Experts at Tenaris recently highlighted the transferability of technologies, and know-how, used in oil and gas that can be applied to geothermal developments during the virtual workshop “Bridging the Gap between Geothermal and Oil & Gas” organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
The virtual event, held in December, included the participation of university representatives, operators, drilling solutions providers, well design engineering companies, specialized software companies and independent oil companies.
Geothermal and oil and gas wells have similar features and often face critical issues that may vary according to the geographic location of the well or other factors. Challenges in geothermal drilling projects include corrosive environments, high temperatures and material selection.
Jorge Cordero, senior researcher at Tenaris, gave a presentation supported by the Well Design Corporate Team on oil and gas methodologies that can be applied to geothermal applications and bring considerable benefits to the segment’s development.
“We highlighted the experience coming from Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), a methodology for the production of heavy oil that implies cyclic temperature variations in the well,” said Cordero. “This technique drove the development of the TWCCEP (Thermal Well Casing Connection Evaluation Protocol) that provides procedures for the assessment of suitability of threaded casing connections for casing strings of wells with cyclic temperature variations and can be adopted for geothermal wells with high temperature issues.”
Cordero also shared that technology developed for drilling long laterals and fracking operations in unconventional wells could be adapted for the Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) applications. “Some configurations are similar to unconventional multilateral wells: high-end tubulars and connections are already ready for these geothermal applications,” he said.
Paolo Novelli, Energy Transition OCTG Project Director at Tenaris said, “Thanks to our extensive experience, Tenaris not only has the products, in terms of pipes, premium connections and accessories, but also has the know-how and technical expertise that can be successfully transferred to geothermal developments.”
Tenaris has more than 30 years of worldwide experience in geothermal projects.
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