Whats Inside

From the
Chairmans Desk
Energy Basket
Nanotechnology

Mumbai Section
June 2015

Application Ofdrag
Reduction
Reducing Non-productive
Time
Yoga : A Scientific
Practice and Tool

newsletter

You Have Two Choices

How ONGC raised its Cadre
Technical Talk
Distinguished Lectures

From the desk of your Section Chairperson Mumbai Chapter

The continuous transformation of civilization from medieval society to modern society has seen
various ages from stone age through bronze age and latest is the soft age or e-age. Soft
communication, soft transaction, soft shopping, soft learning soft or 'e' is the Key word today. SPE
has since long embraced soft management of knowledge through different portals. Following the
trend, Mumbai chapter of SPE hashostednews letter in soft form instead of the regular hard copies,
which we, the members are used to. I am very happy to share the latest edition of the in-house
newsletter SPECTRUM of SPE Mumbai Section and I sincerely hope that members welcome and
appreciate the new makeover of Newsletter.
Though the mode of communication with the members has changed from tangible to intangible, the very essence of our forum has not
changed and is gaining strength in knowledge, activity and capacity day by day.
I am glad to share that GBM was held in OCT. 2014 to elect a new body for SPE year 2014-15.It is also heartening to note that the number of
new members this year in SPE Mumbai chapter has outnumbered those in the previous year. Moreover, to add one more feather in our
cap, SPE International has approved our Section's request for establishing SPE Student Chapter at NowrosjeeWadia College, Pune, which
has been inaugurated on March 21, 2015.
During the period from Nov. 2014 to June 2014, two Technical talks : one on 'Integrated Digital Oil Field'and another on'Impact of wave
height on design of FPSO' were held. A Distinguished lecture on'Lessons Learned in Technology Development And Perforating 'Smart'
Wells' was also organized.These lectures and Technical talks offer a distinguished platform to the SPE members for knowledge sharing as
well as networking.
The young generation always brings in fresh breeze of new ideas, out-of-box thinking and dare-to-use emerging technologies. SPE has
always stressed on involving young professionals into its curriculum for rejuvenation. Thus, a workshop titled '2015 South Asia Young
Professional's Workshop' was held in Bengaluru from 9th to 12th June 2015 to review the views of YP's and catch perceive something
different.
I congratulate and commend the efforts of the team in bringing out this newsletter and all the office bearers for organizing technical
events and all activities of SPE Mumbai Chapter.
Cheers.
T. K. Sengupta, Chairperson - SPE Mumbai Section

Energy Basket: The World in Shifting Dilemma

Shubham Sharma, Baker Hughes
World primary energy consumption is projected to grow by 1.6%
p.a. from 2010 to 2030, adding 39% to global consumption by
2030. We reside in a world marred by energy insecurity and
environmental chaos. Coal and oil continue to occupy a major
chunk of our present energy basket. OECD nations' energy
demand is expected to remain relatively flat over the coming years
whereas the major portion of the non- OECD consumption will be
supported by coal and oil. Therefore, it is these countries that will
have the maximum detrimental environmental impact in terms of
CO2 emission.
Our energy basket need a paradigm shift from the conventional
hydrocarbons to the re-newables which we feel might not be
technically and economically feasible. Or, do we need an indirect
path through the unconventional resources.
Unconventional hydrocarbons namely shale gas, gas hydrates,
CBM, Heavy oil etc. have the ability to play a pivotal role in
ensuring a gradual and smooth transition by easing the demand
pressure on re-newables.
Renewable Resources- nature's healing touch to the growing
environmental concerns, stem from harnessing the force of the
wind, tapping the solar potential, hauling out the nuclear energy
and exploiting the world of biomass. The main hindrance that
exists in the way of an all-out implementation of re-newables is
the Economic factor. The amount of new investment in renewables by the major players in this sector in the last year, 2012
goes like this China: 50 billion dollars, Germany: 41 billion dollars,
USA: 30 billion dollars, Italy: 14 billion dollars, Brazil: 7 billion

dollars. And the trend continues for the next few years.
In contrast, investments in conventional hydrocarbons, say coal is
mere 13.67 billion dollars in one year as compared to hundreds of
billions in renewable resources. But still, re-newables together
contribute just over 16% to the global energy mix while
conventionals continues to dominate with an 81% share.
Comparing the unit electricity generation cost of different
renewable resources with the conventional resources, although it
increases for conventionals whereas the cost of re-newables
keeps decreasing on account of improvement in clean technology
but despite this, a substantial gap still exists between the two.
Thus the dilemma is quite evident: Despite the huge
investments, re-newables do not always become commercially
competitive with coal, gas and oil. To achieve this the IEA has
suggested a further 4.8 trillion dollars in subsidies until 2030.
Hence, the question at hand is are we trying too hard to make
something work which is not yet ready and may not even be worth
it?
Shift of focus towards much cleaner Unconventional resources
and continuous development in renewable energy resources
makes this optimal solution. An ideal energy basket for 2030
should look like Oil 26%; Coal 22%; Gas 12%;
Unconventionals 15%; Nuclear 7%; Biomass 10%; Solar 1%;
Wind 2% and rest 5%
As Al Gore has said, "what gets us into trouble is not what we don't
know, but what we think we know that just ain't so."

