ABOUT US

Pioneers in Technology

At Cairn, we are constantly on the lookout for innovative technologies, great ideas that will help us find and develop new resources, and state-of-the-art innovations that improve efficiency and make our operations more cost-effective.

The technology deployed at Cairn not only helps the organisation to find new oil and gas resources but also help recover more resources from operating fields. The company has undertaken several global firsts to date:

  • First company in India to apply micro seismic hydrofrac monitoring technology
  • Executed the world’s largest jet-pump operation
  • World’s largest Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) polymer flood project
  • World’s largest Alkaline Surfactant Polymer (ASP) project
  • World’s longest continuously heated and insulated oil pipeline, Mangala
  • Longest Horizontal Well in India
  • First 4D Seismic in India
  • First-of-its-kind Petro-technical cloud project to adopt and implement its own cloud platform for upstream interpretation

HERE ARE SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGIES CAIRN DEPLOYS:

3D SEISMIC

3D seismic is a powerful method of geophysics used for hydrocarbon exploration and field development. It provides detailed information about the subsurface structures, geophysical fault distribution, exploration prospect identifying and de-risking and reservoir prediction to build high-resolution geological models in the areas of interest.

Cairn's state-of-the-art seismic imaging technology lies in the structurally complex central basin area of the Rajasthan block

• Mapping the new seismic image provides structural enhancement and detailed reservoir architecture for the Raageshwari area and has been key for reducing development drilling risks
• Cairn implemented an innovative workflow of merging two existing seismic vintages with different orientations for generating high-quality seismic images in the Mangala field
• State-of-the-art local angle domain seismic imaging technology provides better definition of main bounding and intra-field faults for reducing drilling risk in attic oil development of Bhagyam field
• Application of stochastic inversion technology is used to delineate thin beds of Fatehgarh reservoir and building a detailed reservoir model for reducing development drilling risks in the Aishwariya field
• Mega merge seismic PSTM and PSDM processing combines all individual 3D surveys into a single seamless seismic volume for identifying and derisking new exploration prospects in the Rajasthan block

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HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

Hydraulic fracturing is the process of providing a conducive path for hydrocarbons to flow from the reservoir to the wellbore, in low permeability reservoirs by 'high-pressure injection of fracking fluid, primarily - water containing sand or other proppants.' Over the past decade, Cairn has extensively utilised hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as a key technology to appraise and develop tight oil and tight gas fields.

Cairn has also been at the forefront of successfully fracking in volcanic gas reservoir systems and has executed one of the biggest commercial developments of tight volcanic reservoirs in the world. This included advanced fracture diagnostics and the application of limited entry fracturing to maximise reservoir pay coverage from 60% to 85%.

  • Cairn successfully placed the largest frac (430K lbs per stage proppants) job in India in one of the Raageshwwari Deep Gas field (RDG) wells which further improved operation efficiency (reduction in days from 4.5 to 2.2 per frac)
  • Cairn used limited entry technique to increase reservoir coverage from 60 % to 85%. Expected ultimate recovery from the RDG field upgraded by ~25% because of the successful application of hydro frac technology and better reservoir characterization
  • Addressable switch technology implemented for perforating multiple zones in a single E-line run, evaluating and implementing fibre-assisted frac technology to increase fracture conductivity and reduce cost per frac by ~50%
  • Multiple wells in Barmer Hill formations are being accessed in tandem leading to operational excellence
  • Longest onshore 6” lateral section (1380m) in India drilled in Aishwariya Barmer Hill using Periscope HD tool
  • Successful fracturing of more than 150 stages using Broadband Precision Integrated completion service method
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ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Enhanced Oil Recovery through polymer flooding is a technology used for improving oil recovery - particularly in older and declining oil reservoirs containing viscous crude oil. The addition of polymers to the water enables a better displacement of oil and improves the recovery factor.

EOR increases the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from a field, over and above conventional primary depletion, or basic water flooding, which typically will recover 20-40% of the Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place (STOIIP). EOR is used for improving oil recovery, particularly in older and declining oil reservoirs.

• Successful full-field peak polymer injection (520 kbpd) achieved in the Mangala field; all five formations of Mangala being targeted
• World’s largest centralized polymer mixing facility with a capacity of 80,000 blpd of 15,000 ppm mother solution operational at the site
• Water cut decrease observed in multiple wells pointing to excellent reservoir response
• Mangala field has produced over 34% of its initial oil in place within 12 years of the start of production due to an aggressive EOR strategy
• The polymer EOR method is expanded to Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields. Improved oil production was observed in the initial phase

ARTIFICIAL LIFT

Artificial lift provides energy to lift fluids to the surface and improve well productivity. Of approximately one million oil and gas wells across the world, more than 90% flow on artificial lifts. At Cairn, more than 95% of the total hydrocarbons produced are artificially lifted using fit-for-purpose artificial lift technologies. The organisation is at the forefront of installing a wide range of cutting-edge artificial lift techniques to optimise and extend production. The primary methods of artificial lift in use at Cairn are jet-pump, Electric Submersible Pump (ESP), Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP), Sucker Rod Pump (SRP), and gas lift.

SKIN EFFECT HEAT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Cairn built the Mangala Development Pipeline (MDP), which is the world’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline (670 km), starting from the Mangala Processing Terminal to the Gujarat coast in Bhogat via Salaya, for transporting crude oil. The pipeline passes through eight districts and more than 250 villages. In addition, there are four branch lines ranging from 2.5 km to 21 km, delivering crude to locations en route. The MDP is not a conventional pipeline. Its technological ingenuity was necessitated on account of the waxy nature of crude oil. The challenge was to ensure that the crude oil remains above the Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT) of 65°C throughout its entire length. This required Cairn to build a continuously heated and insulated pipeline to maintain mobility and flow through over the oil’s movement through the entire length of the pipeline.

A dedicated state-of-the-art Skin Effect Heat Management System (SEHMS) and power generation infrastructure has been deployed all along the pipeline to maintain optimum temperature requirements for uninterrupted flow of crude oil. The pipeline has been in operation since June 2010. Its heat output meets all design requirements and is highly reliable.

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Alkaline Surfactant Polymer

Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding is a method whereby alkali, surfactant, and polymer are injected into the reservoir to flush out crude. Polymers increase the viscosity of injected water, which improves macroscopic sweep efficiency by stabilizing the displacing front and counteracting heterogeneity effects. Surfactants, on the other hand, decrease the interfacial tension between the injected water and crude oil, which improves microscopic displacement efficiency by mobilizing trapped oil. Alkaline chemicals generate soap when reacting with crude oil, which reduces surfactant adsorption to grain surfaces.

Innovation in Concept Optimization

  • Reduction of field installation time and cost by using 'Spool-able Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipe' instead of DSS lines
  • Skid-based modular polymer mother solution preparation unit instead of the conventional plant to reduce execution time and onsite construction and provide flexibility for relocation
  • Low invasive drilling fluid system to control wellbore damage