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A Message from the CEO
 Our newsletter earlier this year announced the restructuring of Knowledge Reservoir’s business along lines that are tightly aligned with the needs of our industry. I am pleased to say that this process is paying dividends as each of our practices (Deepwater, IOR, Unconventional Resources, Reserves, Surface and Production Systems, and Knowledge Management) show strong growth as we head towards the end of 2010.
We are also excited about our international activity in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, all of which derives from our increased investment in these regions. As you will see in this newsletter, our international team is growing and our Middle East and Asia hubs are seeing increased levels of business.
Our geographical expansion is being complemented by similar growth on a functional basis as we resource our new practices. In particular, and in response to market demand, we will more than double the size of our Surface and Production Systems team along with substantial growth planned for our Unconventional Resources group.
I hope that you will find the information in this newsletter of interest. Should you be attending the upcoming SPE ATCE in Florence, do drop by our booth. I, together with Larry Denver, Aonghus O’Carroll, and John Blair will be happy to meet with you.
All the best.
Ivor
Global Exploration and Production (E&P) Technical Resources
Knowledge Reservoir presents only those resourcing candidates that have the work experience, regional knowledge, and software-specific expertise necessary for robust E&P projects. After an initial screening by the top resourcing experts, our engineers and geoscientists confirm the resourcing candidates. This process assures you only see recommended candidates the first time.
This year, Knowledge Reservoir has successfully assembled multidisciplinary teams comprised of:
- geomodelers,
- exploration and development geologists,
- geophysicists,
- geochemists,
- petrophysicists,
- reservoir and completion engineers,
- engineering and geoscience technicians,
- as well as project managers for projects requiring experience in offshore deepwater projects, shale, tight-gas, and CO2 flooding to name a few.
With a regionally diverse talent database of over 10,000 technical professionals, 60 percent located in the Americas Region, 24 percent in the European Region, and 16 percent in the Middle East and Asia Region, Knowledge Reservoir is able to quickly staff projects for West Africa, Northeast Africa, Nigeria, Yemen, Oman, Abu Dhabi, India, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, China, Malaysia, as well as the continental U.S. and the shelf and deepwater offshore Gulf of Mexico.
Our recruiting software system and experienced oil and gas professionals make it possible for Knowledge Reservoir to immediately respond to our clients.
Click to view our current job openings.
Knowledge Reservoir provides technical resources for our clients for E&P projects taking place within onshore US properties, offshore Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. With offices located in Houston, the core of oil and gas industry activity, Bakersfield, California, London, Oman, and Malaysia, we are positioned to effectively respond to our client’s needs.
Our resourcing staff has over 30 years of technical E&P experience working in reservoir engineering, exploration and development geosciences, production and operations engineering, A&D, corporate planning, SEC reserve reporting, and project management.
Knowledge Reservoir Shale Resources
 The greatest asset of the Knowledge Reservoir Unconventional Resource Team is the incredible depth of experience of its members. Knowledge Reservoir has assembled a multi-disciplined team with extensive knowledge of shales and tight reservoirs. This experience is coupled with a proven effective and efficient workflow world round.
Senior members include a geology and reservoir engineering team that were the lead evaluators for unconventional resources globally for one of the top major oil companies in the world. Arguably, they have evaluated more unconventional resource plays than any other single team. We combine that with two petrophysicists that complement each other in the areas of shale evaluations and rock mechanics/fracture analysis. Our geochemists have over 50 years combined experience evaluating shales around the world. Our geo- and reservoir modelers have over 60 years experience working for majors and global service company leaders. Lastly, our drilling and completion team combines a fluid dynamics/mechanics specialist with two experts in drilling and completion design and optimization for unconventional reservoirs. These three engineers have collectively worked over 60 years with the top service companies in the industry as well as global E&P companies.
 Knowledge Reservoir utilizes its extensive global resources of experience and databases to both qualitatively and quantitatively extrapolate recoverable reserve probabilities from source rock reservoirs, namely shales. Drawing on existing shale performance in such plays as the Bakken in the Williston Basin, Monterey-Antelope in Southern California, Cane Creek in the Paradox Basin, Eagle Ford in South Texas, Niobrara in Wyoming and Colorado and many others both within the U.S. as well as around the world, Knowledge Reservoir has developed an evaluation and assessment process for the determination of the probability of economical shale reserve development and for the estimated total recoverable shale resource volumes.
