Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - challenges

Well Control specialists face serious challenges when dealing with extreme HPHT wells, where pressures may exceed 20,000 psi. Narrow safe operating “windows”, where drilling personnel must remain adequately informed and aware of downhole conditions to ensure early kick detection and response.In this case the wider the safe operating window is the easier it is to assure well control safety. High wellbore temperatures, where normally very high-pressure formations are also typically very hot formations. Reductions in downhole tool reliability will increase dependence on real-time modeling when evaluating and monitoring of downhole conditions.

With the continuous increase of subsea equipment and services companies setting up in Rio de Janeiro, including local companies, The State Government, through its State Office for Local Development (Secretaria Estadual de Desenvolvimento Econômico), has decided to create a subsea center in order to stimulate the sector and bring investments to subsea technology suppliers eyeing the Petrobras orders. Today there are around 35 subsea companies located in Rio (8 offering equipment and 27 offering services). These companies have a workforce of almost 1,200 employees, and the idea behind the subsea center is to attract suppliers and investors for these companies.

In the past all umbilicals were made of thermoplastics, used mainly for transport of hydraulic fluids to open or close valves, with separate hoses connecting to each valve on a subsea tree. As the deepwater production increased, concerns over possible failures on thermoplastic umbilicals mounted, triggering the development of the steel tube umbilical. Efficiency and reliability are the keys for deepwater umbilicals. The modern subsea umbilical used by the O&G industry provides transmission of electric and fiber optic signals, electrical power, hydraulic fluids, and injection of chemical fluids from the surface to the seabed through electric and/or fiber optic cables encased in thermoplastic and/or steel tubes.

Although not considered a major challenge by Petrobras, drilling two thousand meters below the water line, through about three thousand meters of sediments, and through two thousand meters of salt is done at the frontiers of technology.Drilling at a depth of two thousand meters is not a problem. Petrobras already has several wells at this depth, in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico, and produces at 1,886 meters in the Campos Basin, a mark that was once the world record (Shell currently holds the record, at more than two thousand meters from the water line in the Gulf of Mexico). The biggest challenge is the layer of salt, which, under high pressure and at high temperatures…

The Society for Underwater Technology Technical Conference in Rio de Janeiro discusses the main challenges to be faced in Deepwater O&G exploration and examines the many possible solutions through technological innovations.The second day of the conference continued after the coffee break with FMC representatives speaking about their Field Development Toolbox to Enable Optimization and Best Value to Exploit Fields. This consists of an advanced 3D graphical design tool, consisting of a series of modules which enable a field development model to be defined and optimized. This presentation was followed by an interesting talk by researchers from the University of Strathclyde…

The Society for Underwater Technology Technical Conference 2010 in Rio de Janeiro discusses the main challenges to be faced in Deepwater O&G exploration and examines the many possible solutions through technological innovations.The challenges faced in exploring deepwater O&G reservoirs are truly incredible. Quoting the visionary Brazilian businessman and investor Eike Batista, himself a player in the O&G industry, “The pre-salt is like going to the moon”. Pre-salt E&P is certainly not the only challenge in deepwater development, but most specialists in the area of deepwater subsea systems development agree that it may be the biggest challenge…