Issue 3

THIRD ISSUE
April 2018

PUBLISHED

EAGE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF
GEOSCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
SUEZUNIVERSITYSTUDENTCHAPTER

Interview with Mr. Yasser Amer
Human resources manager - East Africa & Med at
Schlumberger.
A case study by Hazem Mahmoud
Independent Petrophysics Consultant at the Middle
East and Africa & Senior Petrophysicist at Schlumberger

1SCOPE -Third ISSUE





CREATE OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities and success are not something I started my journey in this great entity 3 years
you go after necessarily but something you ago trying to find my passion and achieve great
attract by becoming an attractive person. success which I always look for. Once you join
The key is to continue making yourself a more EAGE Suez team, you start feeling that amazing
attractive person by the skills you have, the disci- spirit from everyone around you. You start sharing
plines you have, the personality you’ve acquired, the enthusiasm with your mates. Here, obsession is our
character and reputation you have established, the fuel to creativity. We believe each member has a new
language and speech you use—all of that refinement idea that must be invested. EAGE Suez is the place
makes you more attractive. to gain and share knowledge, empower people to
Always try new things, new way, and even new learn more and better understand the world. EAGE
methods to achieve the same thing. New things Suez was a great opportunity which provided me
will provide you with more opportunities to take with a great way to achieve all what I needed.
their advantages. Picture yourself walking through I did my best to take pride in leading this great
a maze. You’ll test all sorts of doors, some of which team in his fifth season with our slogan ‘’ Nav-
might take you to new and interesting avenues, igate Your future’’. It was an honor for me to be
some of which might dead-end. If you just keep a leader among these sailors who worked hard to
opening doors and moving forward, eventually you raise the name of this place. They believe in it as a
will arrive someplace worthwhile. source of power for every one of them. Through my
Once you conquer the maze, you can turn around journey with them I found my prize as finding more
and guide others. To me, that is the highest form of ways to impact others and spreading our vision.
success

I am so proud to release the third issue of Scope magazine, the official magazine of EAGE
Suez University. I appreciate all the hard effort that had been done to come up with this
amazing work.
They show up the highest level of professionalism in this
great content. As every EAGE member, they put all their
passion and effort in achieving the entity vision.

MOHAMMED ELSISI EAGE Suez is always a place where we grant
experimentalism to every member. We encourage him
EAGE SU SC PRISEDENT to be opportunistic, be fearless, be willing to fail and try
again, and seek out ways to challenge himself and others.
The Author Orison Swett Marden once said. Don’t wait
for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common
occasions and make them great. Weak men wait
for opportunities; strong men make them. That
was my journey in EAGE Suez the place of endless
opportunities. If I was asked for my advice to you, it
will be showcase your skills whatever skills you have,
express it fully. Let others gain from your wisdom and
experience.Don’tkeep your skills to yourself the world is

waiting for it. That’s what will make you more attractive
to opportunities.

4 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

LIFE’S NOT JUST
EXIST
of themselves. “The role of leadership
Once I read this quote, I decided to try new is to make more leaders, not more
things as participating in volunteering work followers” Ralph Nader.
and self-learning. It was like the call to get Three years back, returning to the start
me out of my comfort zone. Being a volunteer in a point to the first edition of SCOPE,
student chapter isn’t just about helping others. For what is the sensible doctrine to make
me, it’s also about enriching myself with new experi- this dream comes true? The answer
ence and giving my life a true value. lies with Vince Lombardi. Please, every
At the Suez University Student Chapter of single worker please work hard. Margret
the European association of Geologists Thatcher
and Engineers “EAGE SCU SC” we took it once said, “I do not know anyone who has
upon ourselves to get every member to the gotten to the top without hard work. That
advanced level of competition present in is the recipe. It will
the oil & Gas industry through our mission not always get you to the top, but it will
to seal the gap between the practical life get you pretty near.” Put your personal
and the academic attitude of the interests aside for a while
learning process. To ensure the success of and think about what you can give for
our mission we provide much more than this country. Hard work is the only way to
just technical support move forward.
throughout sessions and seminars. Here In this distinguished issue of SCOPE
at SCOPE, our team strives to meet your magazine, you will read high vulnerable
demands whether you are a student or a content for some interesting topics
professional. So once again we introduce and interview by leading pioneers and
to you SCOPE magazine in its Third issue industry professionals Also we are
as a window for the chapter’s greatest thankful to the efforts exerted by the
accomplishments and collected articles. editorial team.
As a SCOPE CEO, I got much experience to
be shared in the future.
I was thrilled working with my team who
are young professionals that would make
a remark in their future career Every great
work comes from great efforts, hardworking
and continues improvements .We have
established team that can handle with
every task professionally and have left
every member of the team with enough
experience enable them to become leaders

“If you never try, you`ll
never know what you
are capable of.”
MOSTAFA SOBHY

SCOPE CEO

5SCOPE -Third ISSUE

Interview with Mr. Yasser Amer
Human resources manager - East Africa & Med

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR.Y.AMERat Schlumberger.

