SHALLOW GAS INFLUENCE OF ON DESIGN DECISIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GAS CONDENSATE FIELDS ON THE SHELF OF THE ARCTIC AND SUBARCTIC SEAS

The article discusses issues related to shallow gas influence on design decisions for the development of offshore oil and gas condensate fields. The authors show the presence and distribution of shallow gas accumulations in the upper part of the geological section and its influence on the quality of seismic surveys. The release of shallow gas has caused many serious accidents at offshore drilling rigs and oil and gas production platforms. The main danger of shallow gas deposits is when drilling intervals for the conductor and surface casing due to the lack of blowout equipment at the wellhead. The authors analyze the areal and depth distribution of shallow gas in the Arctic and subarctic seas, and find out that small deposits of several hundred meters in size are most common. The main methods of detecting and studying shallow gas accumulations above gas-bearing structures are high-resolution seismic exploration, drilling of engineering-geological wells and pilot holes with well logging. The researchers reveal the main features of the wave pattern indicating the gas saturation in the upper part of the section. They present the main technical solutions for the development of the Lunsky, Kirinsky and Yuzhno-Kirinsky oil and gas condensate fields located on the self of Sakhalin Island and suggest changes in design solutions during their development in view of the shallow gas presence in the upper part of the geological section. The authors substantiate the need to create Russian software systems and methods of automated design for developing offshore oil and gas fields in the Arctic, taking into account geological and geophysical uncertainty, the shallow gas presence and technical factors.

1. Bogoyavlensky V. I., Yanchevskaya A. S., Bogoyavlensky I. V., Kishankov A. V. Gas hydrates on the Circum-Arctic Region aquatories. Arctic: Ecology and Economy, 2018, no. 3 (31), pp. 42—55. DOI: 10.25283/2223-4594-2018-3-42-55. (In Russian).

2. King K., Jackson P., Haneveld C. et al. Time and Depth Over Giant Lunskoye Gas Field, Offshore Sakhalin Island, Russian Federation. SPE-102654-MS presented at the SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition, October 3—6, 2006. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2118/102654-MS.

3. Dzyublo A. D., Voronova V. V., Perekrestov V. E. Investigation of shallow gas on the Sakhalin shelf and minimisation of risks during offshore well construction. Bull. of the Association of Drilling Contractors, 2019, no. 3, pp. 20—25. (In Russian).

4. Dzyublo A. D., Perekrestov V. E., Belozerov A. A. Subsea Wells Blowout Occurrence and Methods of Source Control. Occupational Safety in Industry, 2023, no. 7, pp. 7—15. DOI: 10.24000/0409-2961-2023-7-7-15. (In Russian).

5. OGP “Guidelines for the conduct of offshore drilling hazard site surveys”. Report no. 373-18-1, April 2013, Version 1.2. OGP, 2013, 32 p. Available at: https://ge0mlib.com/papers/Guide/IOGP/373-18-1.pdf.

6. Dzyublo A. D., Alekseeva K. V., Perekrestov V. E., Xiang Hua. Natural and technogenic risks in the development of oil and gas fields on the shelf of the Arctic seas. Occupational Safety in Industry, 2020, no. 4, pp. 74—81. DOI: 10.24000/0409-2961-2020-4-74-81. (In Russian).

7. SN NORSOK D-010:2013. Well integrity in drilling and well operations. Rev. 4, June 2013. Available at: https://www.npd.no/globalassets/1-pd/regelverk/skjema/bronnregistreing/eng/norsok-d-010-2013-well-integrity-and-well-operations-rev-4.pdf.

8. Loss of Well Control Occurrence and Size Estimators. ExproSoft report ES201471. Available at: https://www.bsee.gov/sites/bsee.gov/files/tap-technical-assessment-program/765aa.pdf.

9. Bogoyavlensky V. I., Keromov V. Yu., Olkhovskaya O. O. Dangerous gas-saturated objects in the world ocean: the Sea of Okhotsk. Neftyanoe khozyaystvo [Oil Industry], 2016, no. 6, pp. 43—47. (In Russian).

10. R Gazprom 7.3-053-2021 Well construction using floating drilling rigs and drilling ships. Guidelines for drilling a pilot borehole to check the presence of near-surface (shallow) gas. (Approved by Gazprom PJSC dated 09/13/2021 no. 7. 3-053-2021). Available at: https://cntd.ru/techexpert. (In Russian).

11. Khoshtaria V. N., Vovk N. V., Natashkin I. I., Mammadov S. M. Offshore well construction in the conditions of geological complications associated with the upper benthic part of the sedimentary cover. Bull. of the Association of Drilling Contractors, 2016, no. 4. pp. 7—12. (In Russian).

12. Petrenko V. E., Oganov G. S., Sviridova T. A. Shallow gas: risks and options for technical and technological solutions in the design and construction of wells on the sea shelf. Equipment and technologies for oil and gas complex, 2017, no. 2, pp. 21—27. (In Russian).

13. Bogoyavlensky V. I., Bogoyavlensky I. V. Natural and technogenic threats in the search, exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits in the Arctic. Mineral Resources, 2018, no. 2, pp. 60—70. (In Russian).

14. Bogoyavlensky V. I., Kishankov A. V., Kazanin A. G. Heterogeneities in the Upper Part of the Section of the Sedimentary Cover of the East Siberian Sea: Gas Accumulations and Signs of Ice Gouging. Doklady Earth Sciences [Pleiades Publishing], 2022, vol. 505, pt. 1, pp. 411—415. DOI: 10.1134/S1028334X22070042.

