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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: M-I SWACO delivers complete fluids, drilling waste management package More than 1 million barrels of slurry have been injected at Alpine with near-zero downtime Jim Redden For Petroleum Directory
In the spring of 1999, industry, government and media representatives assembled at what is now ConocoPhillips’ Alpine field for the unveiling of an Alaska first: a three-story oilfield module designed to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of drilling on the North Slope.
Five years later, the handiwork of M-I SWACO has eclipsed even the most optimistic projections. The so-called G.I.S. drill cuttings grind and injection unit has injected more than 1 million barrels of slurry with an astounding record of near-zero downtime, says M-I SWACO Anchorage-based Project Engineer John Murphy.
The high-profile project is but one of a string of milestones Houston-based M-I SWACO has realized in the nearly four decades it has served the Alaska oil and gas industry. The world’s leading provider of drilling, reservoir drill-in and completion fluids and drilling waste management equipment and associated services is owned 60 percent by Smith International and 40 percent by Schlumberger.
Complementing the grind and inject module is a dry bulk handling facility and a liquid drilling and completion fluid plant, which to date has mixed and delivered well over 310,000 barrels. The Alpine project also showcases another M-I SWACO innovation that is helping operators throughout Alaska achieve all their economic and technical objectives, while simultaneously attaining the highest level of environmental performance. The M-I SWACO Integrated Fluids Engineering*, or IFE, program is a cradle-to-grave approach designed to lower production costs, maximize drilling efficiency, increase production, while dramatically reducing environmental impact. Associated products and services a natural grouping The unique fluids engineering concept is rooted in the conviction that the associated products and services represent a natural grouping at the well site. Accordingly, it was perceived that the holistic management of these activities and the better team-working and overall enhanced wellsite efficacy it would foster could not only improve drilling efficiency and costs, but also health, safety and environmental performance.
This natural grouping includes drilling, reservoir drill-in and completion fluids; solids control and filtration equipment; and waste treatment and remediation equipment and services. This grouping is natural to the extent that the performance of individual components is interdependent. Consequently, the joint management and execution of these processes with combined resources increases the opportunities for improved results.
The process begins in the well planning stages and extends through completion, including the ultimate disposal of solid and liquid waste. The total fluids management approach goes well beyond shared infrastructure and personnel to exploit synergies in technology and delivery inherent in this natural grouping of products and services.
The program was employed on 30 onshore and offshore wells in Alaska in 2003 — a total that is forecast to double this year. The advantage of the Integrated Fluids Engineering program is clearly reflected in the Alpine project, which thus far has helped drill more than 80 wells totaling more than 1 million feet of hole, says Alpine IFE Coordinator Rob Reinhardt.
“Despite the logistical complexities of a roadless development, the drilling efficiency and productivity shown by M-I SWACO and the Alpine rig teams is unmatched in all of Alaskan drilling operations,” he said.
Alpine also augments the distinction of M-I SWACO as the industry’s recognized leader in the introduction and application of new fluid technologies. Regional Manager Brad Billon specifically points to the FloPro* rheologically engineered reservoir drill-in fluid and the VersaPro* mineral oil-base reservoir drill-in fluid. The latter has been employed in the production intervals of Alpine wells, resulting in a two- to three-fold increase in production over earlier wells drilled with water-base fluid systems. The success of the system led ConocoPhillips to acknowledge it with a 2003 “Mark of Excellence” award.
Elsewhere on the North Slope, the VersaPro system established two state records for the longest liner and footage drilled. Formulated specifically for the Schrader Bluff area, the system was used in Alaska’s first quad-lateral. The four intervals ranged from 3,843 to 7,249 feet in length with a cumulative footage of 27,743 feet. Total footage for the well was 34,798 feet.
That project also highlighted another new M-I SWACO innovation: the proprietary OptiBridge* bridging agent selection software package. “The program was used to select the optimum size and concentration of bridging agents and a modified high-temperature, high-pressure test was employed to maintain adequate bridging,” said M-I SWACO Project Engineer Mark Dick. Company’s goal a complete package of services Regional Manager Billon said M-I SWACO over the years has made a concerted effort to position itself as the one company in Alaska that can provide operators the complete package of fluids, drilling waste management and associated engineering services.
“We have developed an infrastructure in Alaska that is second to none. Complementing our comprehensive portfolio of drilling, reservoir drill-in and completion fluids are some of the most highly trained and accomplished wellsite engineers in the industry. When you add our drilling waste management resources and capabilities and our emphasis on new, cost-effective technologies, M-I SWACO is well positioned to deliver solutions to all our clients’ drilling, production and waste management needs,” he said.
One such solution can be found in the Cook Inlet where the IFE program and a fit-for-purpose cuttings re-injection unit, or CRI, reduced disposal costs some 37 percent while dramatically minimizing environmental impact. Installed in 2000, the CRI system reduced waste management costs by more than $137 per barrel when compared to the economics associated with the traditional method of transporting cuttings to shore for disposal. It marked the first total zero discharge application in the Cook Inlet. New drilling waste management and solids control Drilling and Waste Management Operations Manager Dana Rhodes said M-I SWACO remains Alaska’s leading company for cuttings grinding and injection. In addition, the company has introduced to the Alaskan industry a number of new drilling waste management and solids control technologies, including its revolutionary Verti-G* cuttings dryer, the 5500 and MagnaDrive* centrifuges and the Super Auto Choke*.
“We also provide a rather unique service with our solids-control vans. These are 40-ft tractor trailers equipped with a centrifuge, shaker and pumps designed for processing drilling fluids. This is a much more mobile system than the typical fluid processing system configuration,” said Rhodes.
Unique to the M-I SWACO approach to drilling waste management is looking at wastes not as a commodity to be treated and disposed of, but rather one that could be transformed into a beneficial resource. That methodology has taken hold in Alaska where treated drill cuttings now are being converted into something useful.
“In Alaska, beneficial reuse normally is what we call gravel wash. The cuttings generated during the drilling of a well are rinsed with fresh water over a 20 to 50-mesh screen and stored until a TCLP and paint filter test are performed. Once the cuttings are deemed non-hazardous they are used for pad and road maintenance,” said Rhodes.
*mark of M-I L.L.C.
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