Mumbai Section

 NANOTECHNOLOGY A WIND OF CHANGE IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Ajay Kakkad,ONGC
Unless, revolutionary new sources of energy have been
industrialized, yet it appears that we are going to be reliant on
hydrocarbons for the foreseeable future. Even in the most optimistic
and realistic situation the existing sources of energy like wind, water,
solar and geothermal will only make up 15% to 20% of our total
energy by 2035.
A Look in the Direction of Past

Recovery Mechanisms...

shows great promise for meeting challenges involved in

understanding and utilizing the harder-to-reach oil and gas reservoirs
of today.
Let's talk about some basics. What is nano technology?
The prefix nano, derived from the Latin word nanus for dwarf, means
something very small. When we're using it in metric terms, a
nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Think about that! Take a strand
of hair and put at it between your fingers. The
width of that hair is 100,000 nanometers. A
nanometer is about how much your fingernail
grows every second. So a nanometer is really

Primary
Recovery
Natural Flow

Artificial Lift
Pump - Gas Lift Etc.

Secondary
Recovery
Water Flood

Conventional
Recovery

Pressure
Maintenance
Water - Gas Reinjection

Tertairy
Recovery
Thermal

Chemical

Enhanced
Recovery

small.
Why is Oil Industry interested in Nano
Solvent
Others
technology?
The incredibly small size of the nano-scale
materials
creates opportunities for them to
Source : Adapted from the Oil & Gas Journal, Apr. 23, 1990
be injected into oil and gas reservoirs. Geo
scientists have analyzed enough of the oilEven after all of the EOR and IOR steps have been taken, it is still not
bearing sandstones to establish that the pore throat openings
uncommon for 60 70% of the original oil to be left in the reservoir.
commonly
range between 100 and 10,000 nanometers in width.
So, if you think about that, there are billions of barrels of discovered
That's
large
enough for fluids like water, brines, and oil and gas to flow
oil that we're leaving in place.
through
relatively
freely. So if we could put nano-scale tracers or
The U.S. Department of Energy did a study back in 2007 that
sensors
down
a
hole,
they would be small enough to flow through
estimated that there are at least 60 billion barrels of oil remaining in
these
pores,
and
we
could
gain a bunch of valuable information about
the Permian Basin, which is on the border of west Texas and New
the rock and the fluid environment where the oil and gas is found.
Mexico. Remember, these aren't undiscovered oil fields, or deep
How
does nano-scale material act?
water fields, or unconventional oil fields. This is oil that's left behind in
Nano-particles
are the nano-sized materials in the range of
existing fields with existing infrastructure.
1-100
nm.
Nano-particles
have high specific surface area and unique
Why bulk of the Oil remains unrecoverable?
properties,
such
as
high
adsorption
potential and heat conductivity.
Answer to this question is capillary forces that bind the oil molecules
These particles when mixed with base fluids, also called as nanoto the rocks. One can simply demonstrate this concept, take a sponge
fluids,
and used for several application related to upstream oil and gas
and fill it full of water. Squeeze it out into a glass and see how much
industry,
help improve the performance of several processes.
water was absorbed. Now soak the sponge again, and try sucking out
Nano-scalesensorsA
Powerful Tool
the water in the sponge with a straw. It's much harder, isn't it? That's
Right
now,
doctors
are
working to put nano-sensors into the human
analogous to what we're trying to do in an oil field, except that oil also
body to determine where cancer cells might be and here, we're
adheres to the pores in our rock sponge.
looking
into the Earth body and we're putting nano-sensors down
So at this point, knowing that there are billions of barrels of remaining
hole.
What
the nano-scale sensors will give us is a clearer vision, more
oil in place, there is a need for new technologies which can help
data,
so
we
can make smarter interpretations. And with a better idea
improve production from the reservoir and develop new fields.
of
what's
going
on underground we'll be able to recover more
Nanotechnology offers promising solution for the same.
hydrocarbons.
That's
going to be huge for the industry and the world.
Nanotechnology the study of science of materials at nano-scale
Application of Nano-technology
l It is being used in Hydraulic fracturing, where the growing

