al cook - harnessing technology to develop shah deniz al cook

7/27/2019 Al Cook - Harnessing Technology to Develop Shah Deniz Al Cook

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Harnessing Technology to Develop Shah DenizAl Cook, Vice President Shah Deniz Development

Caspian Oil and Gas Conference, Baku

6 June 2013

Harnessing Technology to DevelopShah DenizAl CookVice President, Shah Deniz Development

Goodmorning,

Itsarealpleasuretobespeakingatthisconferencetoday.Thisimportanteventhasbeen

takingplaceinBakufor20yearsnow.AlmostexactlythesameamountoftimethatBPhasbeenworkinginAzerbaijan.

For20yearsthisconferencehasbeenanexcellentopportunitytodiscusstheprogressof

theoilandgasindustryinthiscountry.Andtheachievementsoverthepasttwodecades

havebeenremarkable.

TodayintheCaspianSea,BPoperatessomeofthelargestoilandgasfieldsintheworld.

Azerbaijanisamajorexporterofoiltointernationalmarketsandnowitisemergingasone

oftheworldsgreatnaturalgasproducers.

ThekeytounlockingtheCaspiansgaspotentialisthegiantShahDenizfield,withover1

trillioncubicmetresofgasreservesinplace.ItrepresentsthelargestgasdiscoveryinBPs

100yearhistoryandremainsoneofthelargestoilandgasfieldsintheworld.

Despitethecomplexitiesofdrillingthewells,buildingaplatform,constructinganonshore

terminaland layingthe700 kmSouthCaucasuspipeline fromAzerbaijantoTurkey,Shah

DenizStage1wasdevelopedinonlysevenyears.Sinceitstartedproductionin2006,Shah

DenizhasprovedasecureandreliablesupplierofgastoAzerbaijan,GeorgiaandTurkey.


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WearecurrentlydevelopingthesecondstageofShahDenizwhichwilldeliveranadditional

16billioncubicmetersperyear(orbcma)ofgas.Theprojectwillinvolvedrilling26wells,

constructingnewoffshorefacilities,expandingSangachalterminalandbuildinga4000km

pipelinechaintoexportCaspiangastoEuropeforthefirsttimeinhistory.

Projectsofsuchscale comewiththeir challenges. These challenges canbecommercial,

regulatoryandevenpolitical.Buttoday,Iwouldliketospeakaboutsomeofthetechnical

challengesweface,andhowweplantoovercomethem.

WebelievethatexpandingAzerbaijansengineeringcapabilitiesanddeployingcutting-edge

technologieshereinBakuarethekeystothefuturedevelopmentoftheoilandgasindustry

ofthiscountry.Webelievethatbybringingintechnologicalexpertiseandexpertsfrom

around theworldwithcan unlock the potential of the Caspian.And ShahDeniz Stage2

providesanopportunitytodemonstratethebenefitsthatthesetechnologiescanbring.

Illstartwithabriefoverviewoffiveofourkeytechnicalchallengesandthenwilldiscuss

howweplantoaddresseachoneofthem.

Challenges

High pressure gas

Giant geographical

spread Tough drilling

environment

500 m water depth

4000 km to gasmarkets

Challenges

ThemainShahDenizreservoirsareatadepthofabout6000mbelowsealevel.Atthese

depthsweseesomeofthehighestreservoirpressuresinanyfieldoperationintheworld.

Thesepressuresofupto14,000poundspersquareinchcreatethefirstofthechallenges

thatIwilldiscusstoday.


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OursecondchallengeisthesizeofthefieldaboutthesameasManhattanIsland.How

canwesafelyandeconomicallyextractgasfromeachandeverypartofthefield?

Thirdly, many of youwill be aware that the southern Caspian Sea is one of themost

demandingdrillingenvironmentsintheworld.Ontheseabed,geo-hazardslikeactivemud

volcanoesandsoftsoilmakeoperationsdifficult.Andbeneaththeseabed,theenvironment

iseventougher.Indeed,weareunabletodrillwellsverticallyintothereservoir.Alargearea

ofthefieldrightabovethereservoirisanodrillzone.Thegeologyofthispartofthefield

is such that applying any additional pressure to drill the wellswouldcause the rock to

fracture.Wethereforeneedtoplacethewellsontheperipheryofthereservoiranddrillat

anangletoundercutthenodrillzone.

Our penultimate challenge isthewaterdepth,as deepas500metres.Atthisdepth the

pressuresarehighandthewateriscold:around5degreescentigrade.Thiscouldcausethe

fluidsinourpipelinestosolidifyandcauseblockages.

Andthen,evenwhenweveovercomethesefourchallengesandbroughtthegastoshore,wearefacedwithafinalchallengethegasmarketsareupto4000kmaway.Howdowe

getthegastherereliablywhilstmitigatingourenvironmentalimpact?