First of all we would thank you for accepting our invitation. It is a great honor of us to meet such an
expert and to have this interview.
Thank you very much for this opportunity to talk to your respectable community it is a pleasure for
me and pleasure for anyone in this position.
We would like to hear your story from scratch could you give us an insight about Yasser Amer?
My full name is Yasser Amer. I was born in Cairo in 1968, graduated from faculty of commerce Cairo
university major business administration.
I am professional HR. be working for Schlumberger for almost 16 years
I started in the company as HR manger as I moved her as a mid-career hired
I worked as HR manger in several countries not only in Egypt I was lucky to get exposed to the job of HR
in different counties different laws and cultures this definitely enhanced my experience and my exposure
this in brief about myself and I am married and I have 3 children one boy and 2 girls.
How did you face the life after graduation here in Egypt?
I was like any other normal Egyptian who studied in Cairo university and sure you know about the faculty
of commerce it is a lot a lot of graduates every year due to over population they graduate thousands of
students in the labor market and of course to have a good tart you have to differentiate yourself in order
to get an opportunity you have to do something different you have to be different So, I had to equip
myself of course with the latest technology at the time as computer science So I got a lot of training at
that side plus I decided not to say no any opportunity that pops up in front of me even it is small job or
for very limited time cause my objective at this time is to kind of build step by step my profile resume to
differentiate myself from others and this how I gained attraction and more opportunities in the market
So through internships with some multinational companies if possible and this what happened with me
when I started to put it in my Resume i started to be recognized to a certain extent and take my first step
in fresh out positions.
This how I met the challenges training, technology and also about you know not to specify in a certain
jobs or say yes or no to what pops up to me that would add some to my resume my first job was a moth
project and it was very short project it sounded like a small thing but it was really important the thing in
my resume and career as it was first time to get exposed to multinational organizations and how did they
think and deal with each other and how people got evaluated and to work with policies and procedures.
For this limited duration the outcome yet was very important in this stage of my life .
As you know here in Egypt as a fresh graduate it is not about finding opportunity but creating it
Do you consider yourself a lucky person after graduation?
This what I want to say it is very ironic to bring this terminology of luck in this interview

6 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

because I was just discussing this with someone about the definition of luck and actually many people
misunderstand or misinterpret the terminology of luck
Luck I always perceive it as something that happened random and you have no say in it or you do not
interfere in it which is absolutely wrong it is not the case
Luck means that you work on a plan or things you really want to achieve it is not a random So I Personally
believe life is not about luck life about creating opportunities for yourself trying to read the situation around
you look at your options and be realistic about what is available and know where to start cause every
stage in your career have its own calculations as for example when you are fresh out you always have to
remember what did you study , where did you graduate from and what are the tools you have in your hand
accordingly you read the situation around you and select from your options
the ongoing challenge you have to face is to increase your opportunities increase your options throughout
your career this is gonna increase what is called Luck
the more you plan the more you do for yourself the more opportunities and options in your life will pop
the less work planning and awareness about the situation the less options and less luck of course
So I never thought about to looking for luck to be honest I always believed in hard work in looking for
opportunities doing extra mile more than anyone else in my situation cause this would create opportunities
but if you mean in your questions luck as are you satisfied?
Yes, I am satisfied and happy by what I have reached but did it come by itself no it doesn’t work like that
this message I want you to pass to fresh graduates things doesn’t come by itself also you could have a lot of
opportunities around you but if you do not perceive it as an opportunity it is a waste!
In applying for a job we need to know you list some of what we should do and what should we do not?
You have to prepare your resume very well means the contents fits the job. You have to keep your resume
updated and you know some people use an old one even they forget what they written in it.
there a lot of tips in a resume but it is obvious when you say am good am super. Instead of this you need to
write down things that the manger need to know about things you have done to prove these staffs
things you have worked on or projects that demonstrate these qualities instead of saying I am good tell me
something that prove this. The second thing which is very important to get well prepared for the interview it
is not acceptable is someone to go to interview in a big organization and he dose not know anything about
these organization this is big mistake. So you have to read about this organization before the interview to
get the basic knowledge about it.
a third point is to make sure you listen carefully during the interview listen to the questions carefully .
If they ask a question and they get another answer this means a lot
this means you are not listening or you are listening but not comprehending and result in
miscommunication my advice is to listen to the question carefully answer the question and double check
after answering it is you answered his question or not?.
Last point here is to arrive on time.