n u m b e r o f zo n e s t y p i ca l l y f ra c t u re d p u s h e s t h e
performance limits of fracing applications
l It can increase the strength to weight ratio of tubular, and
prevent abrasion and corrosion of equipment with coatings
and alloys developed from nanotechnology
l It can also be used to address the challenges of reservoir
monitoring
Conclusion
What's often not appreciated by the public is how much oil is left
behind in the oil fields, nano-science and nanotechnology may enable
us to sense remotely and directly the bypassed oil and gas that we
could never see or recover before. And with the sensors we're
developing to provide us with more information, we'll be able to

recover even more oil and gas that right now is being abandoned and
left in the ground. It can also help delay peak oil. To maintain our
quality of life, we're going to continue to need affordable, safe and
secure energy. Nano is one of the new revolutions in technology that
will make that happen.
About the Author:
A K Kakkad holds BE (Mech) from MS University,
Baroda (Now, Vadodara) India. He is Deputy
General Manager (Production), presently
posted in Pipeline Section (Offshore logistics) of
ONGC in Mumbai. Prior to joining ONGC he has
worked in Quality Control Department of M/s
ABB, Baroda for seven years

Successful Application OfDrag Reducer In Offshore Pipelines

Vaibhav Toshniwal, Bakerhughes
Normally worldwide pipelines are used to carry fluid (Oil + Gas +
Water) from offshore installation/ different crude producing zone /
well heads to processing terminal.
Pipelines are used to carry the Crude from different platform to
processing terminal as they economically most viable solution and
operationally most effective, but as the reservoir conditions keeps on
changing it makes it very difficult to find out the most optimum
pipeline design to transport the crude.
Due to increase in production of gross fluid (oil and water),
differential pressure across sub-sea pipelines has increased and
hence back pressure to the wells has increased. This affects the
productivity of wells.
Hence they are not able to fully extract crude with the existing
pipeline and the cost involved to lay another pipeline is very high and
time consuming. It may also keep the production on hold for some
time, which is high cost to the company.
Drag Reducing Agents reduce the frictional pressure within the
flow of a pipeline it acts as buffers along the pipe wall that decrease
the amount of energy lost in turbulent formation. Using drag reducing
agents enables operators to increase pipeline flow using the same
amount of energy, or decrease the pressure drop for the same fluid
flow rate will leads to increase the production/ increase the efficiency
of pipeline.
In the final paper we will be demonstrating what was the problem
client was facing, and how we solved the problem by using the history
of the pipeline, water cut, oil properties, water chemistry, how we
approached the problem, execution of the successful work, results,
conclusions and recommendations.
Normally worldwide pipeline are used to carry fluid from offshore
installation to processing terminal.
Initially oil tanker used to do this job, but due to quality, safety,
time require, volume etc. was not feasible and the use of pipeline give
first priority.
Depending on the length of the pipeline and the quantity of the
fluid to be pumped, the eccencity was good in the initial stages and
started detoriating with time. The cost involved to lay another
pipeline or increase the volume carrying capacity of the existing
pipeline is very high and time consuming.

Methods, Procedures, Process:

l Past 3-4 Month history of the pipeline.

The water cut of the pipe line was more then 80-85%.
l Client is not able to recover the Oil as back pressure from the
pipe line connecting the offshore terminal to processing
platform was high
l Based on the water chemical and oil properties, Baker
Hughes specially designed a product for the Client high water
cut pipeline.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
l Trial started with 200 PPM concentration and gradually
reduces it to 40 PPM.
Results are as follows
Sr No
Dosage
Sea Line
Base pressure of
Pressure
based on
Pressure
the line without
drop
total fluids
in PSI
any DRA injection Observed
Before
trial
0
221
1
200
201
The average sea
21
2
150
193
line pressure is
30
3
100
197
(221+223)/2= 222
25
4
80
200
psi
22
5
60
195
27
6
40
199
23
After
trial
0
223
Observation/ Conclusion
l With just 40 PPM injection the pressure drop achieved was
23 PSI/ 1.57 Bar, in the sea line pipeline carrying 80-85%
water.
l This helps the client to increase the production of oil by
10- 15%.
About the Author:
Vaibhav Toshniwal is a B.Tech in Chemical
Technology. He is working as a Lead
Engineer with Upstream Chemical
division of Baker Hughes since 5 years.

