fuel transfer
operations. Until now, the development of standards
for gas fuel transfer operations in ports has lagged
behind the standards for gas-fuelled ships. The class
notation closes this regulatory gap and addresses
safety concerns in this field.
I would like to end with some reflections about
LNG as ship fuel. The question is: What stands in the
way of a quicker implementation of liquefied natural
gas in the maritime industry?
As I just said, the lack of regulations in this field
has been the most important challenge, paired with
local scepticism to bunkering LNG close to cities.
The financial constraints most shipowners and
managers face today have also slowed down
intended investments into the LNG sector. Finally, the
dramatic change in the relative price difference
between LNG and Heavy Fuel Oil make the General arrangement: Machinery options
commercial case more difficult.
LNG bunkering
Baltic Sea. LNG
projects in the Middle
DNV GL with first guidance East and Asia are
on fiscal and quality expected to be
measurements for LNG realized soon. In
bunkering addition to short-sea
Until now, there has been no ferries and platform
international standard supply vessels we
describing the methods for also see tugs, large
fiscal measurements and cruise ships, and
suitability for LNG as a containerships
marine fuel, despite the growing international market for small scale LNG bunkering. coming into operation.
DNV GL’s updated Recommended Practice (RP) is the first industry guidance on At the same time,
how to perform quality measurements and quantity metering of LNG fuel supply. bunker facilities and
In order to continue meeting and supporting the market in its growing demand bunker vessels are
for cleaner fuels and versatile LNG applications, DNV GL has updated its RP for being constructed,
Development and operation of LNG bunkering facilities (DNVGL-RP-G105). The creating the vital
RP now includes a section dedicated to determining LNG quantity and its properties. infrastructure this
The objective is to assist operators in addressing the large spread in properties, industry needs.
density and the calorific value among the available LNG sources globally. A further push
This update is a key driver for the monetization of the LNG small scale towards clean fuels is
distribution and infrastructure, helping to develop a more transparent and expected to come from
compatible market and to safeguard sustainable growth. the SOx limits in
The RP focuses on four main elements: safe design and operation, safety European waters from
management systems, risk assessments and now also includes coverage on 2020.
gas quality and quantity metering. The RP is in accordance with, but further But LNG as ship
elaborates on the ISO/TS 18683 Guidelines for systems and installations for supply fuel is not only seen as
of LNG as fuel to ships, with focus on bridging the gap between the rules for the a means to cope with
receiving ship and the bunker supplier, such as national or port regulations and emission control
rules for LNG bunker vessels. areas! I know that
DNV GL class notation for gas bunkering operations from ship to ship today the shipping
DNV GL recently launched a new class notation for gas bunker vessels that ensures community has
safe fuel transfer operations from one ship to another. In the past, the development realized that LNG
of standards guiding gas fuel transfer operations in ports lagged behind, as the enables the
maritime industry focussed on developing standards for gas-fuelled ships rather implementation of
than bunkering arrangements. DNV GL has also developed a GAS READY notation new propulsion
for owners looking to prepare their vessel for a potential conversion to LNG concepts that can
operation at the newbuilding stage. The notation helps owners ensure that their increase a vessel’s
vessels are verifiably in efficiency, reduce fuel
compliance with all safety consumption and
and operational therefore offer a
requirements to meet the c o m m e r c i a l l y
applicable global as well as interesting solution.
class standards for gas- This makes me
fuelled operations. It also confident that the
supports owners in using LNG as ship
specifying and quantifying fuel will increase
the level of investment they significantly over the
need to make. next years. dewjournal.com
JeevanAmrit
populated arid zone in the world with a
population density of ~90 people per
square km. Temperatures can reach more
than 50oC during summer.
Accordingly, Cairn India initiated the