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THE USE OF MARKET INCENTIVES
FOR EMISSIONS MITIGATION

Jason Olsen

IFounder & President, Vitruvian Innovations
n 1996, Berkshire Hathaway executive Charlie Munger gave a brilliant talk at Harvard which has been
retroactively titled “The Standard Causes of Human Misjudgement”. During his address, Munger presented
personal and empirical evidence outlining human behaviour in a variety of business cases that would
suggest the exact opposite of the underlying assumption of every economic theory: humans are inherently
rational beings. Munger argued that despite the obvious notion that we believe we act in our own best
interest, we consistently make decisions that suggest the opposite is true.
Our decision-making process is often that of analyzing the trade-offs of our options – the expected
benefit as a function of cost, risk, time, and other factors. We make hundreds of these decisions a day,
often subconsciously, and most have little impact on our daily lives. However, these tiny decisions often
shape larger outcomes, especially once amalgamated on a mass global scale. Environmental issues are
manifested in this way – it is not the behaviour of a single person causing the rising global temperatures.
Or one company. Or a single country. It is the summation of the activities of every individual in the world
on a daily basis.
The challenge we as a society now face is this: we are fast approaching point were the actions we take to
combat pollutant emissions will be meaningless. So, how do we encourage meaningful change?
Before we get into the basic economics of carbon mitigation, I want to state the fact that I do understand
there are various viewpoints as to the cause and impact of modern climate change theory. I respect
that those reading this paper may not hold the same views as myself in regards to man’s impact on the
environment and global temperatures. The scope of this paper is meant to examine the impacts of carbon
pricing on decision-making. So, let’s get to that.
I want to start by examining the most common way of pricing carbon: The Command and Control
approach, primarily implemented by some form of central authority. Say the government were to put a
price on carbon of $30/metric tonne, for any emissions above the predetermined baseline of ‘allowable’
emissions based on business practices. For arguments sake, let’s say baseline for oil company XYZ is
1,000,000 metric tonnes per year. Currently, company XYZ is emitting 1,200,000 metric tonnes. Under
Command and Control, what are their options?
First, they could essentially do nothing and maintain business-as-usual practices. This would mean that
for all of their emissions above baseline (1,200,000 - 1,000,000 = 200,000 tonnes above), they would pay a
tax of $30 per tonne. This would result in a tax penalty of $6,000,000, payable to the government authority
imposing the regime. This increases the cost of doing business for oil company XYZ, and its intent is to
push a business into investing in green technology initiatives.
If company XYZ decides that instead of paying a $6,000,000-dollar tax penalty to the government,
they would rather invest in technology that reduces their overall emissions, then the carbon tax would
ultimately have done its job. In this scenario, the company explores three simplistic options:

8 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

Install a combined heat and power unit (CHP) at a cost of $5,000,000 that will reduce emissions
by 200,000 tonnes
Basic economic theory would suggest that company XYZ is better off investing in CHP than paying
the tax, simply because the cost of $25/tonne of CHP installation is less that the cost of the $30/
tonne carbon tax. There marginal benefit of choosing to invest in CHP technology is ($30/tonne -
$25/tonne = $5/tonne). This is how a carbon tax can influence company (and human) behaviour.
Notice how for options 2 and 3, there is no positive marginal benefit for company XYZ to pursue
those investments. For both the installation of wind turbines and CCS technology, the company is
better off simply paying the tax.
What we have just seen is an incredibly simplistic introduction to what economists call an
‘abatement curve’ – at what price of carbon do certain emissions abatement activities becomes
a net positive for a company? So long as the carbon tax is higher than the marginal cost of
abatement, companies have an economic reason to invest in emissions-reducing technologies that
don’t provide a traditional revenue stream.
As the carbon tax, or carbon price, increases, the economic decision to invest in higher-cost
technologies becomes feasible. However, we now run into the issue of the carbon tax itself: it is
politically unpopular to implement and can result in competitive imbalances on national exports,
decrease in foreign investment, and increase in costs to consumers in an economy. Implementing
a tax of $100/tonne is political suicide for any governing entity. However, too low a tax and you
aren’t making any material reduction on emissions and are increasing the cost burden on the
economy.
Company XYZ from our first example, now operating under a CaT system, may decide they are
better off long term investing renewable power generation to reduce their emissions and avoid
the potentially higher costs of carbon emissions allowances. Again, this is an incredibly simplified
example, but it does give some insight into how pricing a pollutant can influence company
behaviour.
My argument, and what my company is trying to introduce, is that there may even more efficient
and impactful market-based solutions than a CaT system. The effectiveness of CaT has been
debated economics and environmentalists alike, and while it is nowhere near perfect, it does
introduce some immensely powerful market mechanisms that may ultimately be what causes a
material impact in global emissions.
We believe emerging technology – a combination of IoT, AI, big data, and distributed data ledgers
– will have profound benefits in our battle against rising temperatures. These technologies can be
used to compound the benefits of market-based principles by increasing reliability and accuracy
in emissions report, reducing costs, increasing liquidity, and integrating and harmonizing global
trading markets and reduction standards. It is now a question of how we deploy them.
To conclude, let’s rewind to what I began this paper with – human misjudgement. A healthy
environment is in the best interest of every living being on this planet. Regardless of race, religion,
gender, social status or wealth, we all rely on fresh air, clean drinking water, and rich soil to
maintain our quality of life. However, the small decisions we make every day - ones as small as
biking to work rather than driving - can have adverse effects on the environment. We just don’t
notice. The benefit of convenience and lack of market information surrounding the impact of our
decisions results in insufficient data when evaluating our options.
I would also be inclined to suggest that even if we had perfect market information (our trek to
work would cost the environment $X, perfectly calculated and priced), many of us would still
choose less eco-friendly actions in the name of convenience and comfort. And as someone who
partakes in such activates, I am in no position to blame them.
Our fist step is to price natural capital and allow for international trading of said capital on global
markets. Our second step is to convince the world this is in our best interest. Stay turned.

9SCOPE -Third ISSUE

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11SCOPE -Third ISSUE

IP

12 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

GC

13SCOPE -Third ISSUE

Development of 3000 m Subsea Blowout Preventer Experimental
Prototype

Baoping Cai

College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, China University of Petroleum

1. Introduction

Complex mechatronic system such as subsea blowout preventer (BOP) system requires high
reliability. Cai et al. proposed a GMR-based data acquisition and supervisory control system,
Cai et al. also proposed BN-based real-time reliability evaluation system for 3000 m BOP.
To avoid accidents, reliable design, manufacture, operation and maintenance are required.
Therefore, it is necessary to train operators effectively to ensure the operational reliability
of operators. An extremely reliable BOP control system and an experimental prototype are
developed in this paper.

2. Development of Hydraulic control Considering the working pressures of ram type
system preventer and annular preventer are different,
pressure reducing valves are designed before
Hydraulic control system of the subsea the BOPs to achieve secondary adjustment of oil
BOP experimental prototype is a dual-mode pressure.
redundant control system, which consists of
blue control case and yellow control case. The 3. Development of Electronic control
hydraulic circuit is shown in Fig. 1. Take BOP NO.1 system
as an example to explain the control principle.
When the pilot valve is powered on and begin Electronic control system of the subsea BOP
to reverse, the low-pressure oil flows into the experimental prototype consists of NI control
control inlet of the electrohydraulic valve, system and relay control system. Hardware
which drives the hydraulic valve to reverse. configuration of NI control system is shown in
Then the high-pressure oil flows into the closing Fig. 2. This system mainly consists of central
chamber of the BOP through shuttle valve, and control unit, Ethernet switch and NI suite. The
the BOP completes the closing movement with suite contains two cDAQ9188 cases, two NI9477
oil pressure. To seal the oil well for a long time data acquisition cards and two NI9405 data
without providing persistent high oil pressure, acquisition cards. The two sets of equipment
a retaining mechanism is designed to lock the are installed in the blue case and the yellow case
state of BOP after closing movement, and the respectively to simulate the output module and
retaining mechanism requires relative much input module in practice production.
lower oil pressure. The unlocking and opening
movements of the BOP are completely opposite. NI9477 data acquisition card is a digital
The components and working principle of the output equipment, which is used to control the
yellow case are completely the same with the movement of the valves. NI9405 is an analog
blue case, the yellow case works as a substitution input equipment, which is used for pressure
when a failure occurs in blue case. And the shuttle acquisition. Two cDAQ9188 cases communicate
valve between them makes the two redundant through Ethernet switch and transmit data to
systems independent from each other without the computer. A control program supporting the
mutual interference. hardware configuration is developed based on
The working Labview software.
principles of Take control logic of BOP NO.1 as an example. At
BOP NO.2 and first, assume the blue case is the default case, and
NO.3 are similar the program begins to judge if the pressure value
with BOP NO.1. collected by pressure sensor PS2B is correct. If
yes, the pilot valve of SPM2B will reverse, then
14 SCOPE -Third ISSUE the program begins to judge if the pressure value
collected by pressure sensor PS9B is correct. If
yes, maintain the pressure for 20 seconds and
the BOP will finish closing movement.

