Mercury in natural gas: delivering accurate reservoir sampling and analysis
Janelle Lawer A * , John Babadimas A , John Bretherton A , Bernardus van Deijl A , Jack Harfoushian B , Damien Gerard C , Brian Toole D and Mark Anderson DA Woodside Energy, Perth, WA, Australia.
B SLB, Perth, WA, Australia.
C Corelabs, Perth, WA, Australia.
D Expro, Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 63 56-67 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22270
Submitted: 8 December 2022 Accepted: 2 February 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Abstract
Natural gas is a critical part of the world’s energy supply and plays an important role in the transition to lower-carbon energy sources. The industry’s ability to process natural gas safely and efficiently will continue to rely on an accurate understanding of feed gas composition and contaminants, particularly in enabling future developments via existing infrastructure. Mercury is toxic to organisms, highly volatile and produced from hydrocarbon basins globally. Trace mercury concentrations in the hydrocarbon stream can potentially introduce liquid metal embrittlement hazards to industrial equipment, including cryogenic heat exchangers used to refrigerate liquefied natural gas. Inaccurate measurement of mercury levels can lead to adverse impacts measurable across the areas of health, process safety, environment, operations, waste disposal and decommissioning. Worldwide, significant project cost overruns and processing incidents have resulted from the uncertainty of mercury concentrations in hydrocarbon streams. Successful mercury management ideally begins early in a project’s lifecycle with development decisions informed by accurate measurement of mercury concentrations from reservoirs. Historically, this has been problematic, as mercury contamination and scavenging often result in a large range of uncertainty. The results from a multi-company collaborative study to reduce mercury uncertainty with new downhole sampling techniques will be shared in a case study, including production insights from the Julimar Field, west coast of Australia. The recommendations, procedures and operational best practices discussed will be applicable across the industry and beneficial to any party considering the impact of mercury in the development and processing of natural gas resources.
Keywords: background, chamber, cleaning, contamination, downhole, mercury, residual, scavenging.
Janelle Lawer, Wheatstone Technical Lead, Woodside Energy. Janelle Lawer is an oil and gas professional with 20 years of experience working with supermajor and mid-size exploration and production companies in Australia and the USA. She has held roles across the spectrum of geoscience, petrophysics, reservoir engineering and technical asset and joint venture management, with a focus on delivering integrated and collaborative technical solutions. Janelle holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons I) from the University of Queensland, Australia. She is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and will serve as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2023–2024. |
John Babadimas, Petrophysicist, Woodside Energy. John Babadimas joined Woodside Energy in 2016 as a Graduate Petroleum Engineer, holding assignments as a Reservoir Engineer, Production Engineer and Petrophysicist. He has been involved in operations and studies across a wide range of Woodside's assets in Australia, Western Africa and Myanmar. John holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Petroleum, Civil and Structural) from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and is a member of SPE and the Society of Petroleum Well Log Analysts (SPWLA). |
John Bretherton, Senior Petrophysicist, Woodside Energy. John Bretherton is a Petrophysics Team Lead at Woodside Energy with 20 years’ experience working with exploration and production companies in Australasia, Africa, Europe and the USA. He has held team and team lead roles through planning, exploration, development and abandonment phases of a variety of international oil and gas projects. John holds a Bachelor of Geology (Hons) from the University of Derby, England. He is a member of SPWLA and SPE. |
Bernardus van Deijl, Petrophysics Advisor, Woodside Energy (retired). Bernardus van Deijl has 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He started his career as a Research Petrophysicist with Shell in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, followed by multiple international assignments in Shell companies. Although his primary discipline is petrophysics, Ben has worked in other disciplines, including software development and well engineering. After 20 years with Shell, he joined Woodside as a Principle Petrophysicist. During his 15 years with Woodside, he held the roles of Chief Petrophysicist and Petrophysics Advisor. |
Jack Harfoushian, Reservoir Engineering Advisor, SLB (Schlumberger Australia Pty Ltd). Located in Perth, Australia, Jack Harfoushian is a Reservoir Engineering Advisor for SLB. He provides data acquisition support and interpretation for formation testing and sampling services. Jack joined SLB in 1989 and has held assignments in Europe, Africa, Middle and Far East Asia, and in Australia. Jack holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Curtin University, Australia, and a Master of Engineering degree in Reservoir Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. He has authored and co-authored several publications and is the inventor of an allowed US patent. Jack is an active member of SPE and has served as a member of the SPE Distinguished Lecturers committee. |
Damien Gerard, Reservoir Fluids Supervisor, Core Laboratories Australia. Damien Gerard has a BSc (Chemistry) from Murdoch University in Western Australia. He is currently the Reservoir Fluids Supervisor for Core Laboratories Australia and has been working for the company in the oil and gas industry since 1998. Damien is a Professional Member of SPE. |
Brian Toole, Manager of Operations, Expro Group (retired). Brian Toole commenced his career in the oil and gas industry in 1995 as a Field Engineer working on rig automation systems before progressing into the field of reservoir fluid sampling metering and analysis. Brian has a professional background in software development and mechatronics and has spent 22 years developing skills specialising in reservoir fluid analysis and metering techniques. Brian has worked as a Field Engineer, a Product Line Manager for the Asia region and a Manager of Operations for Expro Group. Brian is a member of SPE. He holds a diploma in Computer Science and Electronics from Midland Technical College Perth, Western Australia. |
Mark Anderson, Senior Chemist, Fluids Department, Expro Group Australia. Mark Anderson has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry ranging from the Aberdeen oilfield service sector to field supervisory positions for Expro Group, Australia. Mark has worked on projects globally, including 5 years in Kazakhstan supervising the reservoir fluid sampling and analysis in the Kashagan Project. Recently, Mark has overseen the fluids sampling and analysis programs for Expro Group’s involvement in several major gas development projects in Australia. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Paisley in Scotland and is a former SPE member. |
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