Technology Focus: Drilling and Completion Fluids (November 2012)

Abstract

Technology Focus It has been a busy year for me; I definitely played less golf. I was appointed as the deputy chief of commercialization in the University of Malaya Center of Innovation and Commercialization (UMCIC) about a year ago. My tenure has just been extended for another year. UMCIC is a special unit within the university that spurs and elevates innovation and commercialization of academic research activities and output. This is echoed in most innovation and commercialization seminars and workshops. Everyone is talking about “the valley of death” and the challenges of getting universities and industry to be on the same page. In a recent oil and gas workshop I attended, a participant highlighted the limited (or lack of) real field-scale trials in the area of nano-technology application. It is an open secret that many industrial players tend to play it safe. As they say, “If it is working, don’t fix it.” However, things have changed over the years. The increases in energy demand and limited resources have driven the industry players to explore novel technologies, one of which is exploration and production nanotechnology. A tremendous amount of money has been invested in research laboratory and field trials in this area. In this feature, I highlighted four interesting papers that cover theoretical and experimental approaches and real field tests related to nanotechnology. The selected papers primarily discuss the applications of nanotechnology, specifically in drilling fluid technology. Two of the selected papers discuss field tests. One of the papers presents interesting preliminary test results of nano-based drilling fluids. It describes the formulation and test results of several nano-based fluids. The last paper presents the industry’s first field trial of a reservoir nanoagent. Here, the first industrially proven reservoir nanoagent template has been introduced and demonstrated through a push/pull field trial in an observation well. Another thing I learned, from a commercialization workshop, was the importance of commercializing an innovation. Innovation without commercialization is like watching a major golf tournament on Sunday without Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Michelson, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Zack Johnson, Jason Dufner, or Lee Westwood making the cut. I hope you enjoy and benefit from the selected papers. Don’t forget to look at the other interesting papers on the recommended reading list. In addition, watch for other related papers in the OnePetro online library. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. IPTC 14952 An Experimental Investigation on Use of Nanoparticles as Fluid Loss Additives in a Surfactant/Polymer-Based Drilling Fluid by Jayanth T. Srivatsa, Texas Tech University, et al. SPE 140816 A Biodegradable Chelating Agent Designed To Be an Environmentally Friendly Filter-Cake Breaker by Natalia Collins, Halliburton, et al. SPE 145840 Mitigating Lost Circulation and Differential Sticking Problems Using Silicon Nanoparticles by Saket M. Javeri, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, et al. SPE 153729 Wellbore Stability in Unconventional Shale—The Design of a Nanoparticle Fluid by Meghan Riley, M-I SWACO, et al.