Shell, Schlumberger in joint oil & gas programme

Houston, Texas – Shell and Schlumberger have started a multi-year research technology cooperation, towards improving the recovery factor of oil and gas reservoirs, and extending the life of existing oil and natural gas fields.

The move will enable us to continuously improve recovery factors while at the same time lowering unit costs, said Gerald Schotman, chief technology officer for Royal Dutch Shell.

By combining Schlumberger formation evaluation and reservoir characterisation knowledge with the subsurface laboratory with Shell’s reservoir expertise, the partners aim to develop better tools and methods to obtain improved field data, better and more efficient numerical models, and enhanced field development methods.

The collaboration follows joint work between Shell and Schlumberger on several related fronts. They will now focus on two specific projects: Reservoir surveillance for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects, and Digital Rock for detailed numerical modeling of reservoir rocks.

“With much of the world’s existing reserves only producible through enhanced recovery techniques, this joint approach aims to unlock these resources in a smart and efficient manner and to shorten time to full field development,” said Ashok Belani, president, Schlumberger Reservoir Characterization Group.

A target of the cooperation is to shorten development cycles, increase production, and enhance ultimate oil and gas recovery.

The Surveillance project will explore the design, development and testing of a new generation of tools specifically focused on EOR applications. These new tools and techniques are expected to deliver more accurate field data and to accelerate EOR feasibility studies and pilot projects.

The Digital Rock project targets development of better methods to forecast displacement and recovery at the macroscopic pore scale, as well as methodologies to scale up core and pore-scale work to reservoir level for both sandstone and carbonate fields.

The related work builds on recent developments from Shell and Schlumberger in the areas of novel laboratory scanning technology, fluid dynamics modeling, and high-performance computing.

“To meet future demand more hydrocarbons have to be produced from existing fields and to do so, it requires the combination of advanced science, innovation potential, and a track record in technology delivery,” said Jeroen Regtien, vice president, Hydrocarbon Recovery Technologies in Shell.

As part of this joint cooperation agreement, Schlumberger and Shell research scientists will work closely together in several research facilities in the US, UK, Russia, Oman and the Netherlands.