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US unconventionals at center of Statoil’s E&P strategy

By Joanne Liou, associate editor

Although Statoil has deep roots as a Norway-based offshore operator, the company is now finding the US onshore business to be at the heart of its E&P strategy. With core operations in the Bakken, Marcellus and Eagle Ford, the US onshore business has become the fastest-growing sector for Statoil within the past three years, Stephen Bull, vice president – commercial North America, D&P, said. Mr Bull discussed how the company landed in the US onshore business and how it has become part of Statoil’s corporate strategy in a presentation at the IADC Drilling Onshore Conference on 16 May in Houston.

Statoil’s goal is to produce 2.5 million bbls/day by 2020, and US unconventionals is at the heart of its E&P strategy to accomplish that goal, Stephen Bull, vice president – commercial North America, D&P for Statoil said.

Statoil is a historically deepwater-oriented company, Mr Bull said; approximately 1.5 million bbl of its 2 million-plus bbl daily production come from Norway, and the remaining comes from Angola, Azerbaijan and Brazil. However, “the fastest-growing area is by far North America,” Mr Bull stated. In fact, the US unconventional business is now at the center of Statoil’s goal to produce 2.5 million bbl/day by 2020. This E&P strategy consists of three elements: a strong management system, technology, and a long-term commitment to the communities in which it operates.

The first element – a robust management model – is applied through the whole company, Mr Bull emphasized. For example, when Statoil entered the US onshore business, the company created an operations support team to analyze performance metrics to enhance its understanding of the business. “That team is developing a cross-functional collaboration,” he said. “We looked at the best wells in the Eagle Ford. We looked at other operators, benchmarked them completely across the board, gave them rational reviews and looked at what are the best operations.” Based on those findings, Statoil saw the potential for 45% to 50% improvement in performance. “The first few wells that we have drilled in the Eagle Ford have been fairly close to what we want to achieve.”

Statoil also aims to apply its knowledge and experience in hostile recovery techniques used in the Norwegian sector to the US onshore. In Norway, the company has achieved more than 50% recovery rates in some fields and some as high as 75%. While acknowledging that the US plays behave differently and have different permeabilities, “we want to apply that (experience) to the US onshore” to increase recovery rates, Mr Bull said.

In the Williston Basin, Statoil has been swapping out its older rigs for walking rigs that can reduce drilling and skid times and is using dual fuel technologies when possible, Mr Bull said. Further, the company has 700 miles of oil, freshwater and saltwater pipelines in the Williston Basin that help to “reduce thousands of trucks on the road when we are doing our frac jobs,” he continued. Statoil also continues to develop new technologies and solutions for unconventionals at its research center in Houston.

Part of Statoil’s long-term perspective is its investment in industry collaboration and commitment to the communities in which it operates. Mr Bull believes that his company’s efforts are apparent in three ways: direct financial support, participation on local boards and volunteer efforts. “Employees serve on school boards, hospital boards and volunteer efforts as well, from trash pickups to cook-offs,” he noted.

Besides communication and leadership knowledge and understanding, Mr Bull noted that there’s also an X factor to Statoil’s E&P strategy. “You can’t just come in here and talk about processes and ‘you must follow this,’ ” he stated. “We need some creativity in there, and you need a just-do-it attitude and an entrepreneurial feeling you get in the US onshore. We don’t want to lose that.”

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Marathon Oil: 3,000-plus wells possible in Eagle Ford acreage

By Joanne Liou, associate editor

Marathon Oil forecasts its production from US resource plays will increase by 150% from Q3 2011 to Q4 2013, Bryan Roy, vice president – drilling & completions for Marathon Oil, said at the 2013 IADC Drilling Onshore Conference.

Marathon Oil has determined that it may drill more than 3,000 wells in its Eagle Ford acreage, up from an earlier estimate of approximately 1,200. In fact, the company expects production from its US resource assets, which also include the Bakken and the Woodford, to increase by 150% from Q3 2011 to Q4 2013, Bryan Roy, vice president – drilling & completions for Marathon Oil, said. “When you talk about shale and moving the needle for a company that is producing between 400,000 and 450,000 bbls/day, that is substantial,” Mr Roy said during a presentation at the 2013 IADC Drilling Onshore Conference on 16 May in Houston.

For Marathon, the impact that US resource plays are having on the company’s portfolio is significant. As an example, its US business once provided capital for large expenditures overseas, but that pendulum has swung in the opposite direction due to the growth in US unconventionals. “Now, a lot of Equatorial Guinea and Norway production is funding a lot of capital in the US,” Mr Roy said. “We are targeting 5% to 7% average growth rate (in production) across the world.”