This process extrapolates known performance data sets from existing shale production to the specific rock characteristics of the shale and basin being evaluated. In addition to basic reservoir properties such as Phi, K, Sw, BVW and Rt, properties such as Ro, TOC, poison’s ratio, clay mineralogy, rock fragment composition, kerogen analysis and organic vs. inorganic porosity distributions are analyzed. Additionally, total hydrocarbon generation, expulsion, and migration analysis is performed to assess how much of the total generated hydrocarbon remains in the source rock vs. how much are in conventional traps and how much escaped from the basin through hydrodynamic flushing or seal breaches.
If it is determined from the above evaluation and assessment that there is a reasonable probability for economic development of the shale with acceptable total recoverable reserves, then a drilling and completion program is designed specific to the target reservoir incorporating the data compiled above. The operational plan focuses on economic efficiency while maximizing recoverable reserves and economic returns. The shale’s mechanical properties, as well as those of the bounding layers, along with the shale’s geochemical properties are optimally matched with a fluid mechanics and dynamics (both drilling and completion) program designed to optimize connectivity between formation and well bore and maximize the radius of drainage.
Dynamic Multiphase Simulation – The State of Play
By Dr. Ivor R. Ellul, CEO, Knowledge Reservoir
 In this paper for PSIG, Dr. Ivor R. Ellul delves into the transport of hydrocarbon fluids in a multiphase manner and how this now commonplace practice tends to create an additional dimension of complexity when it comes to the design and operation of such systems.
Simplify your next dynamic multiphase simulation with this roadmap of the best technology to use in order to overcome various challenges of hydrodynamic as well as thermo-chemical flow assurance.
>> Click here to read the full paper
Knowledge Reservoir and GreyStar to Jointly Manage and Develop Oil and Gas Producing Assets
In May, Knowledge Reservoir announced the signing of an agreement with GreyStar Corporation, Inc. to cooperate in the management, development, and operation of oil and gas producing assets. The companies’ cooperation will target project opportunities in various regions of the world, including Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, and Latin America.
 GreyStar manages a range of energy related assets located throughout North America, including several oil and gas production operations in the Gulf of Mexico and a variety of onshore hydrocarbon processing facilities in the key energy producing regions. GreyStar is an important operations and maintenance contractor associated with both liquids and gas pipelines, along with gathering systems and receiving terminals. GreyStar has also established a significant presence internationally in Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina, among many other locations. The company’s international portfolio includes projects ranging from the operation and maintenance of 225,000 plus barrels per day oil producing fields to electric power generation plants, floating production/storage/offloading vessels, and deepwater mega projects.
Dr. Ivor R. Ellul, CEO of Knowledge Reservoir, stated “The respective business offerings and technical service capabilities of our companies are highly complementary, enabling us to deliver a range of fully integrated and customized asset management solutions to our Clients, whether they are national oil companies, majors, independents, or operating consortia. We believe our combined experience and expertise will serve to optimize producing assets while reducing costs for our clients.”
John D. Patton, President of GreyStar, added “This relationship is a great fit for both GreyStar and Knowledge Reservoir. The broad scope of expertise we jointly offer dovetails well into a comprehensive support solution for the management, development, and operation of our clients’ oil and gas producing assets. We anticipate that this combined offering will provide entrées into many world class opportunities.”
GreyStar Corporation is a leading provider of facilities management, operations, maintenance, and asset management services that help its customers to dramatically reduce costs and improve their competitive position. GreyStar’s approach is to provide solutions which allow energy companies to focus on their core business, while GreyStar optimizes the effectiveness of production and facility assets.
Check out GreyStar’s website at greystar-corp.com
How Do You Say Multi-Lateral Well in Mandarin?
China recognizes that meeting the rapidly growing energy needs of the most populous country on earth will require access to financial and technical resources from around the world.
So Knowledge Reservoir and its joint venture partner, the contract operator Greystar, were not surprised to receive a request from a fledgling Chinese oil company to provide technical and operating expertise to plan the development of a recent onshore gas discovery in China.
“Before getting on the plane to fly to Beijing, we really didn’t know what to expect,” says Mike Kneale, Senior Vice President of Greystar. “So we spent several days with our colleagues from Knowledge Reservoir preparing some field development ideas that could meet almost any conceivable scenario that we might encounter.” Adds Steve Knabe, responsible for the field development and improved oil recovery practice at Knowledge Reservoir, “It was clear from the start of discussions with the Chinese that they saw development of this tight gas field as an opportunity to apply new technologies. The topics that really resonated with the Chinese were things like multi-stage fracturing and use of multi-laterals to amortize the cost of the vertical portion of the well over a large drainage area, as well as an integrated approach to petrophysics, seismic analysis, and geomodeling.”
Knowledge Reservoir and Greystar look forward to future opportunities in China and other emerging markets hungry for energy.
