American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012 - 25

TECHCONNECTIONS
PTTC Workshop
Provides Insights Into
Horizontal Tech
In December, the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project at the University
of Kansas and the regional Petroleum Technology Transfer Council
sponsored a two-day workshop, "Horizontal Drilling and Completion in the Mississippi Lime." The focus was on the Mississippi
Lime in Kansas, but many of the elements were broad tutorials on
drilling and completions in hydraulically fractured horizontal wells.
The workshop was an early sellout and will be presented again
this spring. However, each presentation can be viewed for nominal
charge on TORP's website at www.torp.ku.edu.
For those with a specific interest in the Mississippi Lime, presentations on the geology by Salvotore Mazzulo of Wichita State
University, horizontal drilling operations in the Mississippian by
Dean Pattison of Woolsey Operating Company, and Kansas rule
changes for the Mississippian by Doug Louis of the Kansas Corporation Commission should be of interest. A panel discussion taking
questions from the audience is full of specific information as well.
The four other presentations are more broadly applicable to horizontal drilling and completion operations in a variety of geologic
settings.
Shari Dunn-Norman of the Missouri University of Science and
Technology presented an extensive talk on horizontal completion
methods, emphasizing geomechanical aspects considering the target
formation, depth, reservoir thickness, porosity, permeability, stresses, and trapping mechanisms. She provided a full discussion of fracture design variables and then addressed the following questions:
* How should the well be completed-cased or open hole?
* Where should the well be completed?
* How does one determine the number and length of completions for a well?
* What fracturing fluid best fits a given scenario? What
are the trade-offs?
* What is the appropriate pumping speed based on specific variables?
Dunn-Norman also gives specific examples from the Mississippi Lime.
Jeff Chestnut, representing Packers Plus, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of open hole completions in the Mississippi Lime. Much of the talk was supported by case studies from
the Mississippi Lime and Granite Wash plays, showing differences between cased and open hole multistage completions. He
showed published trend data for a number of stages, and differences in production versus time and number of stages in Bakken
Shale completions. Chestnut supported his points with case studies from the Montney Shale, Cleveland Sand and Granite Wash,
as well as with microseismic results. Interspersed were a lot of
slides showing Packers Plus' latest open-hole completion technology, but I was impressed with the field data.
Jacob Hout, representing Pason Systems Corporation, gave a
tutorial on geosteering and remote geosteering. While these services are for hire, mid- to large-size independents frequently have
a geosteerer or geosteering group to assist in drilling laterals. Putting the hole not only in the right formation, but also in the
designed portion of that formation, makes a big difference in pro-

" Presentations are broadly applicable
to drilling and completion operations in a

variety of geologic settings.

duction. Hout presented the various logging tools that might be
chosen as the basis for geosteering, and the advantages/disadvantages of azimuthal versus omni-directional tools. Well founded
organization and communication plans are critical to success in
real-time steering. He included an example of how geosteering
functions and discussed the challenges of geosteering.
Pat Howard, representing Baker Hughes, talked about logging
applications for horizontal drilling. His presentation was a rather
complete inventory of Baker Hughes' logging and horizontal
completion technology, with a significant section on casing and
tubing inspection. The value is in the inclusiveness of what is
available-at least from Baker Hughes-and how the services can
be employed in reservoirs such as the Mississippi Lime.
On another topic altogether, the cover article in the December
PTTC newsletter (available at www.pttc.org) describes a small
California independent's experience about a decade ago trying to
employ a great technological solution in the face of a morass of
regulatory hurdles. The technology was employing a gas turbine
to burn stranded sour gas to produce electricity to cut the operator's electric bills. The standard sour gas treatment was flaring.
This story reminds me of a request I chased about the same
time for a West Texas independent who wanted to use the same
concept with his marginally producing oil wells. The Texas
Railroad Commission permitted the company to flare the gas,
which was the standard treatment. However, if the company
burned the gas and extracted useful work from it (generating
electrical power in this case), it was subject to an entirely different set of regulations that required it to clean the sour gas
first, then burn the clean gas in the turbine.
Of course, the cost was prohibitively higher, so the company
abandoned the project. Little did I know that another independent would successfully install a turbine generator that eventually would be permitted. Its trials were far greater than I could
have imagined, however. Read the newsletter article to see how
common sense and regulation sometimes do not mix.
r

BILL LAWSON is the executive director of the Petroleum
Technology Transfer Council.
He was the first director of
DOE's Strategic Center for
Natural Gas and Oil at the
National Energy Technology
Center, retiring after 31 years
of DOE service. PTTC may be
contacted at www.pttc.org.
JANUARY 2012 25

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012

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