E&P Notes (April 2017)

Abstract

E&P Notes Artificial Intelligence Holds Promise for Seismic and Drilling Data Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer As the oil and gas industry forges a new landscape in the wake of the financial downturn, an expert argued that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies could potentially have a disruptive, valuable impact on operations in the near future. In a webinar hosted by SeeAlgo, an AI consulting firm, Adnan Siddiqui discussed the ways in which AI and machine learning can improve project efficiency. Siddiqui, a principal at SeeAlgo, examined AI technology’s potential roles in several facets of oil and gas operations including seismic interpretation and well control event prediction. Ignored Signal During Hydraulic Fracturing Offers Instant Feedback Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor A Denver-based startup company is trying to fine-tune a technique that would give shale producers instant gratification by explaining one small aspect of the behavior of fracturing fluids during a horizontal well completion. The subject of this research is known as the water hammer effect and, though others have investigated, no one has yet made complete sense of it. Founded in 2014, the oil and gas analytics firm Well Data Labs recently completed a study that aimed to get closer to unraveling the mystery. Because the signature of the water hammer signal is determined by the makeup of the wellbore and near-wellbore fractures, the engineering team behind the research believes the raw data can be crunched into a report that describes the quality of a well’s connectivity with the producing reservoir. PDC Optimistic About Wattenberg, Delaware Assets Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer Since selling its assets in the Marcellus in 2014, PDC Energy has undergone a major strategic shift in its hydraulic fracturing operations, focusing primarily on its acreage in Colorado’s Wattenberg field while entering the Delaware Basin in west Texas. As the independent exploration and production company enters the third year of this new operational focus, its top executive said there is plenty of reason for optimism. Speaking at a luncheon co-hosted by the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, PDC President and Chief Executive Officer Bart Brookman gave an overview of recent developments at the company. Brookman described the Wattenberg as a highly productive region for PDC, and that the company hopes to increase efficiency in the operation of its 96,000 acres. PDC utilizes a near-even split of standard-, mid-, and extended-reach laterals in the Wattenberg. Brookman said the company plans to drill each new well with monobore technology, saving approximately 1 day in spud-to-release times. It also plans to move from a 4½-in. liner to a 5½-in. casing on its laterals, which will allow for larger completion volumes and higher completion rates. Independent Shale Producer is Driving Permian Well Improvements With Clean Sweeps Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor Good housekeeping has proven to be a big difference-maker for Houston-based Callon Petroleum. The independent shale producer recently published a study showing how it developed a data-driven workflow to predict which wells will suffer the most screenouts, allowing them to build in time for a preventive completion practice known as a clean sweep. “It’s not a new concept. It’s not a fancy technology,” said Nancy Zakhour, a completions engineer with Callon who worked on the study. “It’s just us trying to better understand which differences made to our operations are impacting production and whether or not we can leverage that to our advantage.” The company attributes its approach to clean sweeps to better proppant placement and higher production. While supporting figures have not been disclosed, Zakhour emphasized, “We came to know that whatever we did with the sweep enhanced the wells’ productivity.” Her confidence in the effectiveness of the clean sweeps is partly backed by hydraulic fracturing models that indicated that the fracture designs themselves were not the chief driver of well performance. Run post-completion, Zakhour said the models showed how the clean sweeps were allowing otherwise inactive perforations to be successfully “pumped to completion” with a full dosage of sand.