During the past decade, multiple transverse fracturing in horizontal wells has been applied so successfully in onshore low-permeability reservoirs that it is becoming the standard completion practice in many areas. The reasons for the success of this technique vary, but the two main reasons are related to the undisputed effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing as a production enhancement technique and the relatively low cost of pumping services in onshore areas. Success and industry eagerness for process/cost optimization have contributed to many technological improvements in the multistage completion process allowing sequentially executing several fracturing treatments in a single pumping operation. Nevertheless, the high direct and indirect costs and the risks associated with offshore operations have traditionally been limiting factors in spreading this technology to offshore applications. Sometimes, the misplaced perception of hydraulic fracturing as risky and costly operation prevented, rather than encouraged, its application in marginal offshore oilfields. Recent increases in oil prices and the success in onshore applications have encouraged the use of hydraulic fracturing in offshore applications. This study documents the successful effort of taking these techniques to the offshore environment. Transverse fracturing with multistage completion concept— with properly engineered design of well trajectory—can make the difference between the economic success or failure in the field development of low-permeability reservoirs. This study used multidisciplinary and integrated approach to design and execute the treatments, involving reservoir, production optimization, and fracturing engineers from the early stages of well planning to construction. The multilayer Foukanda field, located 52km offshore from Pointe Noire, Congo, has a low permeability and virgin target that was considered noncommercial after discouraging results of two wells. Based on the production results of three cased-hole wells in an analogous field where multiple propped fracturing was applied, the operator decided to drill an open-hole horizontal well that was to be multi-fractured. The initial 90 days average production of this Foukanda well was more than 2500bbl/day. This production rate was double the simulated rate of a vertical well and opened a wide range of further developments both in Foukanda and in other analogue fields in the offshore Congo. Introduction The Foukanda Marine field is located, 20 km to the north of the Kitina platform and 52km to the west of the city of Pointe Noire. Average water depth is around 100 meters. The field was discovered in 1998 by the well FOKM-1. Production started on June 2001. In the same year one well was drilled in the reservoir D but, due to very poor reservoir characteristic this level was abandoned and the well was recompleted on the shallower reservoir B4. The low permeability reservoir D (less than 10 md) was therefore abandoned and only the reservoir B4 and B7 put on production. In the first months of 2007 Foukanda field had a production potential of about 3000–3500 bopd with 6 producer wells (5 in the reservoir B4 and 1 in the B7) and 2 injector wells (2 in B4 and 1 in B7).

Analysis of SPE Membership age distribution reveals under-representation of those younger than 35 years and the average age approaching 50 years. Assuming this is representative of the global E&P industry, a large portion of the current industry workforce will retire within the next 10 years. It follows that attracting and retaining young people is a key strategy today for tomorrow's successes. The "big crew change" indicates the risk of a significant reduction of available E&P expertise available. Meanwhile, producing oil and gas fields are maturing and new finds are more complex to locate and develop. This means personnel will need to develop a larger cross-disciplinary skills base with each individual skill advancing to address the increasing complexity of operation. The development of young people should be carefully planned within E&P companies, since young professionals represent a vital asset and a major source of competitive advantage in the future. Maintaining young professionals' motivation and favouring their pro-activeness should achieve continuous growth, excellent performance and dedication to the industry. Existing E&P expertise plays a crucial role. Experienced personnel need to be actively involved in mentoring-coaching programs to facilitate and drive skills' development in newer industry entrants. Organizations who do not pursue an agenda for speedy and comprehensive professional and technical development of their young employees risk their ability to follow future market trends. Such organizations will likely fail to maintain competitive innovation and change. The paper describes the importance of young professionals in the E&P industry today, offering suggestions on the delicate theme of retention, motivation, performance, empowerment, and specialist versus cross-discipline skills development. Results from various international surveys of the comments of both young, and experienced, professionals are presented. Introduction Demographic analysis of age distribution of SPE members reveals under-representation of people younger than 35. With the average age rising to 48 years and assuming such statistics representative of the Oil and Gas industry at large, a large portion of the current workforce will retire within the next 10 years (Figure 1).