With the guidance and experience of Knowledge Reservoir consultants, determining the optimum mix of new technologies doesn’t have to be a stressful event. We can work with your organization to give you quality results and peace of mind.
Deciding between Dry
and Wet Trees in Deepwater Fields
Currently in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the deepest dry wellheads are located on a spar in about 5,600 feet (1,710 meters). In water depths between 1,800 and 5,000 feet in the Gulf of Mexico, operators have chosen dry trees for 58 percent of oil wells and wet trees for 42 percent.
Operators generally recognize that use of dry trees and a dedicated rig results in higher recovery and lower operating costs than wet trees. Experience in the Norwegian North Sea suggests that estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) can be increased by 20 percent to 30 percent by using dry trees rather than wet (Lindland, 2003, and Utseth, 2007). However, the potential benefits of dry trees are only one element in the decision process that operators use in selecting a field development plan. Generally, operators’ decision processes involve two related considerations:
- achieving key field-specific operational requirements and
- maximizing total project value while mitigating perceived technical and operational risks.
In water deeper than about 5,600 feet (1,700 meters), technical challenges in the Gulf of Mexico such as high shut-in tubing pressures due to the presence of high-pressure gas and the large stroke needed on riser tensioner systems have delayed use of dry tree systems historically. These technical challenges for dry trees may not be concerns for other basins where shut-in tubing pressures should be lower and the stroke on riser tensioner systems less due to more benign seas. Moreover, recent technical developments in production riser systems should enable economic use of dry trees to up to 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). Says Steve Knabe, responsible for the field development practice at Knowledge Reservoir, “The old assumptions that wells in water depths of 6,000 feet or more will use wet trees no longer always hold. Besides typically providing better recovery, dry tree wells tend to be much easier to maintain and work over. Operators need to look at the dry versus wet tree decision from the standpoint of the expected life cycle of the wells and the field as a whole.”
With the guidance and experience of Knowledge Reservoir consultants, determining your optimum field development plan doesn’t have to be a stressful event. We can work with your organization to give you quality results and peace of mind.
ReservoirKB© – A Deepwater Resource
 Recent unfortunate events in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico have cast a bright spotlight on the need for better understanding and monitoring of reservoir conditions, drilling, and production activity. Beyond the inevitable focus by regulatory authorities on the tightening of regulations governing activity in the deepwater province, operators and service companies alike are looking for tools to help maximize their understanding of the risk involved with drilling new prospects.
One of the keys to prospecting is having an idea of what to expect, and one of the best ways to do this in oil and gas exploration is to use reservoir analogs. Analogs of existing producing reservoirs offer insight into pore pressure regimes likely to be encountered and provide ranges of likely production and, in worst case scenarios, spill rate.
ReservoirKB currently represents the most comprehensive knowledge base directed towards exploration and appraisal geoscientists and engineers in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico region. It provides coverage of all deepwater productive sands discovered, constituting reservoirs currently either in production or sanctioned for development. Additionally, the service provides continually updated reservoir performance metrics, analogs, lessons learned, and regional knowledge not available from any other single source.
Initiated as a DeepStar consortium project in 2002, ReservoirKB was developed by Knowledge Reservoir in response to operators’ needs for a knowledge base of deepwater data to evaluate projects and assess risks and measure them against other opportunities in their portfolios. Our clients find it an invaluable resource when researching analog fields, as reservoir assessment and benchmarking are at the heart of good appraisal and sanction decisions.
Call Dave Rees at 713-586-5950 or email drees@knowledge-reservoir.com for more information.
Knowledge Management through the Use of Enterprise Wikis
Wait, what is a wiki?
It's a Community Supported Knowledge Base
By their nature, Wiki’s are easily updated by the community at large, lending themselves to reduced cost of knowledge capture and updates, higher user involvement and therefore expertise retention, and captivating input from experts in users' niche of knowledge.
It's a Collection of Bite-Sized, Unstructured Elements
A Wiki page manages data in a small, targeted format while still allowing for a deep repository of company knowledge and information. Readers tend to prefer technical articles and retain them better in this bite-sized format.
It Has High User Acceptance
Wiki’s decrease the amount of time it takes for a user to find the specific information they want and consume/retain that information while remaining accessible from anywhere. They've realized the dream of creating a hearty search engine while maintaining a simple user interface that is easily accessed. In combination with general user familiarity (Wikipedia), they tend to be quickly accepted and utilized by the user base.
