Techbits: Marginal Fields Focus of Malaysian Workshop

Abstract

Techbits The Malaysian island of Langkawi was the setting for an SPE Applied Technology Workshop (ATW) titled "Development of Marginal Offshore Fields" held 21–24 April. Fifty-six participants representing 36 organizations and 11 countries discussed the challenges in developing marginal fields and the current industry trends and technology employed to deal with complex geologies, challenging drilling environments, and infrastructure constraints. Interest in this workshop was great, as increasing energy demand continues to push oil and gas prices to new highs, forcing producers to examine fields that might have been considered economically unfavorable just a few years ago. High energy prices have brought a series of new challenges that developers of marginal fields have been forced to consider, including higher development costs due to rising commodity prices; increased environmental concerns pushing higher standards; and resource constraints in the form of a limited number of engineers, fabrication yards, drilling rigs, and construction barges. The workshop's program committee, cochaired by Azmi Mohd. Noor of Shell Global Solutions Sdn. Bhd. and Rakesh Kumar Vij of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), framed the content with these issues in mind. Three keynote addresses were given, the first by Chen Kah Seong, General Manager of Project Development for Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. Chen's address titled "Challenges of Developing Marginal Fields" set the stage for the workshop, and was followed by the speech "Trends in Marginal Fields" by Rajendra Marathe, General Manager and Head of the Institute of Reservoir Studies, ONGC. Garth Taylor from the Australian Trade Commission gave the final keynote, titled "Regulatory Body Influence in Marginal Fields Development." Development Uncertainties Discussed A series of nine technical sessions followed, with Sessions 2 and 3 discussing how to effectively manage subsurface uncertainties, including uncertainties in quantifying hydrocarbons in place, and anticipating the range of reserves recovery and production profiles. Other topics in these sessions addressed the value of information management for reducing subsurface uncertainties, how to maximize value by employing optimum reservoir recovery processes, and the appropriate evaluation and planning methods for a particular marginal development. Various methods for modeling uncertainty were also presented, followed by portfolio ranking at both the field and basin level, with examples of how risk management methods were successfully applied in various fields around the world.