The paper presents an interpretation of the Young Exploration and Production Professionals status in the oil industry today. It encompasses several themes from job satisfaction, to employees' motivation and education/training/development issues. In the oil business, many 'intangibles' like the employee potentials and competence are a critical factor for success and an important source of competitive advantage for the companies. The aging workforce in the oil industry demographics indicates that the attraction and retention of the Young Exploration and Production Professionals population represents a key strategy today for successes of tomorrow. Recent surveys have confirmed that as much as 25% of the sampled population sees it unlikely to stay with the same company ten years from now. It follows that a lack of attention to the young population satisfaction and motivation may finally results in the loss of talented young resources that, with an eye to the long term, represent an important, if not the most important strategic asset for the today's companies. The paper presents an in depth review and analysis of the survey results with focus on talents retention, motivation and development. Results and trends are drawn which are then used to develop a new approach to the development of young professionals with attention to their satisfaction proposing hints for today's companies in their difficult, but crucial task of developing and maintaining the pool of skilled resources fuelling the worldwide oil and gas industry. The philosophy used throughout this work was to start from the end-users (the new hires) – without neglecting the company side of the equation. Introduction Demographic analysis of age distribution in oil and gas industry reveals under-representation in the people younger than 35 years old. With the average age of the SPE membership rising to 48 years and assuming such statistics representative of the Oil and Gas business, a large portion of the current workforce will retire within the next 10 years (Figure 1).

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Many West Africa Offshore Fields are maturing and operators are completing secondary targets in their wells to maintain the economic operation of their valuable assets. However, off-shore environment makes the capital expenditure associated to this kind of interventions of critical importance. It follows that the selection of the right and most remunerative activities is crucial. In the Kitina Field, offshore Congo, deeper sands have been produced to economic depletion and reservoir studies allowed the determination of alternative production intervals for production maintenance. Large quantities of reserves can be found in low permeability, consolidated, formations as well as in very deep and remote culminations. During the first semester of 2007, the Kitina field production increased of 160% reaching a production level lost since early 2004. This was achieved with a variegate set of actions on different reservoirs:infilling the Kitina South culmination with the long reach and ultra deep well KTM-SM5,a massive multistage hydraulic fracturing campaign carried out on the three wells draining the low permeability 3A reservoir and 3rd) with the sweep optimization of the reservoir 1A. Eight propped hydraulic fractures were placed in three re-completed, cased-hole wells with very significant production improvements. These represented the first applications in Congo of different technologies opening a wide range of further applications in similar environments. The paper describes the 2007 and 2008 Kitina rejuvenation campaign with an eye to all the disciplines involved, from reservoir engineering and modeling, to operation geology, drilling and completion, production. The papers focuses with more detail on the successful multi-stage hydraulic fracture campaign from the preliminary design and production forecast pre-job to the reservoir model history match and forecast phase post-job. Interesting reservoir engineering overviews of the future development of the field via improved and enhanced oil recovery techniques are also presented. Introduction Existing oil and gas fields are maturing and new finds are more complex to discover and produce. In today's oilfields portfolio, mature reservoirs production maintenance and increase represent the biggest challenge to face over the next decades to meet the continuously increasing demand for hydrocarbons. Technology research, development and innovation have been the recent answer to sustain the world's oil and gas production and will continue to be so. However, new developments in technology need professionals who are taking the risk of testing them keeping in mind that the failure can be sometimes only a temporary and/or necessary stop towards the success. Mature fields can represent the "working ground" and "technological gyms" where to test new techniques with the final aim of accelerating and increasing reserves. Mature fields have to be seen today as opportunities for improvement rather than declining assets. Accurate candidate selection, optimized treatment design, sound reservoir modeling of production forecast represent crucial and interdependent factors for successful economic evaluations.