Typical Uses of Enterprise Wikis Include:
- Online Communities of Practice
- Policies, FAQ, Guidelines, and Best Practices
- Project management
- Customer/Client Collaboration
- Documentation
- Business Intelligence
Knowledge Reservoir has recently undertaken a project for Marathon Oil to develop reservoir engineering content for Marathon’s Wiki intranet. So, the question is:
Knowledge Resevoir develops Wiki pages through best practices tested on Wikipedia and through our client engagements. Examples are served via our in house MediaWiki Server. Specifically, we can help our clients with the following:
Content Creation
We provide experienced oil and gas professionals to develop the initial content (seeds) for a wiki site that your community can refine and change over time. With targeted, relevant, and sufficient seed content, first time visitors will be converted into system users and content contributors at a much higher rate.
Process Guidance
We have experienced knowledge management professionals on hand to guide and ensure that the wiki site is managed in a way that ensures continuing value through content management, cost management through mission alignment, and expanding knowledge capture by transitioning visitors to users to content contributors and reviewers.
Technology Implementation
Experienced IT professionals are available to aide in technology selection, deployment, and customization to target your budget, infrastructure, and needs.
Contact us today for more details: info@knowledge-reservoir.com or +1 713-586-5950
SPE ATCE, Florence, September 20-22
 Knowledge Reservoir will roll out a new exhibit at this year’s SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in Florence, Italy, September 20-22. The new exhibit will be manned by senior Knowledge Reservoir executives from the Houston and London offices. Our focus will be on showcasing the broad scope of our consulting and technical resourcing capabilities, from reservoir to pipeline. A representative of the Government of Malta will also be in attendance at the Knowledge Reservoir exhibit, to promote the upcoming Licensing Round offshore Malta. Knowledge Reservoir is participating in the promotion of the licensing round and of an informational symposium, to be held in London in December.
During SPE ATCE, Knowledge Reservoir's very own Joe Lach and Xin Li will be presenting their paper "Investigation of Oil-Trapping Mechanisms in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico." Be sure to check them out.
Knowledge Reservoir Extends Management Team for Growth
Knowledge Reservoir has made a number of key appointments this year. In March, Larry Denver was appointed to the position of President of the company. BJ Crouse also joined at that time, taking the position of General Manager, Middle East and Far East.
 Denver joined Knowledge Reservoir from Ascend Geo, LLC (Ascend Geo), a leading provider of cable-free seismic recording equipment, where he has served as Chairman and CEO since 2006. Denver previously held senior executive positions at Schlumberger; ION Geophysical Corporation; Stratamodel, Inc.; and TraceStone, LLC. He was a partner at Simmons Company Fund, an oilfield private equity firm, serving concurrently as Chairman of the Board of World Oil Magazine. Denver continues in his role as Chairman of the Board of Ascend Geo, LLC.
 Crouse was formerly Vice President of Sales, also at Ascend Geo, where he managed the company’s global sales effort and supported operational expansion outside the US. Crouse has over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry in technical, managerial, and sales roles. He has managed software and data service businesses based in the US, UK, China, Thailand, and Venezuela, ranging from a broad suite of reservoir applications to geophysical processing and acquisition services. Prior to Ascend Geo, he served as Software Sales Manager with Schlumberger in the Information Solutions division. Crouse is located in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman and leads Knowledge Reservoir growth in both the Middle East and Far East regions.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Ivor R. Ellul, Chairman and CEO of Knowledge Reservoir, stated, “Knowledge Reservoir is very excited about the appointments of both Larry and BJ, who are well known across the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Knowledge Reservoir is entering an aggressive growth phase where we aim to capitalize on a broad range of emerging E&P global services opportunities, in 2010 and beyond.”
“Having tracked Knowledge Reservoir since its founding, it is a privilege to be joining its leadership and to be part of this compelling growth story”, said Denver.
Crouse commented, “I have very high expectations for Knowledge Reservoir in the Middle East and Far East regions. It is clear that our products and services are very well aligned with the operators and producers across these territories.”
New Lead for Surface and Production Systems Business
Dr. Yugdutt Sharma joins Knowledge Reservoir in September as Vice President, Surface and Production Systems. In this position, he has global responsibility for the management, execution, and technical direction of all Surface and Production Systems projects, including Flow Assurance, Pipeline Systems Engineering and Production Operations Engineering. Dr. Sharma joins us from Senergy Limited, an international sub-surface consultancy based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He joined Senergy in 2006, and most recently held the position of Managing Director in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Dr. Sharma brings with him a tremendous wealth of experience in subsurface technology, management, and research, gained in his 28 year career. Prior to Senergy, his background includes key roles with organizations such as Helix RDS, Ltd., Advanced Multiphase Technology Inc., Scientific Software Intercomp, Inc, Petrobras, and Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company. Dr. Sharma has also been involved in research and teaching at the University level. He has over 15 publications covering topics in production and drilling. Dr. Sharma earned his B.S., MS., and Ph.D. Petroleum Engineering degrees from the University of Tulsa.