After that, DDV4B will reverse, then the program begins to judge if the pressure value collected
by pressure sensor PS5B is correct. If yes, maintain the pressure for 20 seconds and the locking
movement will complete.
In the meantime, pilot valve of SPM2B will return to original position. If there are any outliers in
acquisition of PS2B, PS9B or PS5B, the program will be interrupted and switch to yellow case to
continue the same logic. The control flow is similar if the yellow case is chosen as the default case.
The relay control logic is shown in Fig. 3. Once the motor is started, working states of the pump
can be selected by switching the three-selection knob. All BOPs opening or closing movements
are controlled by the combination of buttons and contacts of relays, and interlocking is designed
between the opening-movement contacts and the closing-movement contacts to avoid conflict.

4. Development of key components

The time-delay relays are designed to accomplish locking movement automatically after the BOP
is closed and accomplish unlocking movement automatically when the BOP needs to be opened.
If there is any malfunction happens to the equipment, the alternative button can be switched to
change the control case.
The mechanical system of subsea BOP experimental prototype mainly consists of ram BOPs, annular
BOP and valve blocks. Cai et al. proposed researching and developing methods of ram BOPs. The
design of annular BOP and valve blocks is discussed below. The primary components of annular
BOP consist of shell, rubber core, piston, supporting tube and fixture block. The structure is shown
in Fig. 4. The rubber core is the core of the BOP, which is a subulate rubber with supporting rods
inside. When the piston goes upward, the supporting rods are pressed to the center and pull the
robber to hold the drill pipe. Piston is the key component that transforms the hydraulic energy
into mechanical energy, and it is powered by high-pressure oil to push the rubber core to working
position. All valve groups are installed on valve blocks, which reduces connecting lines and improve
reliability significantly. Take the valve block shown in Fig. 5 (a) as an example. The whole valve group
is shown in Fig. 5 (b), including electro-hydraulic valves SPM1B-SPM4B

The Exploded View Og annular blowout preventer
and reducing valve. The high-pressure oil flows into the reducing valve through P inlet. After pressure
stetting, the high-pressure oil flows into the block, and the low-pressure oil flows into the block through X
inlet directly. Then if any solenoid valve that controls the low-pressure oil reverses from original position,
the low-pressure oil will flow into relevant pilot valve and open relevant high-pressure oil inlet, then the
high-pressure oil flows into relevant oil cylinder and execute opening or closing movement. Pressure
sensors are installed near every oil inlet and outlet to measure the pressure. And oil drainage inside the
block flows back to the tank through Y and T outlets.Fig 4 .

15SCOPE -Third ISSUE

‘‘ Estimation of lost circulation amount occurs during ‘‘
under balanced drilling using drilling data and
neural network
Pouria Behnoud far
Drilling Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran

