Domain

Explanation

British Gas Group

• Involved in world-wide oil & gas (O&G) exploration, exploitation, distribution and marketing

Dave Taylor

• Project manager
• Education: Trinity College (Imperial College), Petroleum engineering
• Reservoir engineering, economic evaluation, R&D coordination
• BG Artic exploration, Russian, experience

TOC

• Overview of O&G exploration & exploitation
• Engineering & Science interface
• Technical challenges
• Technological transfer model

Overview

• Procedure:

1. Resources: exploration, exploitation, productions; requires much money, tools, equipment, expertise
2. Enabling: transmission from sources (like wells) to primary processing facilities (like refineries, silos); e.g. liquefied natural gas (LNG)
3. Markets: distribution; end-users like domestic homes, industries & power stations

• Science:

1. Chemistry
2. Geology, Geography: how high, how deep & size
3. Maths & Physics
4. Material science

• Engineering:

1. All branches, except bioengineering

Oil & Gas (O&G) exploration

• Planning: budget, tools, requirements, specifications, clearance, approvals
• Site investigation: simulation data through geo-physical techniques using sonar & seismic waves à much computations, depths, noises
• Integrated geology-physics-chemistry-hydrodynamics (flow) model
• 4-D seismics: flow assurance for flow projection into wells across 3-D plane scenarios; Time-lapse, or 4-D, seismic monitoring is an integrated reservoir exploitation technique based on the analysis of successive 3-D seismic surveys. Differences over time in seismic attributes are due to changes in pore fluids and pore pressure during the drainage of a reservoir under production. The detection of areas with significant changes or with unaltered hydrocarbon-indicative attributes can help determine drilling targets where hydrocarbons remain after several years of production.
• Integrated knowledge for use by operators

Research issues & levers

• Flow assurance:

1. Prediction & projection
2. Methanol
3. Corrosion

• Deepwater development:

1. Controls: automation to wells (~30km); command-following; control amount, P, T of outflowing O&G (can be random, in bursts); offshore platform stabilisation
2. Material strength & properties
3. Communications
4. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs): reconnaissance, detection, repair, ok to lose a few (cheaper)

• Sub-sea processing:

1. Assess timing of supply interface
2. Pipe-in-pipe construction & linear coating interfaces: danger of cavitations, differential thermal & hydrodynamic influences

• Pipeline cost reduction:

1. Liners: protection, corrosion-resistance, maintenance

• Gas processing:

1. Materials
2. Tanks
3. Lead times
4. Economics: LNG

Facilities technology

• LNG cost reduction
• Liners: corrosion-resistant, coating layers; for gas cavitation à needs de-pressurising; pipe-in-pipe cryogenic pumping (allow thermal volume changes)
• AUV: improvements, autonomous, low unit cost, lower social liabilities
• Twister technology: vortex shedding separator; Shell spin-off
• Subsea processing: Norwegian investment O&G à Christmas Tree installation
• Salt removal from glycol
• Steel tube umbilical: lower diameters

Technology transfer model

• Three-prong aspects
• Universities: collaborators; science & engineering, economics basics; fundamentals; expertise (NUS, NTU)
• Technology companies: (ABB)

1. Contractors: provide the manpower, operational technology, solve detailed problems & difficulties, equipment, fabrication & installation
2. Design & engineer equipment & tools

• Project management engineering: (Sembcorp, Keppel)

1. Systems engineering
2. Cross-disciplinary management expertise
3. For large project sizes

• BG Group: developer, sets criteria, specifications
• Technology funnel:
• R&D: U
• Technology companies: 1^st inventors, developers, partnerships, chain-suppliers
• In-house development: oil companies, subsequent developers & inventors
• Project management engineering: ensure lowest liabilities, costs à incorporate into routine workflow; systems integration

Center of Excellence for Offshore Engineering

• Located in Singapore
• Visions:

1. Subsurface drilling capabilities: funds, build up
2. R&D projects: offshore seed
3. Engineering: leverage, liaison needs

• Potentials:

1. Robotics
2. Multi-disciplinary
3. Material science: lower costs of pipelines, lower size of structures & withstand all geo-physio-chemical loads; more composites (desirable properties) & steel (equally good in compression & tension); varying P, T
4. Corrosion
5. Detection
6. Controls: minimize liabilities; opt for very reliable, very conservative (PID over state-space over adaptive); manage wells (enable shut-offs)

FAQ

• Point out issues that resolution
• Criteria: works; higher quality, speed & reliability; lower liabilities & uncertainties
• Fluid mechanics:

1. O&G flow characteristics: hydrocarbon flows
2. Geological settings
3. Process problems

• Fire:

1. Extinguish: more water, mist sprinklers, valves, pressure
2. Prevent: cut off sources, cut hydrocarbon flows, fire containment, cut oxygen supply

• Pipe-pipe:

1. Isolate: fluids, sections
2. Repair pipeline liners: >30 years
3. Damage detection of internal pipe: clues & traces of more leakages than usual (expansive fluids); more corrosion (byproducts, metals); devices go inside pipe; damage detection; span detection
4. Pigging: run devices along pipelines à to detect corrosion à external pipe: monitor strains & stresses, corrosion à visual inspection
5. Corrosion-resistance: complex materials management; North Sea in the forefront of marine offshore concrete technology (concrete coating: tensile poor, can use liners)
6. Liners: need reliability, materials (foams), interactions like
7. Differential gradients: of settlements, temperature, pressure, electromagnetic; due to changes of functions; requires surveying; supportive structures à ascertain risks, forces & uncertainties
8. Pipelines spans: volcanic blasts (blast: impulse loading; earthquakes: slow loading); installation

• Risks:

1. Contingency: safety, pollution concerns, technological disasters
2. Severe conditions: extreme P, T
3. Extreme costs of accidents: prepare & simulate accident scenarios, pressure barriers, management system & SOP; more wells & pipelines

• Instabilities:

1. Bury pipelines: if necessary, in permfrost – 2m below surface
2. Shallow water: drilling under water

• Offshore structures:

1. Design of structures: floating production semi-guidance sub-marine sub-surface; design of wells
2. Floating: buoys; flexible "marine risers" in deeper waters
3. Soils: incompetent soils; marine clays, saturated & deep; current (no waves) influences; right structure layout, geometry & materials for such soils