EU Hydrocarbons Symposium - a showcase
for innovative technology
The prime objective of European Union energy policy, in the broadest sense, is to ensure durable and reliable energy services at affordable costs and conditions, while minimising the environmental impact of energy production and use. Oil and gas are central to this policy.
Technical innovation provides the key to these issues and the THERMIE Programme continues to play a major role in encouraging the development of new products. This issue of O>N describes five technologies which have been developed in Portugal, Italy, France and the Netherlands with THERMIE support, and includes subjects as varied as deepwater production systems, reservoir modelling and platform foundations.
A wide range of technologies supported by JOULE-THERMIE will be presented at the 5th EU Hydrocarbons Symposium being held in Edinburgh, UK (26-28 November 1996). Ninety papers over 3 days will present the latest results of these projects, all of which are at the leading edge of hydrocarbons technology.
The symposium will also be used as a forum to examine the future of the hydrocarbons energy sector, address the challenges facing the hydrocarbons industry in Europe, and discuss the importance of securing European funding for innovative oil and gas technologies in the future. This Symposium, held every four years, provides the oil and gas industry with the opportunity to express its opinions on EU activities in the hydrocarbons sector and to present its case for continued and enhanced EU support in the future.
Tecnomareís Deepwater Autonomous Multiwell Production System (DAMPS) provides an innovative solution to the need for flexible, diverless technology which lacks guidelines. The technology has been tested to a water depth of 1,000 m but is also cost-effective in the 200-400 m range.
The DAMPS project, supported by the EC's
THERMIE Programme, was developed to Agip system requirements.
The project involved the design of a subsea production system
based on a compact bi-axial symmetry structure and is made of
modular components including:
Control requirements are managed by an autonomous control system in which communication relies on an acoustic link. Signals are sent by means of acoustic waves in the exportation flowlines inside the production fluid. The acoustic link was validated in a range of system transmission tests for the transportation of multiphase mixtures.
Electric power is generated locally by a turbo generator operating on gas from the reservoir. This was validated by tests in a qualified laboratory on a generator prototype set up for this purpose.
The technology for the subsea hydraulic
power unit and the relevant hydraulic closed loop was developed
from the Subsea Well Autonomous Control System (SWACS) which has
been operating since 1987 on Agip's Luna field in the Ionian Sea.
HERESIM 3D - a new approach to reservoir
characterisation
HERESIM 3D, a geostatistical based reservoir
modelling package, has been designed by the French Institute of
Petroleum and the Geostatistical Centre of Paris School of Mines.
The package is aimed at interactively building 3D reservoir models
for fluid flow simulation and is consistent with both geological
(derived from structural and sequential stratigraphy interpretations)
and petrophysical information. HERESIM 3D features a flexible
and high performance methodology to build geologically consistent
upscaled reservoir models for fluid simulation including:
In the currently marketed version, each
module has been refined to minimise data manipulation for enhanced
productivity and computational efficiency. This provides the
user with: flexible formation geometry description facilities;
efficient and easy management of multiple geological hypotheses;
fast simulation algorithm; easy petrophysical assignment facilities;
numerous quality controls; interactive reservoir mesh builder;
and optional 3D visualisation facilities.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
The 1996 edition of the "European Oil and Gas Demonstration Project Inventory" is now available. This publication, which complements the Project Status Reports published by DGXVII, includes details of innovative oil and gas technologies developed in Europe which have not received funding from the EC. Over 70 projects are included from the UK, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Germany.
Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) play an important role in the development of innovative technologies in the oil and gas sector. The EU has published the "European Union Oil & Gas SME Directory" which provides details of innovative SMEs in the hydrocarbons sector. The aim of the directory is to help SMEs and major oil companies to identify potential partners for collaborative cross-border projects.
An innovative slimhole drilling technique developed by DBS Security and Forasol is described in Flag brochure No. 198. This new technique is expected to reduce exploration costs by 25% to 50%.
These publications can be obtained free of charge by faxing or e-mailing your request to Jonathan Shackleton at PSTI. Fax: +44 (0) 1224 706601. E-mail: [email protected]
GEOMAT - geomathematical modelling of
oil reservoirs
GEOMAT is an integrated software package for stochastic modelling of oil reservoirs, incorporating geostatistical and multivariate data analysis techniques.
The software package is the result of a project supported by the EC and conducted by PARTEX with the co-operation of the Technical University of Lisbon. It is a key component of the methodology used by PARTEX in the area of reservoir modelling applications. The technique allows the incorporation of data from different disciplines such as geology, seismic, petrophysics and petroleum engineering (well testing).
The package contains a root and five main
modules. All the menus are designed to lead the user through each
application. The main block (root) has several options to deal
with the projects and the five modules include:
These modules are interconnected through temporary files created in the Database module to be processed and visualised.
The innovative techniques developed in
this project provide a better understanding of the internal architecture
of reservoirs. This, in turn, will optimise oil production and
recovery, and reduce drilling costs.
Modelling of naturally fractured reservoirs
Modelling of a fracture network is a complex problem. In a project supported by THERMIE, Partex has developed a software package to model hydrocarbon naturally fractured reservoirs.
Fractures can be studied at various scales including large faults (kilometre scale), fractures (metre/centimetre scale), and micro-fissures (millimetre scale). At each scale two distinct features can be studied: the fracture network and the single fracture.
Applying fractal models to characterise geological features such as fracture networks, derives from the fact that they provide quantitative understanding of size scaling and spatial clustering. This is fundamental to cope with the problem of describing and characterising the bulk mechanical properties of fractured rocks.