1. Introduction Conventional drilling may cause some
problems such as induced fracturing and lost
The range of mud-pressure gradients that circulation. It is important to have a good
secures safe drilling of formations is known as estimation on lost circulation due to the high
the mud-gradient window; the lower and upper cost of UBD. To attempt this, three wells
limits are usually determined by the pore- are selected among all drilled wells in this
fluid pressure and fracture gradients of the reservoir. These wells have the most, moderate
formation. This range may become too narrow and no lost circulation. Then, the amount of
in certain operational scenarios, however, such lost circulation is predicted with respect to
as when drilling deep water or highly deviated different factors using artificial neural network.
wells, or through depleted zones. Human neural network is the origin idea of
Lost circulation is a common problem that artificial neural network which is a parallel
occurs in drilling operations. This problem may system and a mathematical model and can
happen in formations having high permeability find the complex relations between different
or fractures. In addition, lost circulation can parameters. ANN has been used in different
occur due to induced fractures. The possibility fields since 1960 and was announced as a new
of lost circulation increases by drilling at high science in 1965.
depth or at depleted reservoirs with low pore
pressure. Lost circulation can cause many 2. Neural network and genetic
different problems such as: increase in time algorithm
and cost of operation, pipe sticking, formation
damage and uncontrolled flow of oil and gas. Neural networks are computational systems
Estimation of the amount of lost circulation which are capable of learning and using their
is useful in dealing with these problems. learning to predict outputs of a complex system.
Different parameters have an influence on They consist of a large number of processing
lost circulation and its amount. Some of these elements called neuron. These elements are
parameters are mud weight, pump pressure, connected to each other work together to
depth, etc. solve a problem. ANN is a trustworthy tool
In this article, the effect of mud weight, depth, which can predict and estimate between the
pump pressure and flow rate of pump on lost parameters of complex relations very fast and
circulation amount in UBD of Asmari formation accurately. Fig. 1 shows the schematic of an
in one of the Southwest Iranian field is studied ANN. Genetic algorithm is a tool to optimize
using artificial neural network. In additional, and reach the optimum value of a function. The
the amount of lost circulation in Asmari procedure of this algorithm is to select randomly
formation of this field is predicted precisely initial solutions (initial populations) from the
with respect to two of studied parameters possible solution space. The fitness function is
using the presented correlations. Genetic determined for each solution, and the solutions
algorithm is also used to minimize the amount are consequently ranked. The population
of lost circulation. then evolves through several operations, such
As Asmari formation is the most important oil as reproduction, crossover, and mutation to
reservoir of the studied field, UBD is the best optimize the fitness function and obtain the final
choice to prevent fracturing. optimal solution.

16 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

The amount of lost circulation in UBD of Asmari formation is estimated by a two-layer feed-forward
neural network which has 3 neurons in its hidden layer. Inputs of ANN are mud weight, pump pressure,
depth and pump flow rate. In this ANN, 70% of data belongs to learning, 15% to validation and 15%
is used to test. Amount of lost circulation is the only output of the network. This ANN is shown in
Fig. 2. Transform function is sigmoid. Using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm and mean square
error, the following figures achieved. These figures illustrate the performance of ANN. Fig. 3 shows
the trend of error decrease in learning, validation and testing data. According to this figure, the best
state of neural network is in the second epoch.

3. Methodology

The amount of lost circulation in UBD of Asmari formation is estimated by a two-layer feed-forward
neural network which has 3 neurons in its hidden layer. Inputs of ANN are mud weight, pump pressure,
depth and pump flow rate. In this ANN, 70% of data belongs to learning, 15% to validation and 15%
is used to test. Amount of lost circulation is the only output of the network. This ANN is shown in
Fig. 2. Transform function is sigmoid. Using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm and mean square
error, the following figures achieved. These figures illustrate the performance of ANN. Fig. 3 shows
the trend of error decrease in learning, validation and testing data. According to this figure, the best
state of neural network is in the second epoch.

Figure 3 Performance of designed neural Figure 4 Training state of designed neural Figure 5 Comparison the outputs of neural
network. network. network and observed data.

This part is clarified using a circle according to the discussed and is obtained from Eq. (1).
and showing the least amount figures. Hence, in order to R-Squared shows the quality
of error in validation data. Fig. proposed correlations between of similarity between observed
4 illustrates the different states the effective parameters and and model data. As this number
during the learning of the ANN. the amount of lost circulation, approaches 1, the model
For example, validation fail regression can be done on can predict more precisely.
diagram shows the number of the outputs of created neural R-Square is calculated from
times that validation data fail. network. The depth of drilling in Eq. (2). RMSE is a factor which
In validation states, neural Asmari formation can be ignored is obtained from Eq. (3). In
network tries to decrease the according to its low thickness. each case, the residual plot is
error between learning and In each step, mud weight, pump plotted.
validation using a trial manner. pressure or flow rate of pump
In the created ANN, the is constant and a correlation 17SCOPE -Third ISSUE
operation of training is stopped is proposed which relates the
after trend of error decrease is amount of lost circulation with
changed for the sixth time. two other parameters. The
Fig. 5 examines the regression quality of regression can be
of data individually. The examined using R-Square, sum
horizontal axis is for target and of squared errors of prediction
the vertical axis is designed (SSE) and root mean square
for output of the created error (RMSE). SSE is the sum
neural network. Designed of squared difference between
neural network works accurate observed data and model data

Eni Reconstructs Well Interval with
Techlog Software

K.mod module calculates previously unmeasured offshore section

Hazem Mahmoud
Senior Petrophysicist

CHALLENGE

Evaluate cased offshore well
interval
to deliver a complete data set
to calculate shale volumes,
porosities, and saturations.