Reducing Non Productive Time- Need of the hour for oil and gas industry
Ajay Kumar Bhatia
Consultant, Ex General Manager (Resevoir) ONGC
Drilling of wells is a prime activity of all the E&P companies. Every year
billions of dollars are spent on well construction and revival of old
wells by side tracking the existing wells. It is a well-known fact that
those 80% components of well construction cost is due to the drilling/
work over rig which is hired on day rate basis. However, during past 20
years there has been steady rise in daily rates of rig as well as there is a
decline in drilling efficiency. It is observed that there is a big
proportion of non -productive time at the drilling rigs which gets built
in the well cost. Many companies add some percentage of cost during
their AFE process as NPT cost. Rising well construction costs and
falling crude oil prices is telling hard on operators who are finding
difficult to maintain production (Revenue and Profits).
The cost overruns due to NPT can easily manifest during well
construction due to unexpected issues like lost returns, stuck pipes,
narrow pore pressures and leak-offs. Moreover adverse weather can
cause time overrun by delayed delivery of materials and men. Drilling
String and down-hole equipment failures can result in significant
increase in number of trips adding to the non- productive time. It has
been observed that this can range from 15% to as high as 40% as per
the available data. In a recent report by OG 21 (Published in Oct 2014),
the drilling efficiency has gone significantly down with respect to
what it was 20 years ago.
The decline in the drilling efficiency over the past 20 years or so has
been studied by various operating companies and reasons may be
many. The same is also being felt by the members of IADC who in the
recent post OTC meet in may 2015 expressed the need to reduce NPT.
There are several reasons for this decline and some major reasons are
as under
l The drilling activity in old fields is more complicated due to
depleted zones inter bedded in the unexploited zones causing
differentially stuck pipes and fishing of drill string as well as other
tools.
l The newly discovered plays have abnormal pressure conditions.
l Drilling through unconventional reservoirs is in a developing
stage and most of the operators are yet to adopt latest technologies
like MPD.
l Carbonate reservoirs are prone to mudloss in zones where
formations have undergone Karstification. Although these are being
drilled with some difficulty over the years, the problem has
aggravated today with the depletion of reservoir pressure and
methods of loss control are same.
Many reasons of non productive time at drilling/ work over rigs is
actually not in the control of operators. However, there are many
other commonly known reasons of NPT which are controllable with
better planning and monitoring during execution. Some of these
factors are listed below:
Electrical, Mechanical, Drilling and Production equipment repair:
These can be easily managed by planning and executing preventive
maintenance of equipment prior to actual start of the job. In order to
prevent this prior warning of equipment maintenance should form a
part of execution of drilling.

Cement Bond Repair:

This condition occurs due to not executing the job as planned or by
not anticipating the down-hole condition prior to commencement of
cementing operation. Hence this can be eliminated by carrying out a
comprehensive root cause analysis so that once it happens, the
lessons learnt can be adopted for planning and executing proper
primary cementation job that does not require secondary job for
improving cement bondage.
Waiting for men, material, logistics and other services
This is a problem which is related to not anticipating the requirement
timely. The data shows that there is significant NPT on this account
which shows that there is lack of proper scheduling and timely
mobilization of men, materials and services. Hence to avoid this
recurring problem the Asset Manager needs to have fore warning or
24 hr, 48 hr and weekly look- ahead of requirements at the rig so that
time wastage on this account can be avoided. We need to build this in
the execution module.
Waiting for decision
This NPT occurs due to an unplanned situation not anticipated during
planning. Here in the planning module all possible alternatives need
to be incorporated which can be anticipated during the execution
stage wherein alerts can be sounded for likely change in the drilling
plan.
Complications
These need to be addressed with technology rather than any
planning/ monitoring tool. However, in order to carry out a robust
root cause analysis before looking for technology a tool needs to be
built in. This would enable the operator to select right kind of
technology solution to be adopted to meet or to avoid the recurrence
of complicated situation.
Mudloss:
This is a very common cause of NPT which occurs due to presence of
large cavernous zones in carbonate reservoirs or while drilling with
high ECD induced fractures are created which lead to such conditions.
Sometimes when drilling through highly depleted reservoirs mudloss
occurs. However, such conditions can be handled if specified in plan
and the appropriate drilling technique can be adopted.
Thus there is an opportunity to cut down the non-productive time
components by robust planning and execution platform. The need of
hour today in the industry is to sustain though the current low oil price
situation. This can be achieved by operators and service providers
working hand in hand to cut down the well cost and make the
operations more sustainable.
About the Author:
Ajay Kumar Bhatia is a Senior Consulting Engineer
with ONGC. He is a Post Graduate in Chemistry
having 37 years of experience as a reservoir
engineering in ONGC. He started his career in
September 1978 as AE (Res) at ONGC, Ahmedabad
and thereafter worked in various capacities in
different regions and oil/gas fields in India.

