Petrophysical and geomechanical characterization of a marginal (Wabi) field reservoir in north-central Niger Delta.

The aim of this study is to evaluate marginal field petrophysical and geomechanical parameters, and to develop a model for analysis of geomechanical problems, in order to mitigate stress-related issues in drilling, development and reservoir management for Wabi field, onshore Niger Delta. The increase in oil and gas demand globally has necessitated the re-evaluation of mature depleted and marginal fields for enhancement of hydrocarbon recovery and development in the Niger delta province. These oil and gas fields are situated in the young sedimentary rocks (known as shaly sand) of the formation basin called the Tertiary Niger Delta. Tertiary Niger Delta is an unconsolidated formation, the depositional environment of which had led to production and developmental difficulties, due to related geomechanical issues such as weak reservoir rocks, low pressure (depleted reservoir), and stack/multiple reservoirs with thick net pay and high porosity. The methodology leverages an integrated monitoring approach (i.e. seismic, core, wireline logs and DST in-situ stress measurements) along the borehole record, in order to facilitate continuous and static measuring of the mechanical properties of the penetrated rock, so as to develop a petrophysical and geomechanical characterization of the Wabi field. To understand the current condition of this field of study, identification of stress state and mechanical rock properties were investigated for reservoir development and management. This research focuses on geomechanical characterisation for the development of a geomechanical model to predict fault reactivation, fractures and sand production, which can lead to compaction and subsidence. The study concludes that the Wabi field has pockets of potential hydrocarbon reserves at different intervals with good reservoir qualities, which could enhance its development for production. Additionally, rock strength estimation in this field shows that the reservoir is stable; however, production of hydrocarbons from these zones may lead to subsidence. To account for this possibility, reservoir pressure maintenance should be planned in advance; if injection is anticipated, then the appropriate pressure should be used so as not to fracture or cause fault reactivation in the wells. The results of this study show the estimation of hydrocarbon reserves, while also helping to predict geomechanical problems and to suggest mitigation strategies for sand management. Finally, the results should be beneficial to the operators of marginal fields, who may start out with limited resources and the need to maximize profits

Emission seismic tomography – the tool to study fracturing and fluidodynamics of the Earth crust

The article presents the results of seismotomographic monitoring of emission sources associated with fractured zone, tectonic faults and fluid filtration in the high permeable rocks. It is shown that the Earth’s natural seismic noise recorded by surface array can be used to study the geodynamic processes caused by the presence of such inhomogeneities. The source of useful information is the extremely weak spatially coherent component of the seismic wave field – the seismic emission generated by background deformation in the energy-saturated volumes of rocks. Additional external technological and natural impact activates latent volumes of geophysical heterogeneity, which reveals new emission targets hidden in the background state. It makes to conduct additional exploration of the field within a radius of several kilometers during hydraulic fracturing. The article also touches on the history of discovery of the seismic emission phenomenon and the mechanisms of generation of a low-frequency branch of emission as a result of amplitude instability of envelopes of high-frequency acoustic oscillations excited as a result of energetic impact on the medium. Low-frequency emission (1-100 Hz) provides the remote study of high-frequency (1-100 kHz) emission oscillations in the energy-saturated volumes located at a great distance from the seismic array

Oilfield service companies as part of economy digitalization: assessment of the prospects for innovative development

The digital transformation of the economy as the most important stage of scientific and technological progress and transition to a new technological structure is becoming one of the determining factors in the development and competitiveness of the domestic upstream sector. Prospects for innovative development of oilfield service companies are the key technological areas within the first project of the Hi-Tech Strategy of the German Government until 2020 – “Industry 4.0”. The purpose of this study is to assess the prospects for innovative development of the domestic oilfield service industry in the context of the digitalization of the oil and gas industry. The subject of the research is the process of the formation of key technological lines of “Industry 4.0” and their impact on the domestic oil and gas sector. The research is based on logical-theoretical and empirical analyses. The main factors that determine processes of digital transformation in the oil and gas industry are considered; the results of digitalization processes in the largest foreign and Russian industry companies of the upstream and oilfield services segments are presented. The information base is made up of data from oilfield service and oil and gas producing companies, presented on the official websites of companies in the public domain on the Internet. It has been proven that, unlike the world's leading companies in oilfield services segment, independent domestic oilfield service companies provide mainly traditional service technologies in a fairly narrow range. The limited scope of functioning and technological capabilities of Russian companies is explained by the lack of necessary investment in development and expansion of business, as well as interest on the part of the state and corporate sectors in the development and replication of domestic technologies and the formation of a full-fledged oilfield services market in Russia

Proceedings of the 2004 Coal Operators\u27 Conference

Proceedings of the 2004 Coal Operators\u27 Conference. All papers in these proceedings are peer reviewed in accordance with The AUSIMM publication standard