Posted by By Hector Igbikiowubo on
SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), subsidiary of Shell Companies in Nigeria has emerged world leader in Expandable Sand Screens (ESS), with the installation of the 65th such facility in its Akaso 14 well in its operations in the eastern.
SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), subsidiary of Shell Companies in Nigeria has emerged world leader in Expandable Sand Screens (ESS), with the installation of the 65th such facility in its Akaso 14 well in its operations in the eastern.
The figure represents 55 per cent of a total 117 ESS installations in the Shell group and also a substantial proportion of deployment of the technology around the world.
A recent edition of the Shell Bulletin, an in-house journal disclosed that the successful ESS operations in SPDC translates to a total oil production potential of 45,000 barrels per day and well-cost savings of $7.5 million when compared to other methods such as gravel pack and chemical sand consolidation.
ESS, a pipe containing a sieve-like material is used to separate sand from oil inside the oil well before the oilis produced to surface.
it is expanded downhole across the producing sand and it has characteristics that enable the production of more oil than conventional methods.
The technology was developed and patented by Shell but now licensed to three companies
'SPDC has proved to be a world leader in ESS application and the technology has brought tremendous improvements to the well delivery process," Hans Flikkema, the Well Manager said.
The first ESS installation in SPDC was achieved in 1999 in Imo River-63, where 1,l90ft of ESS was successfully expanded from 4" to 5.875" in a 6" hole. The Akaso-14 installation which was done on June 22 was along the same lines. A 4"-ESS was deployed and expanded to 6" inside a 7" casing resulting in cost reduction of about $300,000.
Standards, Expertise and Technology Team Leader Thompson Ukomah said: 'We*ve gone from one success story to the other since the first application in 1999, such that we have now struck it off our
new technology list and adopted it as one of our routine well completion tools."
SPDC recorded other achievements with this technology. It deployed ESS in a well with the highest changes in well path direction, commonly called 'dog leg" in oil field parlance.
And in February 2003, the company combined the use of ESS and External Casing Parker (ECP) for sand control and isolation of different zones at Agbada-17ST.
In a complex operation, the drilling team ran and expanded the device, inflated the ECP and successfully cemented the casing above the ECP These two earlier records opened up opportunities to use this technology even in very demanding and highly deviated sidetracks.
Project well engineer Olayinka Adeleye who represents the Global Technology Team in Africa Region, and is based in Port Harcourt, said: 'The success rate of ESS in SPDC has been astonishing. Apart from just one failure at Bonny-27, the company has proved to be a centre of excellence in the application of this technology.
'Many other Operating Units consult SPDC for peer assistance on ESS operations. We attribute this success rate to team work and strong management support for a visible can-do spirit."
'The ESS story is not isolated; we will continue to be on the cutting-edge of oil and gas exploration by deploying the best and proven technologies to make for quicker, cheaper and safer well completion for more oil at less cost." Hans said.