"Yoga : A scientific practice and a tool for stress management and wellness"
-Saurabh Kumar Akhouri.,
B Tech(Petroleum),ISM, PGDDP(IGIDR), MBA(GIM), Executive-CS, Managing Partner, CTC,LLP,
Introduction
Yoga has hitherto been seen in the limelight. After a long stint of
international presence, recently this year during the visit of our
PM Mr. Narendra Modi in UN, 174 nations passed the resolution of
observing 21st June 2015 as International Yoga day. It was being
celebrated all over the world and in India as a National Festival
under the stewardship of our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
while article was being prepared. Yoga has gained so much
popularity.
Why Yoga has become so popular and important part of our lives?
Ancient Yog of India practiced by sages and hermits of India to
keep themselves healthy and of sound mind was documented by
Patanjali in the book Yog Darshan. It was practiced as Yam, Niyam,
Ahar, Pratyahar, Vichar Dharna and Dhyan. These are depicted as
various postures to activate various organs and energy center in
the body. These postures are called asanas. The type of asanas or
mudras are Padmasan( Lotus Posture), Kurmasan ( Tortoise
posture), Tadasan( Palm Tree Posture) , Shalbhasan ( Butterfly
Posture) , Bhujangasan( Snake Posture). Each Yoga Posture has
different purpose to cure different diseases. Then there are yogic
postures like Surya Namaskar, Pranayam , Kapal Bhati etc. To keep
one focused and of sound and peaceful mind and to have proper
work habit meditation and pranayama is very useful. Yog became
Yoga when Gurus and Yog veterans went abroad and foreigners
got benefitted with this. Now in US 1 crore people practice Yoga.
When PM Modi was on China Visit he found that Chinese martial
art and Indian Yog were practiced side by side. Due to rising
popularity of Yoga in US and Europe there was attempt to rename
the same and got it patented but it was well fought by India and
with International acceptance of UN from an Indian Prime
minister Yoga is being seen as alternative medicine. In India there
is a special ministry to develop Yoga further called Ministry of
Aayush and which is headed by Shreepad Naik. Yoga not only
helps in keeping diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, heart
ailment, kidney and liver malfunction away but also helps brain
and mind active and alert. Meditation which is also part of Yoga
gives mind peace. In today's rapidly changing complex world one
needs sound mind in sound body and a half an hour practice daily
by working professionals would help them a lot. In Industry like oil
and gas where one has to always remain alert, practice of Yoga
would certainly give fillip and protection to work ethos and
wouldhelp getting effectiveness. In Sanskrit it is told "Yogah
Karmsu Kaushalam" (Means Yoga makes a deed efficient).
Myths about Yoga
Intellectuals hitherto considered Yoga as a religious practice

connected to Hinduism. But it has been proved by Doctors that

Yoga is scientific. For past 10 years in Defense Research
Development Organization, study is being conducted on soldiers
who practice yoga and are on border areas, and found that due to
practice of Yoga their general health and wellness improves. So
Yoga is now being established as a science and proper
professionals to be deployed as Yoga Instructors are being made
ready by the Government through various Universities and Yoga
Schools.On International Yoga Day 46 Muslim Countries gave their
nod to participate .
Conclusion
Professionals in various sectors who are doing stress prone jobs
must adopt yoga as part and partial of their daily routine. This
would not only help them keep calm under stress but ward away
many stress related diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure,
heart ailment. A general well being and cheerfulness would
prevail in their lives leading to a work life balance.
About the Author:
Saurabh Kumar Akhouri is an alumnus of
Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. He
completed his Bachelor of Technology in
Petroleum Engineering in 1991. He has 24
years of experience in various capacities in
multidisciplinary functions in most of the
value chain of oil and gas. He is a techno
commercial consultant & Managing Partner at Commercial
Technical Consulting LLP, Mumbai looking after oil and gas,
marine, mining and infra sectors.

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YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES!

Ajay Kakkad , ONGC
Jerry is manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would

still in his body!

always reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

Many of the waiters at his restaurant used to quit their jobs when

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.When I asked him

Jerry changed jobs, so that they could follow him around from

how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I would be twins!

restaurant to restaurant.

Want to see my scars?