SOLUTION

Implement K.mod module
within
the Techlog* wellbore software
platform
to reconstruct missing interval
data,
using information from a
previous
exploration well.

RESULTS Missing log interval, plus error percentages after validation

The reconstructed data allowed As part of Eni’s development reconstruct the missing shallow
Eni to of the Seth gas field, offshore interval data, using information
-outline the gas interval Egypt, the Italian multinational from
crossover oil and gas company needed a previous exploration well. The
to optimize perforation depth to evaluate a shallow well module allows users to model
-define related shale volumes, interval—having already drilled quantitative variables from
porosity estimates, and water and cased beyond it. Eni was training datasets. It is powered
saturation levels targeting deep gas reservoirs by multilayer perceptron
-progress with key field and needed a complete data technology, a non-linear
investment decision making. set to start petrophysical regression statistical method.
evaluation and reservoir To begin the reconstruction,
“The Techlog K.mod module characterization. the team used gamma ray,
allowed us to reconstruct and The company had recorded a sonic, neutron, and density
characterize a cased interval, complete suite of logging while measurements from the
which was impossible to log. drilling (LWD) measurements, exploratory well in combination
The subsequent reservoir in addition to wireline logs, in with gamma ray and resistivity
characterization lead to key the deeper reservoir interval. log information from the
investment decisions for the However, in the shallow shallow interval. After a number
development of Seth field. The reservoir of trials, the team fine-tuned
Techlog platform helped us see it had only gathered gamma ray parameters to best illustrate the
something from nothing!” and resistivity log information. crossover of the gas interval,
and help optimize perforation
Hanan Abdel Fattah K.mod reconstruction depth intervals. The findings
Technical Leader, ENI were then used to update the
After some consideration, field development plan.
18 SCOPE -Third ISSUE Eni selected using the K.mod Wellbore
module within the Techlog
wellbore software platform to

‘‘ CASE STUDY: K.mod module calculates previously ‘‘
unmeasured offshore section

Neural network using triple combo logs All reconstructed logs. Learning phases were
only performed on selected areas.
Decision-making clarity

The Techlog K.mod module allowed Eni to
accurately reconstruct measurements from a
partially recorded well interval, enabling the
team to progress with key decision making. It
meant that a density log could be created for an
already cased interval. The subsequent reservoir
characterization, undertaken using the new
information, defined shale volumes, porosity
estimates, and water saturation levels. It led
directly to Eni making key investment decisions
for the future development
of the Seth field.

19SCOPE -Third ISSUE

PETORLEUM AND POTENTIAL HYDROCARBON PLAYS OF
HEAVY OIL RESERVOIRS

N. A. Nabih
Magawish Petroleum Company (Magapetco)

ABSTRACT
Unconventional crude oil production will expand as the production of conventional oil will decline
after 2020 (Odell, 1994). Production from the richest portion of the largest unconventional oil
resources is forecasted to increase as escalating prices will allow profitable operations. This paper
stresses the need to understand & re-evaluate the heavy oil reservoirs in Egypt as a clue for as-
certaining the potentialities of heavy oil reserves at the edges of the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. Heavy
oil occurs in shallow and deep structure geologic settings, which are unconventional by accepted
standards, yet they are economically interesting prospects in the light of modern method of pro-
duction. The present author believes in the need to increase oil production from all sources to meet
the needs of the petrochemical industries and products that could not be compensated from other
sources, such as renewable energy sources.
The encouraging oil potentiality (proven oil of API gravity ranging from 11.4º to 20.5 º API) in sand
deposits of Miocene and pre-Miocene will add more oil reserves for future exploration phases. A

