American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2016 - 73

SpecialReport: Improved Oil Recovery
prevent losses from reoccurring. He adds
that Allied Oil & Gas Services is applying
the technology successfully in both cementing and drilling fluid applications.
"Loss of drilling fluid and cement can
lead to substantial increases in unforeseen
costs," Simon observes. "Having a technically engineered solution for our customers is critical, as time is money. This
is even more evident in today's market."
He describes SealCheck as an economic
alternative to lightweight beaded systems,
which he says generally are implemented
to reduce hydrostatic pressures to avoid
initiating new fractures.
The product prevents cement fallback
during primary cementing to ensure the
desired top-of-cement, which eliminates
costly remedial operations and helps reestablish circulation in drilling applications,
thereby preventing continued loss of expensive drilling fluids, Simon says. It
does not require a new application process
or equipment, and can be deployed as
needed with conventional methods, he
adds.
FeatherWeight is the company's lightweight-technology blend capable of obtaining superior set properties at ultralow
densities, he says.
Stimulation Pulses
Calgary-based Blue Spark Energy Inc.
is seeing growing interest in its wirelineapplied stimulation pulses, or WASP®
technology, which is designed to enhance
oil flow in new or poorly producing wells,
recover reserves from nonproducing wells,
and increase flow in injector and disposal
wells, says CEO Todd Parker.
Used in place of acidizing and explosives to remove blockages between the
wellbore and reservoirs, the WASP tool,
which is lowered by conventional wireline,
sends a rapid, high-powered pulse through
perforations and into the reservoir at the
depths of blockages, he explains.
Each high-powered shock wave travels
at more than 1,500 meters a second, and
is followed by a 10,000 psi high-pressure
pulse, Parker says.
"We use about the same amount of
energy that is in a tablespoon of orange
juice, and from that we create a pressure
pulse that is about 240 megawatts in
power," he reveals. "Our WASP is run at
the bottom of a cable into the wellbore
and positioned where the blockage or
disconnect between the reservoir and the
wellbore exists. On the surface, we literally
unplug the coffee pot and plug in our

The wireline-applied stimulation pulses technology employed by Blue Spark Energy's
WASP® tool clears blockages between the wellbore and reservoirs with high-powered
shock waves and high-pressure pulses, describes Chief Executive Officer Todd Parker.

tool, and send very small amounts of
electrical energy down the cable."
The tool charges four to five seconds
before releasing the shock wave, Parker
continues, adding that during the procedure, the wellbore must contain fluid-either oil or produced water.
Parker compares the surge of power
to the mechanical energy of a catapult,
which can hurl a giant bolder a considerable distance with one quick burst of
power when the wind-up mechanism is
released.
"We developed a technology whereby
we store a small amount of electrical
energy and release it in a very brief burst,"
he says. "It's like a lightning bolt. We use
that energy to create both a shock wave,
which is the thunder clap, and a highpressure zone around the tool itself."
As of mid-January, the company had
used the tool to remediate more than 300
wells from offices in the Mid-Continent,
California's San Joaquin Valley, the Permian Basin, and internationally from locations in Scotland and Romania, Parker
reports.
Where the tool can be used, he says it
can have advantages over acids and other
chemicals because the WASP can be
spotted and deployed without packers or
cup systems. Parker points out that while
acid and other chemical treatments flow
along the path of least resistance, the
sudden burst of energy from the WASP
acts more on the material immediately
around it, and will try to dislodge anything
in its path.
Also absent is the risk of acid formulas
that can have a potentially adverse reaction

with reservoir rock, he goes on. Explosives
can also inadvertently perforate the wrong
zone, Parker adds.
"When you put our tool in the wellbore,
one of the worst things that can happen
is nothing," he muses.
The cost of a WASP treatment on a
standard Permian Basin well ranges from
$6,000 to $7,000, he says.
Parker mentions that the WASP also
can help create cracks in formation rock
prior to hydraulic fracturing, and he says
interest in offshore applications is growing
as operators seek to lower risks created
by transporting acids and explosives. He
mentions the technology is being used
in the North Sea to clean completions
equipment as well.
Small-Scale SAGD
Using small-scale steam-assisted gravity drainage plants is helping Husky Energy Inc. produce heavy oil in western
Saskatchewan at a substantially lower
cost, compared with large SAGD operations in neighboring Alberta, attests Mel
Duvall, media and issues manager for
the Calgary-based company.
"Our heavy-oil thermal projects are
part of our portfolio of low-cost, capitalsustaining projects," Duvall says. "We
use a modular, copy-and-paste approach
for design, construction and operation.
Engineering on these types of projects
typically runs in the $40 million-$50 million range. Our approach has enabled us
to reduce engineering costs by more than
two-thirds with a timeline from project
sanction to first production of less than
30 months."
FEBRUARY 2016 73

American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2016

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