Why?
Because Jerry was a natural motivator.If an employee was having a

I declined to see his wounds but did ask him what was going
through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that

bad day, Jerry was always there, telling the employee how to look

went through my mind was that I should have locked the back

on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made

door," Jerry replied. "Then after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I

me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't

remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I

get it! No one can be a positive person all the time. How do you do

could choose to die. I chose to live.

it?
"Weren't you scared?" I asked.
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have
two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me

choose to be in a bad mood. I always choose to be in a good mood.

that I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I

emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the

can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.Every

doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a

time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept

dead man.' And I knew I needed to take action.

their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I

always choose the positive side of life.
"But it's not always that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is." Jerry said.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry.
"She asked me if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The
doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I
took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told

"Life is all about choices.

When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or a bad mood.
It's your choice how you live your life.

them, 'I'm choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I'm alive,

and not dead'.
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude. I learned from him that:
Everyday you have a choice to either enjoy your day or to hate it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something that you are

The only thing that is truly yours- that no one can control or take

never expected to do in a restaurant business. He left the back

from you- is your attitude. So if you can take care of that,

door of his restaurant open. And then? In the morning, he was

everything in life becomes much easier.

robbed by three armed men. They forced Jerry to open the safe
box. While Jerry was trying to open it, his hand, shaking from
nervousness, slipped of the combination. The robbers panicked
and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the
hospital. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,

Now you've two choices to make:

1. You can just read and forget this story
2. You can share it with someone you care about.

How ONGC raised its cadre man-by-man

RAJ KANWAR
ONGC's first teething trouble after its birth was the unavailability of trained manpower in the various disciplines required in operating an E&P company. How
ONGC's founder KD Malaviya and his lieutenants faced and solved that problem is a remarkable story of ingenuity and sheer bravado. In this piece, the writer
recounts those initial challenging years.

IN the mid-1950s, there were not many people acquainted with or

experienced in the handful of disciplines connected with exploration
and drilling operations in the petroleum industry. Assam Oil Company
was the only other exploration and production company in the country.
Being a government company, it was not easy for ONGC, for obvious
reasons, to entice Assam Oil's employees. ONGC could not then even
remotely match the salaries and perks that the British company paid to
its employees. Additionally, there were quite a few Indians then
working with British controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in Iran.
Obviously, their employees too were paid international salaries; thus
only a handful of the expatriates responded to ONGC's call. It was not
easy for the father of Indian petroleum industry, KD Malaviya, and his
two lieutenants, AMN Ghosh and MBR Rao to find suitably qualified
personnel for the nascent company. Recruiting fresh post-graduates in
geology, physics and mathematics from Indian universities appeared
the only way forward and then give them theoretical and hands-on
training.
On instructions from Malaviya, ONGC invited applications through the
Union Public Service Commission for 52 apprentice-geologists and 77
apprentice-geophysicists in May 1956.The entire interview process was
fast-tracked and letters of appointment to 129 young men were issued
in the beginning of August 1956. Those apprentices were to be Class I
gazetted officers subject to passing a qualifying examination later after
the completion of their training etc. These brilliant apprentices were
given the sobriquet of young pioneers many of whom rose to higher
positions in ONGC. Among them were LL Bhandari and PK Chandra who
later became or officiated as ONGC's chairmen. There were many
others such like Dr. Inderjit Singh, Krishan Kumar, IA Farooqi, VS Depura,
BN and PK Srivastava, VK Varma, Dr. S Ramanathan, DN Avasthi, KN
Bhave, J Natrajan, JS Mishra, RB Mehrotra, Kaila, DP Mahapatra, Ashok
Kumar, PK Kulkarni and quite a few others who went on to distinguish
themselves in numerous responsible positions.
Senior geoscientists from GSI
Fortunately, ONGC then was able to attract some senior geoscientists
from Geological Survey of India (GSI) and elsewhere. They were LP
Mathur, Balwant Singh Negi, BG Despande, Gautam Kohli, MC Poddar,
Dr. DK Chandra, CKR Sastry, SN Sengupta, AN Dutta, TS Balakrishnan, AC
Rangachari, AM Awasthi, RS Mittal, BM Shukla, S Aditya, D
Venkataraman, SV Deshikacher, T Banerjee, MM Dey, Dr. CP Verma, Dr.
PR Sinha, SM Bhattacharya, Dr. K Narayanan, Dr. MK Indra and SN
Talukdar. Dr. Hari Narain had come from Australia and was instrumental
in founding the KDMIPE. Krishna Kant joined as a chemist at
Jwalamukhi.
The young engineers
Another batch of young engineers joined ONGC towards end 1950s.
Among them were RK Dhir, J Swarup, SK Manglik, Anil K Gupta and
some others. SK Manglik retired as ONGC's chairman and was
instrumental in successfully steering ONGC froma corporation to a
corporate entity. It was a great achievement and his contribution was
widely acclaimed. Likewise, Dhir, Swarup and Gupta rose to the
position of regional directors and enjoyed an impeccable reputation.
The ace troubleshooter
All those who joined ONGC in its infancy played a sterling role in the