Marathon currently has 16 rigs working in the Eagle Ford and expects to spend nearly $2 billion in that play this year, according to Mr Roy. “One of the challenges we continue to have is we tend to overspend our capital because we keep drilling wells so fast,” he stated. “That will continue to be a problem, I hope, because it’s a mark of efficiency.” The company also continues to study its approach to developing its Eagle Ford acreage, such as optimal well density, lateral lengths and completion techniques. “A lot of pilots in the ground now are already completed … and the science looks good. We spent a lot to get into the Eagle Ford, but it’s looking a lot better than what we thought it was going to be,” he said, referring to the increase in the number of estimated wells.

Outside of the US, Marathon also continues an aggressive exploration program in Kurdistan in northern Iraq, where the company made entry in 2010. It currently has two rigs drilling in the Harir and Safen blocks, which Marathon believes have “the potential for the largest unexplored basins in the world,” Mr Roy said. “We are very interested to see how productive the wells could be.”

The region does come with significant operational challenges, however, from security issues to high H2S concentrations in the ground. In fact, some zones can carry up to 22% H2S combined with 13% CO2, Mr Roy said, making it a challenge to complete and make long-term production adequate. Other challenges include lost circulation and issues with primary cement jobs and directional control. Beyond that, “we still have significant issues relative to emergency response plans and evacuations that could be required,” he noted.

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IADC chairman David Williams: Member participation integral to propel industry forward

By Katherine Scott, associate editor

IADC is working hard to support drillers and ensure that every crew member has the training, knowledge and support they need to work safely and efficiently “in a business that demands the very best,” 2013 IADC chairman David Williams said.

IADC is devoting significant energy and focus to address the interests of its onshore members, including the creation of an Onshore Committee and the establishment of regional forums in Midland, Denver, Lafayette and Oklahoma City, 2013 IADC chairman David Williams said in the keynote presentation at the IADC Drilling Onshore Conference & Exhibition in Houston on 16 May. Such groups will provide places for members to discuss issues that drillers are facing in the onshore market. “Safety, for example, remains the primary focus of IADC and its member companies, and rightly so. Safety is our most important operational integrity measure, and zero incidents is the target of every driller and our customers,” Mr Williams said.

One key initiative that IADC kicked off in 2012 is the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) project, which is expected to be completed this year. This milestone project to develop enhanced competency guidelines will help to ensure that rig crews have the appropriate training and skills to work safely and efficiently “in a business that demands the very best,” Mr Williams said.

Another project under way is the IADC Drilling Lexicon, a website that will provide a forum for critical review of drilling terms. “As we all know, terms and definitions shift overtime, and we’ll need everyone in the industry to keep this website up to date for the benefit of everybody,” Mr Williams said. One major goal in providing these commonly used drilling terms is to assist regulators around the world in developing regulations that are consistent with international standards.

IADC has further assembled a team of more than 100 drilling experts to update the IADC Drilling Manual. Major revisions of the IADC HSE Guidelines and Deepwater Well Control Guidelines are under way as well.

Cactus Drilling’s Ron Tyson, who is serving as vice president of the IADC Onshore Division, introduced David Williams at the opening session of the IADC Drilling Onshore Conference in Houston on 16 May.

“These are just a handful of examples of the important initiatives that IADC committees and staff are currently working on to forward the goals of our association. But none of these activities can happen without you. Our members play an integral part in moving the industry forward, and it’s only with your participation that IADC can achieve success. Committees, chapters and conferences like this are all ways to become more involved in IADC,” Mr Williams said.

Additionally, IADC continues an reorganization its committee structure, with one goal being to enhance the value of committees focused on onshore issues, including the Rig Moving and Well Servicing committees, he said. “We recognize that the important work and the necessary work to change our industry for the better is generated in IADC’s committees. The committees are a place where people come together to share experiences, brainstorm new ideas and develop initiatives with the industry,” he stressed.

Jason McFarland, IADC VP of corporate development and chief of staff, opened the conference on 16 May in Houston. He noted IADC’s efforts to enhance communication with members “and demonstrate our relevance to every individual on every rig.”

With significant offshore discoveries and robust growth of shale development, as well as projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline, the US has an opportunity to transform from a nation that imports energy into one that’s independent from the world’s oil market, he continued. “Reaching that potential means that the US and state governments will need to work together with the energy industry to unlock resources to meet future demand… We simply cannot tolerate politics as usual here.” As a call to action, he said that industry must be engaged in active dialogue with stakeholders around the world. “If you are not involved in this debate, get involved… If you don’t, we could be sidelined by those in government who would just as soon see us go out of business. As drillers, it’s time for us to get to work telling our story.”

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