Intelligent artificial lift technology is increasingly being used in Belayim Marine Field to enhance the value of maturing assets and new development wells. Wells equipped with electric submersible pumps (ESPs) are particularly suited to this blend of old and new. For years, the performance of ESPs has been monitored and controlled from the surface to prevent early pump failure by adjusting the frequency of the signal sent to the pump's variable speed drive (VSD) motor controller. This adjustment has also been used to avoid under-loading an ESP and increase production volume. To find this optimal operating range, real-time data and modeling are used to design the pump to fit the specific requirement of each well.Most recently, Belayim Petroleum has taken the concept a step further by deploying intelligent artificial lift in combination with stimulation technology aimed at reservoir management to help restore production from the 113-M-97-H well in Belayim Marine field, which is located in the central part of the Gulf of Suez, along the coast of the Sinai Peninsula. This new development well was drilled horizontally with maximum angle of 88°, and a 211 m. horizontal open-hole section was completed with 3.5-in. excluder screens. The well once achieved 22-hour good recovery at 550 BOPD. Then the production declined and the well was shut in due to low amperage, followed by no recovery caused by severe loss of circulation, which created a filter cake plugging the near wellbore pores. Complex stimulation treatment and flow, and well geometry and completion, as well as the offshore environment have complicated workover operations on this depleted reservoir and unproductive well issues. With intelligent ESP, a cost-effective stimulation was successfully deployed and enabled to evaluate production streaming data, such as pump intake pressure and temperature during the treatment across the horizontal section.Already equipped with in-well electric power cables, protectors, and multi-sensors, as well as a power controller VSD at the surface, this intelligent ESP system also enabled clean-out process at different production rates. Once clean reservoir fluids were observed during the flowing period, the ESP was stopped for a pressure build-up. A post-stimulation well test was performed to evaluate the treatment's effectiveness before running the new completion, hence minimizing intervention time to restore production promptly, reducing rig time, and achieving optimum completion design for long-term productivity of the well.

Drilling in Norwegian Arctic waters provokes concern regarding potential impacts on commercial fisheries and the marine environment. Of particular concern are deep-water sponge and sea-pen habitats. Drilling permits require environmental surveys to be carried out before and after drilling, to document drill cutting impacts. Lack of data on bottom currents in deep, northern waters may introduce errors in deposition models. This study aimed to provide data for environmental waste management in the Norwegian Arctic, at a drilling location at approximately 1400 m depth, inhabited by the deep-water seapen tentatively identified as Umbellula enchrinus, which occurs along the continental slope across the entire European Arctic. More than 70 Umbellula colonies were mapped using underwater video within approximately 1 km2 around the drilling location. Four surveys were carried out between 2010 and 2013, covering pre- and post-drilling conditions. Sediment core samples were taken before and after drilling to quantify the thickness and spatial extent of deposited drill cuttings. An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) was deployed to measure water currents in the lower 450 m of the water column, at high resolution, during the entire drilling period. The upper water masses comprised northward-flowing Atlantic water, with cold Norwegian Sea Deep Water in the lowest 200 m overlying the seabed. Visible deposition of drill cuttings was restricted to within 100 m from the drilling location in most directions, and extending to around 150 m to the south-west, in accordance with bottom water movements. Exposure to cuttings deposition was not lethal, but organisms immediately near the well were mechanically destroyed. This likely is the most detailed investigation of live Umbellula organisms world-wide, and contributes to biological research on drilling impacts. Innovative water column measurements and drill cuttings impact assessments provide data for planning environmentally-sound drilling waste management strategies for offshore operations in Arctic Norway.

An operator facing the need for sand control in multiple maturing fields investigated the possibility of using expandable technologies to address their needs. Years of production and the onset of water production has affected that need. After an extensive study of rock mechanics and properties and how sand production might be initiated based on these properties, the investigation for an optimized sand control technique began. A systematic approach ensued between operator and Service Company in an attempt to define an optimized solution for sand control in each of these fields. Conventional cased hole gravel packs were excluded due to the need for a larger flow area for handling the high gas rates. Open hole gravel packing was investigated yet ruled out due the exposed unstable shales during the packing operations. Ultimately the optimized solution led to the deployment of an expandable screen system to ensure sand control for the remaining life of each well. The undesirable shales were isolated with the installation of expandable blank pipe and expandable packers. Expandable screens were positioned across the clean sand bodies. Many wells had multiple sand bodies exposed. These separate reservoir sections were isolated with expandable blank pipe and packers as well. The entire expandable assembly was deployed in a single trip and hung off in the parent casing with an expandable hanger. Sand-free production data obtained from more than 20 wells will be presented and discussed. Expandable technologies provided the operator with a sand control technique that previously didn't exist., After exploring this new technology, the operator conducted multiple installations of expandable sand screen for sand control in the maturing fields of the Mediterranean Sea. This became the new philosophy for sand control by the operator in the Mediterranean Sea as well as other parts of the world where they have sand control needs. Introduction In December 2001, an in-depth sand production risk analysis study was conducted on the Miocene Age Gas Reservoirs located in the Mediterranean Sea (1). Sand production prediction modeling analyses were conducted for the Baltim, Temsah, and Port Fouad Fields. Baltim Field sand production analysis was performed considering the Messinian gas reservoir zones of the Abu Madi formation. The Temsah Field analysis was performed considering the Serravallian reservoir sands known as Lobe 1, Lobe 2, and Lobe 3. Finally the Port Fouad Field sand prediction was conducted on the Tortonian Gas Reservoir Sands of the Wakar Formation.