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Maersk goes
horizontal in Qatar
Horizontal drillings have made
diffi cult fi elds in the North Sea
attractive, a technology that
can also be exported, among
other countries, to Qatar
Horizontal drillings have been solidly
established in the Danish part of the North
Sea, and Maersk Oil and Gas’ refi nement
of the technology will increasingly become
a Danish export.
- We realize that the technology is an
effi cient competitive parameter in other
countries. Only a few companies showed
interest in our actual license area in Qatar,
but due to the methods developed by us we
anticipated the opportunity for an effective
development, the Vice President in Maersk
Oil and Gas’ new department for Innovation
and Technology Development, Anders
Damgaard informs. Maersk owns the license
and is the operator in the Al Shaheen fi eld,
which in the next couple of years will be
extended by approximately 170 horizontal
wells, in order for the oil production to reach
an expected number of 525,000 bbl of oil a
day in 2009. In Al Shaheen the oil is located
in thin layers and is extracted by up to 8.2 km
world record long horizontal wells.
Refi nement in the North Sea
Before employing the technology abroad,
Maersk Oil and Gas has refi ned the technique
in the North Sea via the PSI system, that
enabled Maersk Oil and Gas to Perforate,
MARGINAL
FIELDS
Stimulate and Isolate individual zones in
horizontal drillings, and later via Controlled
Acid Jetting (CAJ) in order to stimulate long,
horizontal well sections. The limit for the
length of horizontal wells has gradually been
moved. The CAJ liner makes it possible by
means of e.g. acid to stimulate wells without
using coiled tubing, a tube of 7-8 cm in diameter,
which with a length at 4-5 km winded
up on a large drum.
- In Danish Underground Consortium’s
(DUC’s) fi elds I believe that 85-90% of the
actual oil production originates from horizontal
wells. In Denmark we have also been
working actively on the development of the
drilling and completion technologies, which
has had great importance for the development
Offshore Center Danmark
Yearbook 2008
15