Managing high pressure gas safely

HIPPS

High Integrity Pressure

Protection System (HIPPS)

HIPPS

Letmestartwiththepressurechallenge.Whatis14,000psilike,andwhatisHIPPS?

Thepressureswegetdeepinsidethereservoirsarealmost1000timesashighasthose

thatweseeinthisconferencecentrehereinBakuImaginebalancingtheEiffelTowerin

Parisontheroofofacar.Thatswhat14,000psiislike.Sohowdoweprotectourpeople

andequipmentfromthis?


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AkeytechnologyisHIPPS,aHighIntegrityPressureProtectionvalve.Thiswillbeafirstfor

theCaspianSea.Andthisvalveisenormous:itweighs18tonnesandstands4mhigh.

The HIPPS valve will be capable of shutting in just 15 seconds if the pressure in the

manifoldincreasesaboveapre-definedlevel.Thevalvethereforeprovidesprotectiontothe

pipelines and to other subsea equipment from possible damage. Most importantly, it

providesprotectiontothepeopleontheShahDenizplatform.Weareplanningtoinstalltwo

autonomousvalvesoneachofoursubseamanifolds.

BPhasextensiveexperienceofmanagingHIPPSsystemsworldwide,includingintheNorth

SeaandEgypt.WebelievethatHIPPSrepresentsasignificantstepforwardandallowsus

toachievetheveryhighsafetystandards.

Increasing production rates

Tubing HangerTubing Hanger

Tubing Hanger

Thisbringsmeontooursecondchallenge thehugegeographicalspreadofShahDeniz.

How dowedraina field the size ofManhattan Islandwith the fewest number ofwells

possible? The clue lies inour successon ShahDeniz Stage 1,whereourwellsproduce

morethan200mmscfd,over50mboed.Thismakesthemsomeofthebiggestmostprolific

wellsanywhereintheworld:onshoreoroffshore.

ToincreasetheflowrateonShahDenizStage2,weuseanotherpieceoftechnologythis

timemuch smaller in size.Whereas the HIPPS valve is 4mhigh, this technology the

tubinghangerisonly7inchesindiameter.


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Thisdevicesitsontopofthewellandconnectsthepipesinthewelltothesubseasystem,

asyoucanseeonthescreen.

Aconventionaltubinghangerinonly5.5wide.Werecognisedearlyonthata7tubing

hangerwouldoffersubstantialvalueasitreducesthepressurelossasgastravelsfroma

wellintothesubseasystem.Byreducingpressurelosseswecanboostflowrates.

A1.5increaseindiametermightnotsoundlikeverymuchbutinengineeringtermsitis

verydifficulttodesignlargerequipmentwiththesamepressurerating.Wereproudofthis

achievement.

Asaresult,weestimatethatwewillbeabletoincreaseproductionbyupto50%.Itgives

usthatextrabitofconfidencethatwecanmeetoursalescommitmentstoourcustomers

inAzerbaijan,Georgia,TurkeyandinEurope.

Addressing drilling challenges

SolidExpandableTubulars

NormalTubulars

Solid Expandable Tubulars

ThethirdchallengeIdliketohighlightisthedrillingenvironment.Thenatureofthepressure

regimeinShahDenizmeansthatwecannotdrillvertically,sowehavetodrilllongwells

fromtheperipheryofthefield.Inaddition,thepressureofdifferentzonesinthewellvaries:

some zones have been depletedthroughpriorgas production and someremain at their

originalhighpressure.

Thisallmeansthatthewellswedrillarecostlyeachonemeasuredinhundredsofmillions

ofdollarsandwehavetofindwaysofdrillingthemefficientlywhilstholdingourselvesto

industry-leadingsafetystandards.


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Onewaywedo this isbyusing thesolidexpandable tubulars.Thenamegives thisone

away. The tubulars are pipes used for casing the wells. Normally, tubulars have to get

smaller,thedeeperyougo,asshownontheleft.Thiscanbecomeaproblemwhenyoure

drilling6000metresbelowtheseabed:youreleftwithaverynarrowwell.

Soweusetheexpandabletubularsyoucanseeontheright.Theexpansionofthetubulars

is achieved by driving a solid cone through them either by using hydraulic pressure or

mechanicalforce.Thespecialmetallurgicalcompositionofthesesolidexpandabletubulars

allowsthemtoexpandwithinthewell,whilstmaintainingtheirstrength.

Expandable tubulars have already been successfully deployed on Shah Deniz, enabling

deeperholesectionstobedrilledandcasedinalargersizethanwouldotherwisehavebeen

possible.We have alsomanaged touse them to isolate higher pressure layers, like the

Sabunchi,fromlowerpressurelayersliketheSurakhany,preservingwellintegrity.Thisway,

justaswiththetubinghangers,wecanachievehigherlevelsofintegrity,higherproduction

ratesandhighergasrecovery.