15. Rokos S. I. Engineering-geological features of shallow zones of anomalously high formation pressure on the shelf of the Pechora Sea and the southern part of the Kara Sea. Engineering Geology, 2008, no. 4, pp. 22—28. (In Russian).

16. Dzyublo A. D., Alekseeva K. V. Engineering and geological conditions for the development of the aquatorial part of the Kruzenshtern field in the Kara Sea. Arctic: Ecology and Economy, 2020, no. 1 (37), pp. 95—108. DOI: 10.25283/2223-4594-2020-1-95-108. (In Russian).

17. Kazanin A. G., Kazanin G. S., Ivanov G. I., Sarkisyan M. V. Innovative technologies in engineering and geological works on the continental shelf. Scientific J. of the Russian Gas Society, 2016, no. 4, pp. 25—30. (In Russian).

18. Dzyublo A. D., Voronova V. V. Studies of mechanisms of occurrence of hazardous natural phenomena during the development of oil and gas fields on the shelf of the Arctic and subarctic seas. Occupational Safety in Industry, 2019, no. 4, pp. 69—77. DOI: 10.24000/0409-2961-2019-4-69-77. (In Russian).

19. Technical report of JSC MAGE for construction of exploration well no. 8 of the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field in the Sea of Okhotsk using SONGA VENUS FPSO. Results of engineering surveys. Book 1. Explanatory note. Engineering and geological surveys. Moscow, 2014. (In Russian).

20. Dzyublo A. D., Altukhov E. E., Benko G. A. Shallow gas as a risk in the development of oil and gas fields in the Ob and Taz bays of the Kara Sea. Construction of oil and gas wells on land and sea, 2021, no. 6 (342), pp. 52—58. DOI: 10.33285/0130-3872-2021-6(342)-52-58. (In Russian).

21. Sakhalin Energy LLC Sustainability Report 2023. Available at: https://www.sakhalinenergy.ru/upload/iblock/be1/y187rt7xtsstlz7zx1lcbtjpruuiwnfx/Report-2022.pdf. (In Russian).

22. Oganov A. S., Nadein V. A. To the problem of intercolumn pressure in an oil and gas well. Equipment and technologies for oil and gas complex, 2014, no. 5. pp. 29—34. (In Russian).

23. Lunskoye-8 Petroleum Engineering End of Well Report. No. 4100-S-00-97-T-0026-00-E. March, 2007, p. 77.

24. Ross L., King K., Bodewitz G. et al. Seismically Based Integrated Reservoir Modelling, Lunskoye Field, Offshore Sakhalin, Russian Federation. Paper SPE-102650-MS presented at the SPE Russian Oil and Gas Technical Conference and Exhibition, Moscow, Russia, October 2006. Available at: https://DOI.org/10.2118/102650-MS.

25. Pleasants C., Joseph B., Glynn J. et al. Successful Installation of a Completion System for Gas Migration Prevention. Paper OTC-24831-MS presented at the Offshore Technology Conference-Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2014. Available at: https://DOI.org/10.4043/24831-MS.

26. Petrenko V. E., Nuriev M. F. Directions of development of technologies and equipment for the development of offshore licence areas. Design and development of oil and gas fields, 2022, no. 4. pp. 12—19. (In Russian).

27. Nuriev M. F., Shevelev M. B., Semyonov Yu. V., Ershov N. A., Liskovy P. N. Geological conditions of the upper part of the section at the fields of the north-eastern shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk. Gas Industry, 2019, no. 8 (788), pp. 56—65. (In Russian).

28. Shevelev M. B. Experience of offshore fields development in the Sea of Okhotsk and in the Arctic. Gas Industry, 2022, special iss. no. 2, pp. 10—18. (In Russian).

29. Geresh G. M. Role of additional exploration in the process of production drilling of offshore fields on Sakhalin Island. Vesti gazovoi nauki, 2020, no. 3 (45), pp. 32—39. (In Russian).

30. Leksin V. K. Complementation of geophysical methods for revealing of dangerous geological processes during the construction of oil and gas field structures on the shelf of Sakhalin Island: Diss. candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences. Moscow, 2022, 107 p. (In Russian).

31. Kishankov A. V. Potential gas content of the upper part of the section of water areas of the Arctic regions of Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. Abstr. diss. ... candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences. Moscow, 2023, 24 p. (In Russian).

32. Shuster V. L., Dzyublo D. A. Justification of prospects for discovery of large oil and gas accumulations in Jurassic and pre-Jurassic sediments on the Kara Sea shelf. Georesursy, 2023, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 67—74. DOI: 10.18599/grs.2023.1.8. (In Russian).

33. Ermolaev A. I., Ibragimov I. I. Models of rational well placement for gas and condensate fields development. Proceedings of the Institute of Control Sciences RAS, 2006, vol. 27, p. 118—123. (In Russian).

34. Ermolaev A. I., Kuvichko A. M., Latipov A. R., Puchkovsky S. A. Formation of rational schemes of producing wells placement on a gas deposit. Proceedings of the Gubkin University, 2021, no. 3 (304), pp. 34—44. DOI: 10.33285/2073-9028-2021-3(304)-34-44. (In Russian).