Aramco Showcased Digital Transformation at 2023 URTEC

URTeC 2023
Hundreds of attendees stopped by Aramco’s URTeC booth for technical presentations.

Aramco researchers highlighted digital transformation by showcasing advanced applications at the marquee U.S. conference on unconventional resources. The well-attended Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) was held June 13-15, 2023 in Denver.

URTeC 2023
Petroleum Engineering Specialist Uchenna Odi modeled digital transformation by demonstrating a newly developed application.

Aramco served as a top tier sponsor, exhibitor, and contributor as R&D geoscientists and engineers shared how Aramco optimizes unconventional resources. Petroleum Engineer Chao Liu gave presentations in the exhibit booth about the software called SAGE, an acronym for Saudi Aramco Geomechanics Expert.

“Our unique geomechanics and chemistry models in SAGE can address the time-delayed wellbore failures encountered while drilling shale formations,” said Liu, petroleum engineer at the Houston research center. “These unique and integrated features in SAGE help increase efficiencies and effectiveness, thus reducing costs in unconventional resource operations.”

Meanwhile, Petroleum Engineering Specialist Uchenna Odi showcased the Intelligent Field Development Plan (iFDP) software. It was created for field planning for the massive Jafurah field, the largest liquid-rich shale gas play in the Middle East.

“The specific purpose of the tool is to utilize digital transformation concepts such as machine learning, statistics, data mining, and optimization to optimally place well pads as a function of field data and user inputted field demand through time,” said Odi. “The Automatic Decline Curve Analysis tool was also integrated into iFDP to automate the determination of type curves and estimate ultimate recoveries from uploaded production data.”

URTeC 2023
Petroleum Engineering Specialist Shannon Eichmann gives a presentation at the Aramco booth during URTeC in Denver.

URTeC empowers professionals to exchange information, formulate strategic ideas, and solve problems about all aspects of the exploration and production lifecycle.

“As we develop assets In Kingdom, we not only showcase our technologies, but we attend to understand what is being done in U.S. plays, we can learn from the experience of American operators and see what new technologies are available,” said Shannon Eichmann, petroleum engineering specialist.

URTeC 2023
Aramco staff exchanged ideas after sessions at URTEC.

Aramco researchers also presented three technical papers:

  • U.S. Tight-Oil Efficiency: A Permian Basin Case Study
  • Use of Machine Learning to Predict of Maximum Borehole Diameter for Multi-Stage Frac Completions
  • Compaction in Unconventional Carbonate Reservoir Rocks and Its Effect on Well Completions and Hydraulic Fracturing.

The annual conference is a collaborative effort between the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

The world's geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers can continue their thought leadership later this year with URTeC Latin America in Buenos Aires, where Aramco will also serve as the top sponsor.


${ listingsRendered.heading }