Incorporating the Most Valuable Resource to Improve NPDES Compliance

1. Real World Surveillance, LLC 22nd Annual Produced Water Society Seminar January 17, 18, 19th, 2012 Incorporating the Most Valuable Resource to Improve NPDES Compliance • Real World Surveillance, LLC Telephone: 601.250.6256 Johnny D. Richard, Owner/Operator Cell: 601.551.0395 • Certified Minority/Veteran Business EnterpriseEmail: rws-llc@att.net • Website: www.realworldeye.com Email: contactrws@realworldeye.com “A Hands On, Eyes Open Company” “A Real Eye in the Real World”

2. REAL WORLD SURVEILLANCE LLC, ORGANIZATIONAL CHART ME – Johnny D. Richard (Whole Package) I (Formal Report & Training) MYSELF (Data & Summary) Improve NPDES Performance, Microbial Mgmt, Solids Mgmt Programs, Ops Surveillance Skills, etc LuminUltra Microbiological Monitoring – 2nd Gen. ATP Testing & Culture Back-up Technical Surveillance – Onsite or Project Management

3. Real World Surveillance, LLC • Production Operator Responsibilities: • Produce wells at maximum efficient rates, • Maintain and operate production equipment efficiently and effectively, • Collect accurate data for preparation of associated reports for regulatory and company entities, • Manage the work load in a safe manner in order to protect people, • production and the environment, and last but not least, • He is the “KEY” component of all special projects associated with upgrades, and conducting root cause failure analyses on a given production facility.

4. Real World Surveillance, LLC The Real Challenge Is: To identify the right person: • Who understand the wells, • Knows the process facility, • Manages the chemical treatment program, • Manages the interrelations of personnel (company and regulatory), • Manages family and then get home safe in a normal state of mind.

5. Real World Surveillance, LLC The Most Important Term for Operations to Understand: What is Oil and Grease (O&G)? Dan Caudle Definition of O&G: (Total) O&G is defined by the method, Period! USA: TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) = Dispersed oil by Lab Report WSO (Water Soluble Organics) = Soluble oil by Lab Report is defined for the operator based on the method. *The operator concern is not on the technical details but what the lab reports say and correlate this to changes in the production and treatment process.

6. Real World Surveillance, LLC OBW challenges in the 80’s & 90’s were to produce while drilling but over time, it became manageable with good coordination between the two operations.

7. Real World Surveillance, LLC With the TLP (Tension Leg Platforms) a more specialized operator was needed but the requirement was to be able to have multiple skill sets to handle a brief emergency or replacement for sick or vacationing personnel.

8. Real World Surveillance, LLC The management triangle for the deck operator changed overtime from at the most he had to report to two or three people, now he goes, I am responsible for WHAT? The “key” is to get home safe and in(a)sane state of mind.

9. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 1: MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT TO DEDICATE OPERATIONS STAFF • State an Objective: Produced Water Handling Improvement Plan • Define the Deliverables: • Improve process troubleshooting and surveillance skills of deck operators to reduce downtime due to corrosion, scale deposition, vessel upsets, and establish a solids management program, • Improve overboard water discharge awareness, • And improve the understanding and optimization of chemical use.

10. Real World Surveillance, LLC • OIM Recommended Deck Operator Qualities for OBW Improvement: • Demonstrates some leadership on the deck even though they may not be the lead person, • They have historically lead the way in watching for stuff that could potentially cause an upset, • They have that extra knowledge of the platform operations and versed in reading the process drawings, • They are keen on what is required to do the analytical work in the lab and can easily teach others, • They have some mechanical aptitude, • They will make the call when to make adjustments to production as needed to get back into environmental compliance, • And most importantly, this person can work with others. • Note: Include the HS&E Technician as part of the team since reporting and root cause investigations may be in his roles and responsibilities.

11. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 2: UTILIZE THE DECK OPERATOR’S PLATFORM KNOWLEDGE • Ensure everyone begins at the same page before moving to the final OBW discharge point.

12. Real World Surveillance, LLC • Discuss Vessel Fluid Data • Encourage operators to routinely evaluate their vessels for general O&G efficiency From the Deck operator’s point for view there are four simple things that they are concerned with: 1) How dry/wet is the gas, 2) how dry is the oil, 3) How oily is the water and 4) How much solids can I tolerate in the fluid streams and vessels?

13. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 3: CHEMICAL TREATMENT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: • It may be necessary for the short-term to form a platform chemical team. • A simple approach for deck operations understanding of the chemical program can be similar to this: • Name of the chemical, • What is its purpose, • What is the recommended treatment rate, • What happens in an over-treatment condition? • Where is my injection point and why? • How is the performance measured?