Maintaining gas flow at 500m water depth

Direct Electrical Heating



Oncetheoilandgascomesuptotheseabed,thechallengescontinue.Atwaterdepthsof

500m,itscoldanddark.AndonShahDeniz2therewillliterallybehundredsofkilometers

ofpipelinesdeepontheseabed,bringingtheoilandgastotheplatformsinthenorth-west

ofthefield.Ifthefluidscooldown,waxandlumpsoficecalledhydrateswouldquicklybuild

up,blockingthelines.

Atypicalhydrateandwaxmanagementsystemwouldinvolveinjectingchemicalinhibitors

intothe flowstreamtopreventformationofblockages.Howeverthisoptionwouldhave


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involvedvastquantitiesoffluidsbeingtransportedoffshore.Instead,wehaveoptedfora

betteroption:OpenLoopDirectElectricalHeating. This isa systemwhichwe have just

deployedonourSkarvfieldinNorway.

DirectElectricalHeatinginvolvesattachinghighlyconductivewireoutsidetheflowlineand

thentransferringelectricitythroughthepipeworkitself.Thepipeheatsupwhenacurrentis

passed through itpreventing theformation ofhydratesandwaxdeposits.Tocreate this

current,weareplanningtoinstall25MW ofpowergenerationcapacityonthenewShahDenizplatforms.AswithsomuchonShahDenizStage2,thescaleofpowergeneration

andthenumberofflowlineswillsetarecord:makingthisthelargestDEHdeploymentin

theworld.

Reducing emissions at Sangachal Terminal

Waste HeatRecovery Units

Waste Heat Recovery at Sangachal Terminal

So,wevemanagedthepressurechallengessafelyusingHIPPS.

Andwevereducedthenumberofwellsbyemploying7tubinghangers.

Weveusedsolidexpandabletubularstoaddressthedrillingchallenges.

And weve overcome the cold waters at the bottom of the Caspian Sea with Direct

ElectricalHeating.

Butthatonlygetsthegastotheshoreofthesea.Wenowhavetopumpit4000kmto

Europe,overmountains,underriversandacrosswholecountries.Andwewanttodoitina

waythatminimisestheuseoffuelgas,andreducescarbondioxideemissions.


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ThefinalexampleoftechnologythatIdliketoprovideyouwithtodayisattheSangachal

terminal.Thisterminalisalreadyoneofthebiggestintheworld.ButtoprepareSangachal

for the additional oil and gas coming from Shah Deniz Stage 2 we will expand it

considerably, installing two new gas processing trains and three new compressors. The

compressorsareusedforpushingthegasthroughtheSouthCaucasusPipelineforthestart

ofitslongjourneytoEurope.

And an important component of the terminal expansion plan are the energy efficiency

measures.OneoftheseisWasteHeatRecovery.

The Waste Heat Recovery Units are physically attached to the gas turbines of the

compressors. They take the exhaust from the gas turbine and use it to provide heat

throughouttheterminal.Theseheatexchangersalonewill reduceouremissionsbyabout

70,000tonnesofCO2peryear.Thatisaboutasmuchastheplanethatfliesdailybetween

LondonandBakuuseseveryyear.

Conclusion

Asyoucansee the scale ofShahDeniz isquiteexceptional.Aninvestment ofover $40

billionwillbeneededtodelivertheproject.Andthechallengesareexceptionaltoo.

But it isBPs trackrecord ofdeliveringprojects like this, intheCaspian and around the

world,thatgivesustheconfidencetomoveforward.

AndIhopeIhavebeenabletogiveyouan ideaofsomeofthenewtechnologiesthatwill

bedeployedonShahDeniztoaddressthetechnicalchallenges.

Thesetechnologiesare illustrative ofwhatwedobestinBP.Wecontinue tooperatein

mostchallengingenvironments.Wesetindustryrecordsforthescaleanddepthofournew

developments.Andwecontinueto invest in researchanddevelopmentof rangeofnew

technologies.

These technologies not only enable Shah Deniz Stage 2 but are crucial for unlocking

Azerbaijansgaspotentialinthefuture.Enhancingourcapabilitiesindeepwaterandhigh

pressure environmentswill allow us to develop ACG Deep, Shah Deniz Deep, Shafag-

Asimanandothergasfieldsinthefuture.

Sodespiteitsscale,despiteitschallengesanddespiteitsrewards,ShahDenizisjustthe

beginningofthedevelopmentofAzerbaijansnaturalgasresources.

Thankyou.

al cook - harnessing technology to develop shah deniz al cook

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