Boost for Knowledge Management Team
 John Reed joined the company in May as a Senior Consultant in the Knowledge Management Division, responsible for developing and delivering Knowledge Management consulting solutions and providing input for our next generation of products. Reed joins Knowledge Reservoir from Shell Exploration and Production, where he most recently held the position of Project & Technology Integration Support Manager, responsible for the strategic deployment and support of a wide variety of successful intelligence, information management, and digital oilfield solutions. He earned an MS. degree in Marketing and Advertising from Rutgers University and his B.S. degree in Advertising from Florida State University and is also a decorated veteran with the U.S. Army Special Forces and Airborne Ranger LRRP.
Unconventional Resources Focus
 John Blair joined Knowledge Reservoir in July as Practice Director, Unconventional Resources and will be focusing on expanding the Knowledge Reservoir’s unconventional resources practice.
Since 1995, Blair has founded three companies: Hill Top Resources, J.M. Blair, Inc., and K.B. Resources, with roles including Chief Geoscientist and Director of Operations and Business Development. He is experienced in the development of unconventional plays, such as the Marcellus, Bakken, Niobrara, Cane Creek/Gothic, Mancos, Monterey, Mowry/Frontier and Utica among several others throughout the US and Canada.
Prior to 1995, he was employed by Pennzoil E&P and ESCO, where he assumed both geological and geophysical responsibilities. Blair earned his Master’s degree in Geophysics from the University of Tulsa and his Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Montana State University.
New Controller for Knowledge Reservoir
 Debbie Goleff joined the company in June as Controller. Debbie’s primary responsibility will be the management of accounting for the AME region while assuming a lead role in taking the company’s accounting system implementation to the next level. Debbie joins from e-Partners, where she held the positions of Area Services Director, Solution Architect, and Director of Consulting. She has a great deal of experience with accounting software and has led many implementation projects. Her expertise with Microsoft Dynamics/Great Plains will be invaluable to Knowledge Reservoir. Debbie earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Houston and is a licensed CPA.
Resourcing Addition to Kuala Lumpur Office
 Melissa Hathcock joined the company in August in the role of Manager, Resourcing. She will be located in Kuala Lumpur and will manage the company’s Technical Resourcing service for the Middle East/Asia region. Hathcock has been in the field of technical recruiting since 1997, and has a great deal of expertise in the energy industry, working for such companies as Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Lyondell, Landmark, Reliant Energy, and Williams Energy. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Oklahoma.
Knowledge Reservoir and 3GiG Contract with Hess Corporation for Asset Management Portal Solution
In July, Knowledge Reservoir and 3GiG, a provider of upstream business information and asset management solutions, announced a collaborative initiative with Hess Corporation to implement a global Asset Management Portal.
The initiative uses 3GiG’s Prospect Director solution in the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide, business information management system to support the global asset management process at Hess.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Ivor R. Ellul, CEO of Knowledge Reservoir, stated, “With more oil and gas companies seeking to improve process, knowledge management, and information lifecycle management, the combination of our experienced upstream industry consulting teams with 3GiG’s upstream process and business intelligence gathering technology and expertise is working to create solutions to meet the industry’s information management challenges.”
3GiG offers adaptable software solutions and complementary consulting services for intelligently centralizing, standardizing and managing asset, process, knowledge, decision, portfolio, and project information for upstream exploration and production companies. You can learn more about 3GiG at www.3-gig.com.
Raising Awareness and Funds for a Children's Hospital
 Knowledge Reservoir recently held a fundraiser to purchase a complete entertainment system for the children at Makiungu Hospital in Tanzania. At the end of this drive, Knowledge Reservoir raised $6000 and many children's DVDs to send to Tanzania in the hopes that each child's stay will be more pleasant and pass quickly. Due to hard labor and lack of nutrition, many children are hostpitalized for broken bones, ensuring a lengthy stay. When one of the doctor's jerry-rigged a screen and DVD player for the children, the children were able to watch films while completing their mandatory bed rest. Knowledge Reservoir caught wind of this story and pledged to help create a complete entertainment system with plenty of children's films to watch. We exceeded our original goal of $5000 and are very pleased to have sent entertainment equipment to a wonderful hospital in need.
London Region Office Relocates
In July, Knowledge Reservoir relocated its EUA region office from Sunbury to Brentford. Please note the new contact details below:
Knowledge Reservoir (UK) Ltd
2nd Floor Profile West
950 Great West Road
Brentford, Middlesex
TW8 9ES
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8232 3590
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8560 4112 |
