Operational and safety aspects of drill stem testing—getting it right
Shangkar VenugopalHalliburton Energy Services
The APPEA Journal 50(1) 71-100 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ09006
Published: 2010
Abstract
Drill stem testing (DST) is recognised by many operating oil and gas companies to be one of the most hazardous operations routinely undertaken. Well testing has a higher potential for loss of life, loss of assets, environmental catastrophe and budget overrun than any other time in the exploration operations. Therefore, it is of great importance to the industry that such operations are extremely well planned and executed.
Planning a DST is an extremely complex task and requires a great deal of experience. This paper provides an insight into the techniques and procedures that are used in all the major operational and safety aspects of oil and gas DST. It uses a structured approach to guide the reader through the various best practices that are required to effectively plan and implement a DST operation under just about any circumstances worldwide, onshore or offshore.
The project also includes design parameters for contingency conditions that were not normally present during equipment operations but could exist in emergency situations. Problems and solutions associated with perforation, adverse hole conditions, and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) conditions are also presented. Additionally, this paper includes an overview on environmental requirements, which provides information associated with risk management and legislation.
Shangkar Venugopal began his career on a gas turbine project in 2002 with Alstom as a trainee while pursuing his BEng degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Technology, Malaysia (UTM). During his tenure in UTM, he undertook a project in the power and rotating machinery department and eventually developed a lab-sized solar thermal energy collector called the compound parabolic concentrator (CPC). The CPC is a manual sun tracking system that collects direct and diffuse solar radiation. This system is designed for the use in an organic rankine cycle (ORC) as a renewable energy solution in a power plant. ORC is named for its use of an organic, high molecular mass fluid with a liquid-vapor phase change, occurring at a lower temperature than the water-steam phase change. The heat from lower temperature sources such as industrial waste heat, geothermal heat and solar ponds are converted into electricity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of heat transfer from the received radiation to determine the feasibility of this system in relation to the power plant application. His work was presented at the annual national conference of the University of Science Malaysia and won him bronze medal for the most innovative product in the engineering and technology category. In 2007, he joined Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona S.A (IMPSA) and was dedicated to producing solutions from renewable sources, which involved the construction of the biggest hydro turbine project in Malaysia, the Bakun dam in Sarawak. Later he joined the upstream oil and gas sector as a quality engineer with Keppel FELS Kazakhstan in fabricating platforms and rigs for the Kashagan Development Project in the Caspian Sea. During his tenure there, apart from his normal duties, he designed, developed and conducted training for the Keppel FELS production team on the use of precision instruments for dimension control survey. He joined Halliburton Energy Services in 2008 as an engineer in testing and subsea product service line and is involved in numerous well-testing jobs in offshore Malaysia. Member: NACE International and SPE. ShangkarNaidu.Venugopal@Halliburton.com |
