Like several other regions around the globe, the Middle East is facing the challenges of a maturing province. Consequently, technology is set to play an ever more important role—both in terms of the deployment of existing technologies and the development of innovative new solutions.

One of the main challenges facing the region at present is maximizing production from its huge reserves. The United Arab Emirates alone has a production target of 3.5 MMbbl/d. Achieving this will require recovery rates far in advance of the global average, so the use of new processes and innovative technology could play a key role.

Collaboration in technology development has the potential to leverage funding as well as the technical expertise of those involved. This may be particularly important in mature provinces where operators can require new technology in a short time frame to produce small or more technically demanding remaining reserves economically. A collaborative approach may be the only cost-effective way to tackle some of the issues.

Additionally, as the industry continues to mature, a degree of global convergence with respect to technology needs is becoming apparent. In producing provinces internationally, difficult-to-access reserves require enhanced reservoir characterization, and mature assets present life extension issues. Hence the transfer of technology developed in other regions to the Middle East could have a significant role to play alongside indigenous developments.

Evolving relationships

In the past, activity in the region has been dominated by the national oil companies (NOCs) and the supermajors. Generally there has not been a history of problem-sharing and collaborative working between them.

Over the last 10 years, however, a number of regional research centers have been created in the Middle East, including the Qatar Science and Technology Park, the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, all of which work alongside a number of the NOCs, international oil companies and international service companies across the region.

In addition, a broader range of players from around the world are entering the region, including some of the smaller European-based operators as well as others from China and Korea. This shifting landscape has the potential to influence the technology development framework and may help pave the way to new partnerships for collaborative working.

Since establishing a base in Abu Dhabi three years ago, the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) has been working to facilitate increased collaboration among operating companies as well as between operating companies and the wider technology development community within the region and further afield.

Technology challenges

ITF’s annual general meeting was recently held in Abu Dhabi for the first time, and as part of the meeting some technology developers currently seeking collaborative support were invited to present to the attendees. One of the technical areas that the meeting focused on was drilling efficiency, including a number of potentially game-changing technologies being showcased.

These included DURA Drilling’s high-speed dual-drilling string technology. The system, which comprises an inner and outer drillstring, integrates three technologies: casing while drilling, microhole drilling and high-speed diamond drilling.

The company’s co-founder, Charley Able, believes the concept complements conventional drilling techniques and will be valuable for wells that are difficult to drill or not viable using conventional technology such as low-cost data wells, extended-reach wells and wells that require drilling through basalt or other hard rock types. The company is currently seeking investors and customers with potential pilots and demonstration projects.

GA Drilling presented details of its PLASMABIT drilling system. The contractor previously received funding via the ITF for a feasibility study of continuous casing-while-drilling technology that forms part of the overall PLASMABIT system. The system as a whole is based on focused electric plasma energy and is designed to eliminate sources of tripping and friction, enabling a high ROP in both rock and steel materials.

Industry partners engaged with the ongoing PLASMABIT Joint Industry Project (JIP) believe the first applications of the technology are likely to be in operations where steel removal is necessary such as plugging and abandonment. The company is seeking additional sponsors for future phases of the JIP, with the technology generating high levels of interest.

EOR knowledge database

Another discussion topic at the meeting was EOR. ITF has already launched one JIP in the Middle East in this area to create an EOR knowledge database.

A number of the ITF’s Middle East-based members have expressed a high interest in CO2 injection for EOR—an approach with obvious associated environmental benefits already receiving much attention around the world.

However, one of the challenges with respect to EOR in this region is that many currently available technologies have been developed for sandstone rather than carbonate reservoirs. This may be an area in which a JIP could potentially make an important contribution.

Surface Active Solutions (SAS) also presented at the meeting, outlining details of its surfactant-particle technology for boosting EOR efficiency. Proof-of-concept experiments have demonstrated the technical feasibility of using an advanced surfactant-particle technology to increase oil recovery, and it could also result in a significant reduction in surfactant use compared to surfactant-only treatments. SAS has submitted a proposal to the ITF for a project that aims to quantify the increased oil recovery potential vs. treatment costs and derisk commercial use of the surfactant-particle technology.

Produced water

Issues around treatment costs, regulation and water scarcity make produced water a significant challenge in the Middle East.

Another of the technologies presented at the ITF meeting was ProSep’s Osorb Media, a reusable solution that removes free, dispersed, emulsified and dissolved hydrocarbons from oilfield water and gas streams. ProSep said the compact system has demonstrated maintaining oil in water levels of less than 5 ppm and generates no waste for handling or disposal. The company is seeking joint industry support for a 12-month project aiming to identify, evaluate, optimize and field-test an offshore media regeneration package.

Last but not least, Sustainable Pipeline Systems Ltd. (SPS) provided details at the ITF meeting of its spiral-wound pipe technology, Helipipe. Onshore pipeline technology currently requires multiple operations with 12-m (39-ft) sections of pipe that are manufactured in a factory, shipped to a coating plant, transported to the construction location and manually welded together. Helipipe offers the potential for significant logistical and cost savings through continuous production of pipe in the field, eliminating the need for manual welding.

Onshore there also is the opportunity to design pipe with sufficient flexibility to eliminate bend stations. SPS is engaged with a number of operators, each interested in different conditions and diameters of pipe. A JIP to begin the process of developing specifications is planned for launching later this year.

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