Operations Management

Operations management includes tasks at many scales, from individual well performance to fieldwide surveillance and planning.  Sometimes solving problems requires experience and intution to determine what is happening in a well or reservoir when we must rely largely on indirect measurements and remote sensing. 

Post-Drilling Performance Audits

Does the performance of a new well meet the forecasted deliverability?  If not, can this shortfall be remedied?  Early surveillance to investigate problematic wells is a first step in finding answers to sub-optimal performance.  Post-drill auditing provides possible solutions for recapturing lost production whether through development of an effective workover program, infrastructure improvements, an updated reservoir description, or other optimization processes.

Reserve Additions From Behind-Pipe Pay and Bypassed Pay

In this example, a new well is initially completed in zones showing the highest potential for hydrocarbon recovery based on petrophysical properties calculated from log and core analyses.  Since the choice for pay cutoff is subjective, especially when sand counts are made from resistivity logs, several estimates of pay thickness are possible.  A well with minimal perforations based on conservative cutoff estimates warrants a review for possible behind-pipe pay.  Where economic production is expected, a recompletion will yield a higher EUR from extra rate.  Reserves are added to the PDNP (proved developed non-producing) category until the well delivers fom the new zone and a transition is made to PDP (proved developed producing) status.

Upside potential also exists in situations where primary development has failed to drain all lease acreage, attic oil has not been depleted, or waterflooding has bypassed oil due to poor sweep efficiencies.  Focused recovery plans for accessing these missed resources range from a simple infill drilling program to a highly complex pattern management project.  Each of these strategies calls for a specialized field study to define the target zones, depletion technology, and redevelopment economics.