From Deck to Desk, realtime decision making on stimulation operations

StimWell Services, headquartered in the UK, is a leading global provider of vessel-mounted stimulation services for oil and gas wells. The Island Patriot vessel has treated hundreds of North Sea wells by using high viscosity fluids, proppants, and gases to create fractures to release oil and gas that would otherwise remain inaccessible under normal reservoir pressures.

Data from the boat was traditionally sent direct to a dedicated laptop onshore, dispatched to the client office ahead of a treatment. This was a time-consuming and costly activity. Looking to modernize their services Stimwell sought help from Geologix, who were known for their experience with managing real-time data.

Providing a system that allowed StimWell to livestream data to clients while adhering to the industry data standards while minimizing operational impact on vessel engineers became critical to securing a key business opportunity. Stimwell aimed to secure a 10-year alliance contract with a client in Norway, who already used the WITSML standard and needed to aggregate the stimulation data into their system.

Challenges and Opportunities

The key challenge for any vessel operating in this fast-changing arena is being able to make rapid decisions based on real-time data “With hydraulic fracturing, real-time data is key. You don’t have time to make a phone call back to shore to get advice – knowing that the client has access to the same data at the same time enables those vital decisions to be made”

Operation-critical corrective action is dependent on the immediacy and accuracy of data. Real-time data which can be aggregated into the client’s data pool enables field level context as well as specific well monitoring for decision-makers who need to be able to see the bigger picture. “Knowing that everyone knows everything they need to know at the moment they need to know it saves so much time, something that is easily underestimated in terms of value. It influences key conversations later on”. This has implications for safety as well as OPEX – decisions made in real-time can minimise danger to operators in the field as well as prevent costly downtime.

Solution

Geologix, adapted and customized their Well Monitoring Dashboard, WellXP, to the specifications and operations of StimWell’s Interventions services, so that the data could be streamed to anywhere on any device, making the couriering of a single laptop entirely redundant. Operator engineers as well as Stimwell management and engineers could monitor and advise well site engineers in a timely and efficient manner.

During the design of the WellXP system, Stimwell engineers impressed on the importance of a self-managed system. Enabling the vessel engineers to dynamically stream treatments, notify stakeholders and manage data access was critical to operational efficiency.

Integrating WellXP into the Operator data environment was a key part of the alliance requirements. When the Operator stipulated Energistics Transfer Protocol (ETP) was required to speed up communications between systems, WellXP was quickly upgraded. Geologix’s ability to respond quickly to the project needs enabled Stimwell to react to the specifications required to qualify for the multi-year alliance.

Outcome

Stimwell was able to meet the business integration needs of major North Sea Operators and reduce cost and logistics burdens for their own business. Partnering with Geologix enabled Stimwell to take advantage of established industry technology, rapidly customizing it to the specific needs of well stimulations.

“Having a tailored solution based on a leading industry software suite, deploying industry data standards gives us more flexibility. There’s also a real sense of pride in saying, ‘We helped create this”.

Samit Sengupta, Managing Director of Geologix, is delighted by the outcome of the project. “WellXP originally existed as a real-time monitoring solution specifically for drilling operations in the oil and gas industry, where operators and remote specialists can monitor the progress of drilling activities” he says. “That market is still key, however, this collaboration with Stimwell, enabled us to customise the core engine of WellXP, guided by their expertise and a combined vision, to create a real-time monitoring system specifically tailored for well stimulation treatments”.

The partnership’s commitment to optimizing operations enters in to a second decade, having so far supported over 150 wells and over 500 treated zones.