Techbits: Mumbai Workshop Explores Deepwater Strategies

Abstract

Techbits Recognizing the growing potential of deepwater developments off the coast of India, SPE hosted its second deepwater-focused applied technology workshop (ATW) in Mumbai in less than 2 years. The ATW, “Unlocking Deepwater Potential: Strategies and Technologies,” brought together 131 delegates from 11 countries and 40 companies to share information and help Indian companies assimilate the knowledge they will need to monetize India’s deepwater assets. Sudhir Vasudeva, director (Offshore)-ONGC and ATW Steering Committee chair, opened the ATW with an address describing India’s deepwater potential. The country’s deepwater regions hold approximately 51 billion bbl of oil and gas equivalent in a sedimentary area spanning 1.35 million km2. Thus far 31 hydrocarbon discoveries have been made—26 gas discoveries and the remaining 5 oil and gas discoveries. The discoveries are spread over Mahanadi, Krishna-Godavari, and Cauvery basins off the east coast of India, which is poised to be a gas hub of Asia. Vasudeva projected that given India’s gross-domestic-product growth rate of 8–9%, hydrocarbon requirements will increase from the current level of 125 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) to 435 million toe in the next 25 years. Global energy consumption is expected to grow by 50% over the same period, putting the onus on the oil and gas industry to find more reserves and curb production declines in existing assets. After 2012, deep water is the only sector which is expected to grow continuously to meet burgeoning global demand. R.S. Sharma of ONGC next stressed that because 43% of India’s sedimentary basins lie in deep and ultradeep water, the E&P industry has ample exploration opportunities here. However, he acknowledged that the pace of technological progress is sometimes too rapid for operators, who need to have a great deal of confidence and assurance in technologies prior to bidding for deepwater blocks. He stated that critical areas for study going forward include drilling and completions; subsea facilities; and health, safety, and environmental factors. Pushing Boundaries The first technical session provided case histories highlighting two recent deepwater developments from different parts of the world. K.V.K. Prasad of Shell Technology India first presented the development strategy for Shell’s Perdido oil field in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Operational and subsurface challenges included extreme water depth (8,000 ft at the platform), extreme metocean conditions, rugged sea floor, flow assurance, a high-risk reservoir (the first Paleogene production in the GOM), low pressure, and high gas-to-oil ratio.