14. Real World Surveillance, LLC The field service report indicates how to adjust the chemical rates based on the last available well test. The chemical account representative may not aware of intermittent separation issues caused by recycle streams upstream of the water treatment vessels. Figure 3: Chemical Injection *FWKO oil emulsion treatment rate is based on the gas-lift wells oil production only

15. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 4: SOLIDS MANAGEMENT SURVEILLANCE Solids production is not always the number one culprit for OBW sheens, etc, but it always seem to be a contributing factor. The idea location to collect a representative sample for solids is only available at the locations designated for fluid samples for shakeouts to determine well test information. Unfortunately the solids are not normally homogeneously entrained in the fluids so an accurate assessment of solids cannot be made. Careful planning with a process or chemical engineer to install representative sample points should be made with high consideration be given to the risk associated with sampling for sand should be stressed.

16. Real World Surveillance, LLC • Solids Management Program • Onsite baseline solid sampling from wells, vessels, and oil/water injection or discharge points, • Erosion assessment report generated based on solids sampling survey to minimize erosion failure of flowlines and vessels interconnected piping, Note: Where ever there is erosion/corrosion, there is the potential for oil wet solids into the produced water. • Solids characterization using solid analyses (XRD/EDXA) to determine type of solids in produced water or oil (scale, oil, or sand), • Employ solid sampling tools to quantify solids production from wells, pipelines or vessels, • Establish a well surveillance database to optimize well performance of sand producers, identify scale/corrosion inhibition candidates, and improve well surveillance activities • Provide technical training to company and/contract production operators to improve solids surveillance.

17. Real World Surveillance, LLC • Solids Management Program must have a primary reference sheet. • The primary purpose is to have a one sheet assessment available to operations, the chemical account representative and staff personnel to quickly reference were the potential problems are to incorporate treatment and surveillance program strategies. • This allows the operator and the chemical account representative to: • Understand what is affecting the wells, • Know what is affecting the process facility, • And how to better manage the chemical treatment program.

18. Real World Surveillance, LLC Surveillance Trouble Index – Example *Post on the Wall Primary H2O Treating Vessels can also be incorporated using this approach.

19. Real World Surveillance, LLC Field experience has shown that the use operator shake outs is useful if the solids production is at least 1% or greater in most fluid samples. ASKCO FB-100 Sampler ASKCO Millipore Sample Vessel HP Millipore Filter Housing: Vary filter type and size based on well fluid and purpose of the sample. LP Millipore Sample Vessel: Volume collected varies based on well. Vessel has inlet diverter, psv, psi gauge, measurement gauge with SG and drain.

20. Real World Surveillance, LLC Millipore Record Results – Example

21. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND QUARTERLY REVIEWS

22. Real World Surveillance, LLC • STEP 6: TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES • Minimum Training List: • General overview of production chemistry: emulsion breakers, scale and corrosion inhibition, paraffin inhibition, LDHI ( Low Dosage Hydrate Inhibition) and water clarifiers/reverse demulsifiers, • Overview of water treatment equipment, • How to do performance checks on water treatment equipment and • Oil & Grease measurement. See Attachment I in paper.

23. Real World Surveillance, LLC A companywide approach is probably best so that all deck operators will hear the same thing and they can share with each other their field experiences with best practices. Minimum Performance Measures: • Chemical Pump Reliability • Chemical Usage Tracking (Fit for Purpose only) • O&G Performance Upstream & Downstream of Overboard Discharge Vessel On occasion a $/BBL to treat is used as a tracking tool or performance measure, but remember that the problem must be determined first, fixed second and optimized third. Each step in the process incurs some capital cost.

24. Real World Surveillance, LLC How can you really accomplish incorporating your most valuable resource the “Deck Operator” to improve OBW performance? • First and foremost “LISTEN” to the operations staff. • Get their description of the problem or objective, • “LISTEN” to all who have a role and responsibility to obtain a solution, • Secondly, together as a “TEAM”: • Define what the deliverables are, • Agree on the milestones along the process to achieve, • Discuss the challenges and roadblocks to success, • And clearly define the budgetary parameters of the project,

25. Real World Surveillance, LLC • Thirdly, as defined by the project objective: • Perform onsite audits of the producing asset, • treatment system, • process system, • training requirements if any, • And develop sustainable solutions to the “Real” problem, • Lastly, implement the recommendations and assign operations personnel as the project leader for the “Real World” solution(s) if possible.

26. Real World Surveillance, LLC RECOGNITIONS • Shell Exploration and Production Company for 30 years of service and the Shell Chemical Engineering Team. • David Nickerson, Shell OIM who demanded to know the issue with each well. • Ray Lesoon, SGS, former 30+ years with Shell for solids management training. • Charles Larry, retired Shell OIM for Deck Operator requirements • Produced Water Society: Colin Tyrie and Dan Caudle (retired) for their work with sharing best practices worldwide. • Special thanks to all the operators who made engineering technical work enjoyable and miserable at the same time. Learning and experience must be earned but it does not also have to be enjoyable. As they say, “Get’er Done”.