Abstract
Offshore and deep water field developments have historically in higher permeability (100+ md) reservoirs. So, what interest should offshore completion engineers have in completion practices in wells in onshore shale reservoirs that are in 1/1000th to 1/millionth the permeability? More than we think! This presentation will start with the past and illustrate via case histories of how innovations/practices initially developed for onshore wells have helped unlock and improve the economics of offshore wells. This talk will also show examples of how practices originally deployed in Darcy shales are continuing to improve today's offshore completions. Finally, we will explore how shale-based technology can help unlock some of the future economic challenges associated with brownfields and also some of the recent deep water discoveries in lower permeability reservoirs. The talk will also illustrate, with an example, the risks of blindly copying onshore completion technology without considering the unique challenges of offshore wells. Guidelines on how to transfer completion technologies from shales to offshore are provided
Bio
Dr Sanjay Vitthal recently retired from Shell as the Principal Technical Expert for Hydraulic Fracturing Design and Analysis. He has 33 years of industry experience in Hydraulic Fracturing, Sand Control and Stimulation. His interests are in hydraulic fracturing, sand control, fluids, diagnostics, formation damage, and well performance. He has written 35 papers on the above topics and holds 10 patents. He been active in the SPE as a technical editor, contributing editor on 2 monographs, and as member of conferences, workshop, and forum committees. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the SPE Offshore Completions Technical Section.