technological development of ONGC, and were instrumental in

creating a large workforce of dedicated geophysicists thereby giving
ONGC a strong technical base. BS Negi was its chairman for nearly three
years and a half, albeit with a dubious 'officiating' tag. The trio of LP
Mathur, BG Despande and Dr. Hari Narainwas able to take ONGC to
greater heights at international level. MA Ghanapathy was
instrumental in setting up ONGC's geophysical laboratories and
organized its logistics. GD Sharma was among the few gifted
technicians who joined ONGC at that time and rose on to become a
senior driller and an ace troubleshooter who could repair and fix
anything that needed fixing. In no time, his reputation spread far and
wide as an ace troubleshooter.
Gautam Kohli was a brilliant geologist and married Indira (Bulbul)
Rawlley. Unfortunately, his brilliant career was cut short when he died
in an Air India flight 101 from Bombay to London that had crashed on
Mont Blanc in France on 24 January 1966. It was shocking news for
Indira and all of us. However, with unbounded courage and fortitude,
Mrs Kohlirebuilt her life as a Russian interpreter and more than proved
her mettle in ONGC. Hugh P. Arahna was another Indian expat from the
Middle East; he gradually built man-by-man ONGC's production
department. He was later instrumental in bringing Cambay,
Ankleshwar and Bombay High on production.
Fortunately for ONGC, Malaviya had ensured a satisfactory
administrative set up at Tel Bhawan. He had brought Ekbal Chand, an
IAS officer from Hyderabad as ONGC's first secretary. His # 2 PK Sarkar
was equally an efficient and no-nonsense officer.
Finding drillers was a tough job
It was the recruitment of drillers that had caused much headache.
There was neither a drilling school then nor is iteven today. Malaviya
felt that ONGC would not be able to achieve anything worthwhile if it
didn't find thedrillers. The Union Public Service Commission at that
time was the sole channelfor recruiting Class I and Class II officers for
government of India,Union Territories and government companies and
Institutions such as ONGC, GSI etc. Malaviya was realistic enough to
realize that he couldn't possibly find drillers via the regular recruitment
routeand he felt that an orthodox approach was needed if he were to
recruit drillers. Somehow, he managed to obtain a 'No Objection
Certificate' from UPSC that permitted ONGC Directorate to recruit
drillers directly. A word was let out that ONGC was looking for oil well
drillers with recent academic background and some practical
experience. The first batch of ONGC drillers included KC Chandra, MD
Nautiyal, VK Arora, SK Das, IB Roy, RS Morton, Digin Ray and Inderjeet
Singh. Almost all of them were engineers and joined as drilling
assistants. After a six-month training with Assam Oil Company, they
were promoted as assistant drillers.
Thereafter, they were sent to the Soviet Union for two years training in
drilling technology. They had all been given a refresher course in
Russian language before their departure from India. For those rookie
drillers, it was an opportunity of lifetime. These drilling pioneers were
later to become ONGC's ace drillers and achieved some remarkable
feats.
Raj Kanwar is the author of the official history of ONGC published in
2006 under the title UPSTREAM INDIA.

TECHNICAL TALK
Integrated Digital Oil Field
Mr. RajaperumalJagannathan,
Weatherford International, Abu Dhabi
A Technical talk was organized by Mumbai SPE section on 30th

exhibited that in each domain, every individual's efficiency can be

Oct. 2014. The speaker was Mr. Rajaperumal Jagannathan of

maximized by using recent advances in measurements, analysis

Weatherford International, Abu Dhabi who spoke on the

and information technology.

challenges and solutions to Integrated Digital Oil Fields. One of

the main challenges in integrated Digital Oil Field (iDOF) is the
workflow integration of multiple engineering groups, such as
reservoir, well and surface production. Operators need to
streamline the workflows of various groups involved in managing
the asset, compile real-time data from various domains, and use
both real-time and historical data to optimize individual wells

He spoke about iDOF solution which is designed and developed

to help oil and gas producers achieve their real- time optimization
and analysis objectives. The iDOF solution provides Intelligent and
efficient production optimization solution of assets through full
automation of daily production engineering tasks that are
typically performed on a manual basis.

