15
Although Casabe is a mature field, the need for
accurate seismic data was identified as the first step
to better reservoir understanding, so an extensive 3D
seismic survey was designed and acquired. This led to
adjustment of the structural and static reservoir mod-
els, definition of new drilling targets toward the edges
of the field, reduced geological uncertainties, and
identification of new and significant oil reserves—
including 12.7 million barrels of proven plus probable
reserves in the Casabe Sur area.
In 2007 the alliance introduced a selective injection
completion system, which enabled more accurate con-
trol of pressure and water injection rates for the vari-
ous layers of reservoir rock within each producing
pattern. This helped raise water injection rates and
increase vertical sweep efficiencies to improve produc-
tion performance. After 8 years’ work, the alliance has
increased production fivefold, and is on target to reach
more than 30,000 clean bbl/d by 2014. On these results,
the Ecopetrol S.A.–Schlumberger alliance has been
extended for a further 6 years beyond the initial
10-year period.
Over the past year the portfolio of Schlumberger
production management contracts has expanded.
A number of key milestones have been reached, includ-
ing the award of production management contracts for
the Carrizo field in Mexico, and the Shushufindi field
in Ecuador. Overall, SPM comanages total production
of approximately 139,000 bbl/d, and the company’s
15 years of experience uniquely positions it to under-
take further such projects.
Production management also involves the treat-
ment of tremendous volumes of produced water—
particularly frommature reservoirs. In fact, the oil and
gas industry produces much more water than it does
oil. With global oil production now reaching 90 million
bbl/d, water treatment has become a significant tech-
nical challenge requiring dedicated technology. M-I
SWACO is one of the leading suppliers of water treat-
ment technology and services for land and offshore
applications. In both cases separation and treatment
equipment is designed to be compact and efficient—
a particular concern offshore, where every ton of
process plant requires approximately three tons of
superstructure and substructure to support it.
Going Deeper—Subsea Production
The recent rapid growth in the number of offshore
developments using subsea technology spans green-
fields in deepwater environments through the tie-back
of satellite fields to existing host facilities at conven-
tional water depths. More than 200 new deepwater
subsea fields will come online in the next 4 years, and
by 2020 more than 11,000 subsea wells are expected to
be in operation worldwide. As subsea developments
continue to grow in importance, the ability to optimize
production and improve recovery from these capital-
intensive assets represents a key business opportunity.
Subsea developments face significant challenges,
including high development costs and complex well
and production dynamics. The current development
approach and available subsea technologies have
technical and commercial limitations that result in
development solutions that often fall short of deliver-
ing the full production and recovery potential of the
reservoirs. Although deepwater reserves are estimated
to represent about 10% of global oil reserves, recovery
rates from subsea developments are often less than
half of those in conventional topside developments.
The industry is still not able to create subsea develop-
ment and processing systems with the capability and
flexibility to maximize production and reserves
throughout the lifespan of the field. Wax, scale, lack of
gas-handling or water-handling capabilities, and insuf-
ficient pressure support continue to limit production
and recovery rates from subsea developments, where
many of the needed production technologies are
deployed after the wellhead.
The key to unlocking the recovery potential of sub-
sea developments is to design and optimize the entire
subsea production system in an integrated manner,
from the reservoir pore space through the well com-
pletion and the subsea processing system all the way
to point of collection. This represents a significant
technical challenge that can only start with a deep
understanding of the reservoir and a clear ability to
The oil and gas industry
produces much more water
than it does oil.
