“ONE OF THE BARRIERS BEING CROSSED TODAY IS THE CHALLENGE OF PRODUCING FROM HIGH-PRESSURE, HIGH-TEMPERATURE (HP/HT) OFFSHORE WELLS.”
concrete result of that initiative was seen in 2016 when Maersk Oil announced the start of drilling on the first of six HP/HT wells in the Culzean field offshore Aberdeen, Scotland. “We do not see a paradigm shift with new design concepts – rather, the gap between 15 ksi technology and 20 ksi technology is more an extension of existing technology,” says Jim Raney, Director of Engineering and Technology for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and a leader in the effort to develop engineering standards for the HP/HT environment. “The experienced service providers working on this equipment are going back to the basics with a 15-ksi design and making the walls thicker, and/or using higher-strength materials to take the 20-ksi load. Reliability is critical in the offshore environment, and extending current technology reduces the risk of designing, manufacturing and installing 20 ksi equipment,” he says. “The people in the oil and natural gas industry have proven incredibly resourceful over the years when it comes to developing and implementing new technologies that enable us to do things more safely, more efficiently and in a more environmentally compatible manner.” That resourcefulness was pushed to the limit when a number of projects drove the onshore industry towards 20 ksi in the mid-1970s and 25 ksi in the early 1980s; several of those reservoirs were not only in the 25 to 30 ksi range, but also contained a high amount of sour gas (having a very corrosive, high sulfur content). Such wells would be challenging even today, but back then were truly excursions into the unknown, requiring groundbreaking engineering and the use of new alloys. Economically marginalized by the industry depression of the 1980s and 1990s, HP/HT prospects became again a subject of interest amid rising oil prices and high demand in the early 2000s. Today, onshore projects are looking toward the 30 ksi barrier and beyond.
Jim Raney, Director of Engineering & Technology, Anadarko Petroleum Corrporation
The offshore sector, meanwhile, began moving into the 15 ksi range in the late 1990s and, as it pushed into ultradeep water (more than 7,000 ft.) over the next few years, was soon looking at surpassing that mark. It is now on the cusp of the 20 ksi domain. In response to this progress, the American Petroleum Institute
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SURVEYOR | 2017 VOLUME 1 | 13