Fractal models, which are characterised by the concept of self-similarity, may provide a useful tool to overcome scale problems related to sampling limitations, as they allow the extrapolation from the sample domain to other scales.
One of the most powerful achievements with fractals is related to the possibility of predicting small scale faults in terms of their geometry, frequency and location. Since this kind of fracture can act as both a permeability barrier or preferential fluid path, it is important that they can be predicted if the quality of the data to be used as input for reservoir simulators is to be improved.
This project has resulted in more reliable
performance predictions being made which in turn has improved
simulation results. Software modules are now available to implement
different aspects and methods of fractal analysis.
CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION and WORKSHOP REPORTS
A EUREKA Brokerage event on Oil and Gas Technologies (Edinburgh, 23-24 April 1996) attracted over 100 delegates eager to build international partnerships for R&D and demonstration projects. Twelve countries were represented at the event which was successful in drawing organisations together in a constructive manner and resulted in many projects being discussed. This event may become a regular feature in the oil and gas calendar.
The Offshore Technology Conference (Houston, 6-9 May 1996), the worldís premier oil and gas trade show, attracted over 36,000 delegates wanting to investigate the latest developments in offshore technologies. The 11 companies on the EU stand reported making extensive contacts with interested American oil companies and regional agencies, as well as new contacts with companies from the Middle and Far East.
Attendance at Offshore South East
Asia (Singapore, 24-27 September 1996) was lower than expected
and this was reflected in the number of visitors to the EU stand.
Despite this the companies exhibiting their products on the EU
stand reported that the level of contact made was of a higher
than average quality, with new business opportunities being identified
in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
EURIPIDES - reducing platform foundation costsFoundation piles for offshore platforms driven in sand are commonly designed according to API RP2A recommended practice. However, existing data suggests that this practice may not be adequate for North Sea conditions. The underlying problem is the lack of in depth understanding of the actual interaction between the shaft of the pile and the sand which is necessary to develop a realistic design model. In addition, load tests on life size piles under loads representative of offshore practice (25 to 60 MN) were non-existent.
In 1993 the EURIPIDES project started to
address this problem. Testpiles and instruments were designed
and tested and a 30 MN testing rig was built. In 1995 a 0.75 m
diameter pile with 107 integrated instruments was driven in very
dense sands at Eemshaven in the Netherlands, and tested at depths
of 31 m, 38 m and 47 m. Thereafter it was extracted, driven and
tested again at a depth of 47 m. The tests, including 12 compression
and tension tests with in between unload and reload tests, were
performed in sand types comparable with those in the southern
North Sea. The project was performed by FUGRO Engineers and GEODIA.
It was sponsored by the ECís THERMIE Programme, seven
oil companies, the performing consultants, and various institutes
and governmental bodies in The Netherlands, UK and France. The
tests provided a wealth of data giving a detailed insight into
the pile-sand interaction problem. With the new data, computational
models will be used to prepare a basis for new design codes.
It is expected that considerable savings in platform foundation
costs will be possible and that a rational method will become
available to re-asses existing pile foundations.
CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION and WORKSHOP DIARY
International Offshore Contracting and Subsea Engineering Exhibition, Aberdeen, 29-31 October 1996
IOCE has a reputation for attracting senior
engineers and managers from the hydrocarbons industry. The EU
will once again participate at this event with a stand featuring
innovative technologies developed by five European companies.
Further details from Marsali Blake at PSTI [Tel: +44 (0) 1224
70660].
Holland Oil and Gas Exhibition, Amsterdam, 12-14 November 1996
The EU is participating at Holland Oil and
Gas with a stand which will feature hydrocarbon technologies from
five European companies. Further details from Guus Hutjes at IRO
[Tel: +31 79 3411981]
5th EU Hydrocarbons Symposium: The Strategic Importance of Oil and Gas Technology, Edinburgh, 26-28 November 1996
The 5th EU Oil and Gas Symposium will present
the latest technologies for the exploration, production and transport
of oil and gas which have been developed in Europe. The event
will also be used as a forum to examine the future of the hydrocarbons
energy sector. For a copy of the final programme, registration
form and accompanying persons programme contact Jane Kennedy at
PSTI [Tel: +44 (0) 1224 70660]
1st European Union / Gulf Co-operation Council conference on advanced oil and gas technologies, 25-26 February 1997, Bahrain
The European Commissionís Directorate-General
for Energy is holding its first joint EU-GCC conference and "panel-type"
exhibition in Bahrain. This two-day event will provide a platform
for promotion of innovative European technologies and the transfer
of technology to the strategically important oil and gas producing
region of the Middle East. The event will provide export opportunities
for European technologies and products in this important hydrocarbons
province, and will cement relations between the European Union
and the states of the Gulf Co-operation Council. The conference
will focus on four main themes:
The event is being organised on behalf of the EC by IRO and PSTI. Further details from Guus Hutjes at IRO [Tel: +31 79 3411981]
JOULE-THERMIE Programme - call launched on 17 September 1996
A call for proposals under the JOULE-THERMIE Programme was launched on 17 September 1996 and it is expected that approximately 240 MECU will be available to fund projects.
The THERMIE part of the programme will invite proposals for demonstration projects in the rational use of energy in buildings, transport and industry; renewable energies; solid fuels; and hydrocarbons. A final call will be made in September 1997.
In the hydrocarbons part of the programme attention will focus on oil exploration, production, and transport and natural gas. Specific emphasis within these broad categories and instructions on how to apply are detailed in the THERMIE Information Brochure. Copies can be obtained from: