PetroPulse Insights

The next energy revolution Shale oil production has been accelerating in US, growing from 111,000 barrels per day in 2004 to 553,000 barrels per day in 2011 (equivalent to a growth rate of around 26% per year). As a result, US oil imports are forecast this year to fall to their lowest levels for over 25 years. • Estimates by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) suggest that shale oil production in the US will rise more slowly in the future to around 1.2 million barrels per day by 20351 (equivalent to 12% of projected US production at that date). However, these projections seem conservative relative to other market analysts who forecast US shale oil production of up to 3-4 million barrels per day by that date. • EIA estimates of the scale of total shale oil resources in the US have been revised upwards from 4 billion barrels in 2007 to 33 billion barrels in 2010, providing a significant contribution to increased US energy independence. Shale oil could make the largest singl...

   Gas-Lift Troubleshooting: How to Diagnose Well Issues Before Calling a Rig Gas-lift problems are usually associated with three areas: inlet, outlet, and downhole (Fig. 1). Examples of inlet problems may be the input choke sized too large or too small, fluctuating line pressure, plugged choke, etc. Outlet problems could be high backpressure because of a flowline choke, a closed or partially closed wing or master valve, or a plugged flowline. Downhole problems could include a cutout valve, restrictions in the tubing string, or sand-covered perforations. Further examples of each problem area are included in this handbook. Often the problem can be found Fig. 1: The Gas-Lift System on the surface. If nothing is found on the surface, a check can then be made to determine whether the downhole problems are wellbore problems or equipment problems. Inlet Problems Choke sized too...

Unlocking Reservoir Insights: Permeability Estimation from Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) Permeability Estimation From Inflow Data During Underbalanced Drilling Abstract Underbalanced drilling has become increasingly popular as it reduces formation damage caused by fluid invasion during drilling operations. This is particularly important in the case of depleted reservoirs or when horizontal and deviated wells are drilled with long exposure time. As a result of the lower pressure in the wellbore, there is an inflow from the reservoir into the wellbore, which is continuously measured at the wellhead. This inflow carries information about the reservoir. The objective of this paper is to develop a mathematical model and its associated interpretation methods to estimate reservoir permeability and its variation along the length of a horizontal wellbore using the inflow measurements at the wellhead. The traditional methods of pressu...