Maersk Oil growth through Global expansion
During the latest decennia Maersk Oil has established a significant position among the medium-sized, privately-owned oil companies of the international oil industry. This has been achieved not least via unique competences within horizontal drilling developed by the company in order to maintain and develop a commercial production from complicated chalk reservoirs in the Danish sector of the North Sea.
Development of this technological competence has meant that Danish Underground Consortium having Maersk Oil as its operator has been able to increase production from the Danish fields to a level much higher than originally expected. Since its introduction in 1987, horizontal wells have meant that production from the Dan Field has been increased from 6% to 12%. When this technology was supplemented by water injection in horizontal injection wells the potential for production was increased to some 25%.
Based on these technological competences Maersk Oil became an attractive partner for government-owned and private oil companies all over the world, and Maersk Oil, today, is involved in production and exploration in 15 countries.
Production more than doubled in 10 years
During the latest 10 years Maersk Oil’s production of oil and gas has more than doubled to some 750,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day, and increased international expansion promises additional growth in the years to come even if there are indications that production in the Danish sector has culminated.
Maersk Oil being a company in the A.P.Moller-Maersk Group is now the operator in 4 countries, Denmark, Qatar, the UK and Kazakhstan. In addition to that Maersk Oil has a 12.25% share of several major licences in Algeria, where oil production has grown to more than 450,000 b/d. In another 10 countries Maersk Oil is involved in exploration – primarily as the operator.
Maersk Oil-operated oil and gas production of some 750,000 b/d accounts for ½ to 1% of the global production. Half of the production derives from the Danish sector, and Qatar accounts for half of the company’s international production. Production from fields outside Denmark will gradually gain importance for the turn-over of the company. In 2009, when the present and most far-reaching extension of the Al Shaheen field in Qatar is fully implemented, the international production will be significantly higher than production in Denmark.
The company has a staff of 2,500 of which some 450 are highly specialized geoscientists and engineers. About half of them work in Denmark.
When completed in 2009 the extension of the Al Shaheen field in Qatar
will result in a doubling of production.
More efficient technology
Since Maersk Oil in 1987 introduced horizontal drilling with cemented casing and hydraulically induced sand-filled fractures. Maersk Oil has established more than 550 sand-filled fractures in fields in the underground in order to increase production. In close cooperation with the service industry Maersk Oil has continued to develop the basic drilling technology introducing a number of new technologies like the PSI-system making it possible to perforate, stimulate and isolate individual zones in horizontal wells.
Among its latest concepts are “water-jetting” and controlled “acid-jetting” stimulating the very long, horizontal wells. This technology has proved to be much more efficient, faster and less complicated to install than the PSI-sy-stem. The controlled acid-jetting technology uses an un-cemented casing with controlled reservoir access ensuring efficient acid stimulation of the entire section of the horizontal well.
Maersk Oil in 2004 set a world record at the Al Shereen field in Qatar drilling a 30,940 feet well having a horizontal section of 26,735 feet (8,2 km).
Water injection technology is being improved, too. Lately Maersk Oil has developed and introduced an improved technology for water injection called Fracture Aligned Sweep Technology (FAST). FAST is fractioning the section of the reservoir in long, continuous and parallel fractures offering an improved linear displacement of oil from injection to production wells drilled 200 meters from one another. FAST has been used successfully when developing the most productive Halfdan field in the North Sea.
During the latest 10 years Maersk Oil’s production of oil and gas has
more than doubled to some 750,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day
High level of costs
The present global market for oil and gas is strongly influenced by the increased demand for oil in countries like China and India. This has created a turbulent market pressing up prices, but the increased profit is countered by increasing costs in a market having developed to the benefit of the suppliers.
The increased level of the global oil and gas activity as well as the booming prices have increased the costs of deve-lopment, service and maintenance of the existing infrastructure, and lack of drilling rigs has more than doubled the rental prices within a few years. The rela-tively high oil prices in most countries have turned the attention of the governments towards the taxation potential of the oil industry, so at present taxation is rather high in most countries.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest prognosis (World Energy Outlook) towards 2030 points out the demand for massive investments in renewal and replacement of worn-out infrastructure and in new exploration and production facilities. The oil indu-stry, consequently, must expect to see a relatively strong costs-pressure and a significantly increasing demand for qualified employees.
