Cabot Specialty Fluids New BrineWise Tool Simplifies The Selection Of The Most Cost-Effective Completion And Workover Brine For HPHT Oil And Gas Wells

Boston, MA and Aberdeen, Scotland - Cabot Specialty Fluids, Ltd., a subsidiary of Cabot Corporation and Gaia Consulting of Finland, recently announced the availability of BrineWise, a new software tool that allows oil companies to choose the most cost-effective clear brine system for the completion and workover of high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) wells.

The two clear brines available for use in these challenging wells are based on zinc bromide or cesium formate. Each brine system has its own unique effect on the well construction economics. Cesium formate has a generally benign HSE profile and is widely acknowledged to be the premier low-risk drilling and completion fluid for HPHT well constructions.

Until the advent of BrineWise it was impossible to make a risk-factored comparative assessment of the true costs of using the two brines because of the lack of a suitable tool for making the complex calculations linking risk with cost. BrineWise analyzes all of the costs associated with the use of the brines in HPHT completion and workover operations. This includes the costs of onshore transport, shipping ship-to-shore, sub-optimal rig time, well clean-up time, waste treatment and disposal, standby time, isolation and transport of produced water from offshore, production delays, and production handover. Most importantly, BrineWise allows the cost of HSE risks to be estimated in a systematic and consistent manner using input based on the individual oil companies' experience and risk aversion policies.

Using eight predefined risk scenarios the BrineWise program sets a price tag on each possible outcome, including health and safety costs originating from employees and the public, environmental liabilities and legal consequences. The costs for the different scenarios are automatically calculated to give a comparative cost picture for informed management decision- making.

This unique software program, developed by Gaia Consulting , on behalf of Cabot Specialty Fluids, is flexible, easy to learn, easy to use and can be tailored to any operation.

"As the oil companies look for increased cost-efficiency and lower risk exposure in challenging HPHT well completion and workover projects, BrineWise can eliminate many of the unknowns. BrineWise provides timely, comprehensive analysis data that can lead to better, more informed brine purchasing decisions," said Malcolm Cook, Cabot Specialty Fluids.

SOURCE: Cabot Specialty Fluids, Ltd.