and the entire field. The speaker through his presentation

Impact of wave height on design of FPSO

Mr. BalakrishnaMenon,
SP and Bumi Armada, Singapore
The objective of the presentation was to demonstrate the

mooring system behavior, topside design and vessel accelerations

behavior of a turret moored floater when exposed to extreme

including the shipping of green water. Videos from scaled model

waves. The session covered explanation of basic differences

test for a harsh weather shallow water field and the non-linearity

between a fixed platform and a floater exposed to high seas and

were also demonstrated. The presentation touched upon effect of

critical wave parameters as applied to floaters. The session

wave induced motions on structural behavior of hull as well as

highlighted impact of increase in the design wave height on

topsides and concluded with the key points on the topic

Inauguration & handing over of SPE Students Chapter, Nowrosjee Wadia College Pune
It was a day to remember in the history of Oil & Gas industry in
India as it marked the inauguration of SPE Students Chapter,
Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune on 21 March 2015.
Thank you for inviting me to join you here today and to share with
you this joyous moment said the chief guest of the day S K Moitra,
Program Chairperson SPE Mumbai Section & Executive Director,
Asset Manager B & S Asset, ONGC. Inaugurating the chapter he
congratulated the college & told that the students should take
advantage of this platform & interact with industry peers for their
knowledge building. SPE is always at the forefront of providing
platform to oil professionals for sharing ideas and takes the lead to
try new initiatives, while at the same time upholds its fine

individual efforts are required to find new innovative solutions. To

tradition.

cope with changes, and to ensure changes help develop our

He told that with the rapid development of science and

society, our young generation has to understand these complex

technology, the oil & gas industry is now facing complex problems

problems, to be highly knowledgeable, to be able to work

that we have never faced before.

collaboratively and in teams, and to be capable of exercising moral

Global, community and

judgment and to take a global perspective.

DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
Lessons Learned in Technology DevelopmentAnd Perforating 'Smart' Wells
Curtis G. Blount
Conoco Phillips Drilling and Completions
smart wells. The presentation also highlighted the tools and
techniques available to perforate these types of completions,
while avoiding damage to external control lines, cables, gauges,
fiber optic lines, and other critical completion equipment.
Discussions covered a brief history and limitations of currently
available tools and techniques. Details of testing and tool
developments were also discussed followed by lessons learned
from a mullet-well field program.
Curtis presenting his paper
About the Speaker :
Curtis GG. Blount is Sr. Fellow Advisor for Conoco Phillips in the
Houston based Global Well Technology Group specializing in
advancing technology applied in challenging and harsh
environments. He has been active in CT and well intervention
research and applied technology development for more than 25
years. Blount has coauthored more than 30 technical papers and
holds over 20 patents. He is an active participant serving on
numerous SPE committees. Curt was an SPE Distinguished
Lecturer on CT Drilling technology for 2002-2003, SPE Alaska
chapter's Engineer of the Year for 2003, and is SPE's Drilling and
Completion award recipient for 2007. Blount served on Drilling

Appreciating the memento

The instrumented 'smart' well development program discussed in

and Completion's Advisory Committee and was chairman of the

his presentation included six wells ranging from a 22,600'

SPEE Distinguished Lecturer Committee ((2010-2011) .

About his presentation :
The DL speaker started his presentation on the note, that,

measured depth vertical well to 3 horizontal completions with

measured depths exceeding 16,000'. The program included
running over 20 logs ranging from magnetic based detection tools

developing new technology is often considered risky,

to ultrasonic tools, and perforating 129 separate intervals. Results

misunderstood, and prone to time and budget over-runs. Through

of testing, available tools and details of development of new

his presentation he used a recent 'smart' well technology

equipment, tools and techniques were also discussed. He

development program as an example of challenges in new

emphasized as his closing remark that no external cables or other

technology development. The presentation also discussed

smart well components were damaged during the 129 perforating

challenges of introducing new technology, and pitfalls that are

often encountered that perpetuate the 'not in my well' attitude

operations.
The presentation was followed by many a questions from the

that is often heard when introducing new technology.

As increasing numbers of 'smart' and instrumented wells are being

inquisitive audience and were aptly answered by Mr. Curtis GG.

Blount.

completed worldwide, the speaker asserted that, many of these

types of completions will require perforating as part of the initial
completion and many more may require perforating at some time
during the life of the well. He also informed that even completions
that do not require perforating, such as common packer/sliding
sleeve open hole completions, still rely on perforation technology
to provide a backup contingency. His presentation identified
challenges and methods developed to mitigate problems
associated with and to enable perforating instrumented and
Engrossed audience

BOARD MEMBERS
2015

reghu.padmanabhan@me.weatherford.com

Edited & Compiled By : Mrs Chailati Dutta

Section Director, SPE Mumbai Section

Designed By : Mr. Mohit Kapoor

Officer, SPE Mumbai Section