second look at old unprofitable wells, using new technology to eke every last drop out of reservoirs.
METHODOLOGY
All previous oil company internal reports (unpublished materials), core descriptions, logging data,
maps, cross sections and published papers have been reviewed in detail. A detailed correlation
has been done for more than 20 wells and core holes. All cut faulted with their cut sections were
determined. All test data and cores have been investigated. A qualitative log interpretation has
been calculated to get water saturation percentage, net pay thickness, oil water contact and po-
rosity and have been used in calculating the original heavy oil in places for the first time.
STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURAL EVENTS
The stratigraphic section of the study areas ranges in age from pre-Cambrian to Recent. Different
formation names are used according to the codes of stratigraphy in both Egypt. We have adopted
here the stratigraphic nomenclature of the Gulf of Suez according to National Stratigraphy Sub
– Committee (1974). Different formation names used by the operating oil companies in their log
charts throughout the basin have been correlated referring to the lithologic description of above
mentioned references.
STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURAL EVENTS
The stratigraphic section of the study areas ranges in age from
pre-Cambrian to Recent. Different formation names are used
according to the codes of stratigraphy in both Egypt. We have
adopted here the stratigraphic nomenclature of the Gulf of Suez
according to National Stratigraphy Sub – Committee (1974).
Different formation names used by the operating oil companies
in their log charts throughout the basin have been correlated
referring to the lithologic description of above mentioned
references.

20 SCOPE -Third ISSUE

The thickness and type of deposits are mainly controlled by the structural events. This section in
the Gulf of Suez is generally characterized by three main rock sequences relative to the Miocene
rifting. These are pre-rift (Early Paleozoic to Eocene), syn-rift (Miocene), and post-rift (Pliocene-
Recent) sequences. The three sequences are separated by two regional unconformities. The first
and second sequences include important hydrocarbon source, reservoir and seal rocks. The
Paleozoic-Lower Cretaceous sandstones of Nubia facies lie over Precambrian granitic rocks. The
Upper Cretaceous marls and shales of the Raha, Wata and Matulla Formations are overlain by
the Campanian- Maastrichtian Sudr Chalk which, in turn, is capped by both Paleocene Esna Shale
and Lower-Middle Eocene limestones. The syn-rift (Miocene) succession is commonly subdivided
into sandstones, marls and shales of the Rudeis and Kareem Formations evaporites with thin
clastic interbeds of the Belayim, South Gharib and Zeit Formations. A blanket of coarse and fine
clastics and, in some areas, oolitic limestone lies unconformably over the Miocene formations.
This Pliocene-Recent blanket has widespread distribution and its thickness varies from a few
meters (surface) to about 1500 m (Nabih and Abd-Allah, 1999).
Faults are the main structural elements affecting the study area. Faults exist in four sets, which
are north-northwest (Clysmic trend), west-northwest, northeast to north-northeast (Aqaba trend),
and north-south. A listric fault model is proposed for the rift coastal faults which splay into
branches that enclose spindle and/or triangular shaped blocks (Nabih, 1999). The existence of
basaltic dykes with different width and having a north-northeast orientation on both sides of the
Araba - Durba fault indicates the rejuvenation of this fault during the Oligo - Miocene and the mid-
Clysmic rifting stages. Recently, the Araba - Durba fault was rejuvenated by a pure left - lateral
strike - slip displacement. The anticlines and syncline mapped in the study area are interpreted
to be fault-drag folds, whereas the monoclines are drape folds (Abd-Allah and Nabih, 1999).
The Gulf of Suez has attracted attention of a large number of investigators for its hydrocarbon
potentialities among them Moustafa, 1976 and 1993; El Heiny and Enani, 1990; Awni et al.,1990;
Nabih, 1992; Nabih and Talaat, 1995; Nabih and Abd-Allah, 1999; Abd-Allah and Nabih, 1999.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The study of heavy oil reservoir in El Nezzazat, Feiran and Abu Durba fields reveal the following:
1 - The estimation of the original oil in place concluded about 113 million stock tank barrel proven
oil of API gravity ranges from 11.4° to 19° in pre-Miocene and post-Miocene sandstones.
2 - Similar potential could be repeated at the edges of the present Gulf of Suez.
3 - Due to poor seismic data near the shoreline Clysmic faults, the interpretation is mainly based
on surface and subsurface data to construct the geological model.
4 - Heavy oil occurs in geologic settings which are unconventional by accepted standards, yet they
are economically interesting project in the light of modern methods of potential production.
5 - The two main crude oils in Abu Durba Recent sediments and Kareem Formation sand of well
GS 277-1 have different nickel / vanadium ratio, indicating derivation from two probable sources.

21SCOPE -Third ISSUE