ZEiTECS completes first commercial rigless retrieval of cable deployed ESP

ZEiTECS has announced the world’s first rigless installation and retrieval of the NAUTILUS ESP, a cable-deployed electric submersible pump system (ESP), in a customer well in West Texas.

The system was deployed on December 19, 2013, and ran for 139 days until planned shutdown on May 7; the system was retrieved successfully on May 9.

The ESP was retrieved using ZEiTECS’ Launch and Recovery System (LARS). LARS is a compact, rigless injector-based system that eliminates the need for a rig or heavy coiled tubing unit to replace failed ESPs.

The NAUTILUS ESP system was deployed on a high-strength DC coaxial cable and converts DC power to AC power downhole to drive any standard inverted ESP. The system was set at 2,600 ft. and retrieved in only 40 minutes using the LARS, at an average rate of 65 ft. per minute.

The rigless ESP operation was completed using a 400 series Baker Hughes inverted ESP deployed inside 5.5” tubing, producing 900 bbl of fluid per day. The NAUTILUS ESP system can be used as a permanent production system, as well as a temporary well intervention system for well testing and well clean-up purposes.

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Gulf Keystone rises most in month on Kurdistan output estimate

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd., an oil producer in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, gained the most in almost a month after saying production from its key asset was proceeding as planned.

The company advanced as much as 6.3%, the most since May 15, to 85 pence in London trading and was at 82.75 pence at 11:41 a.m. local time.

Gulf Keystone expects production from Shaikan to rise to 40,000 bopd by the end of the year, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Gulf Keystone said in a statement. The shares had lost 14% this week through yesterday, June 12, amid concern violent unrest in Iraq could spread toward Kurdistan.

The company’s operations “are progressing in line with our previous guidance, whilst we remain alert to the current security situation in Iraq, which has recently escalated outside the Kurdistan region,” Todd Kozel, CEO, said in the statement.

Eight cargoes have so far been sold into the international market, it said.

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Suncor approves facility to test water treatment, recycling technologies

Suncor Energy and five industry partners have announced an estimated $165 million funding commitment to sanction the construction of a dedicated Water Technology Development Centre (WTDC).

The WTDC, to be located at Suncor' s Firebag facility, will be used to test water treatment and further develop recycling technologies. The goal of the WTDC is to shorten the timeframe needed to develop and commercialize new technologies, as well as significantly enhance existing technologies.

"The WTDC will help us speed up the pace of innovation, while collaboratively managing the risks and costs of technology development," said Steve Williams, Suncor president and CEO. "We expect to see strong benefits by conducting different tests simultaneously, using process fluids in real world conditions to pilot new technologies and prove their commercial viability."

The centre is being pursued as a joint industry project convened under Canada' s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), with testing to begin by early 2017. In addition to Suncor, the partner companies include Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Devon Canada Corporation, Nexen Energy ULC, Shell Canada Energy and Husky Oil Operations Limited.

Knowledge

"Moving forward on the WTDC is a demonstration of the tangible progress that COSIA is making by bringing companies together to share knowledge and advance innovation," says Dan Wicklum, chief executive of COSIA. "The research and testing conducted at the WTDC will allow participating companies to test drive more technologies than could be evaluated by each company alone. This helps to deliver our vision of accelerated environmental performance improvement in Canada' s oil sands."

The structure of the joint industry project will see Suncor construct, own and operate the WTDC while collaborating with the other partners on design, construction and operations -- including specific tests. As a dedicated test facility, the WTDC is expected to overcome the barriers that are common to field testing at commercial production facilities, which are not typically designed to accommodate simultaneous testing of water treatment technologies.

Testing priorities will include minimizing fresh water use and maximizing reliability for steam assisted gravity drainage production. The facility is expected to provide industry with the opportunity to develop new ways of approaching water treatment and recycling, resulting in positive environmental, social and economic outcomes.

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