petrotech journal october 2010

Journal of

Petrotech SocietySpecial Issue - Petrotech 2010

October 2010

We Wish our headers a bright,

fruitful and joyous Festive Season

Journal of thePetrotech Society

October 2010

Volume VIssue. 6

Esteemed Readers,

Another Conference Issue of Petrotech journal is here for your appreciation!!

Believe us when we say that it has been our sincere endevaour to publish every issue focused on industry with articles by lead authors on

important subjects related to the hydrocarbon industry. As the issue coincides with the 9th Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, we hope that

it will reach to every delegate attending the Conference. This will provide a chance to all the readers to know about the activity highlights of

some of our corporate members, who have contributed to the special segment of ‘CEO Speak’. Besides, as in previous issues, this issue also has

technical articles by lead experts for the benefit of all the readers. By now, our house journal has achieved a wide readership base and all the

articles are kept online on our website ‘www.petrotechsociety.org’ for easy referral. Hope you find this issue engrossing and interesting.

The issue also provides a glimpse of various activity snippets of the Society such as Veterans’ Forum, Industry Education Tour, Student’s Chapters,

Memorial Lectures etc. As informed Veterans’ Forum is now fully functional and 3 technical sessions have so far been held on LNG as detailed

below:

•➢ 20thNovember2009 EnergySecurity:wheredowegofromhere’

➢• 8thMarch2010 “GlobalOverviewoftheLNGBusinessandKeyTrends”,

➢• 15thJuly2010 Continuationof2ndMeetingdiscussionsonthetheme“GlobalOverviewoftheLNG

BusinessandKeyTrends”

Presentations were made by experts from PFC Energy and former Director (Tech) Petronet LNG. A formal letter to MoP&NG has been forwarded

giving the recommendation of the expert group. The recommendations are:

• RealtimeassessmentofDemandVsAvailability:Basedonthecurrentestimatesandkeepinginviewthelongleadtimerequiredfor

finalizing contracts for energy supply and also limited sources of supply particularly in relation to their long term supply contract already

finalized,arealisticassessmentisneededurgentlytoensuretieupstomeetthegrowingenergyrequirementsofthecountry.

• Rationalizationofdutystructure(SalesTax,Custom/ExciseDuty):Apragmaticviewofcurrentstructureandtheurgencyofrationalization

needs real time review by concerned authorities.

• NaturalGasfromGashydrates/ShaleGas:Highestpriorityneedtobeaccordedforearlyexploitationfortheprospectivelargeresources

available assessed in the country

Our 3rd Industry Educational tour to University of Alberta was biggest organized so far with participation of 19 members from Oil companies viz.

ONGC, IOCL, HPCL, EIL,OIL & GAIL. This year University of Alberta conducted a certified programme for the participants and issued certificates

of participation to all by organizing regular class room sessions besides industry visits. All other regular programmes and annual schools have

also been conducted for knowledge dissemination amongst wider sections of students and academicians. For this our association with IIPM,

IOCandKDMIPE,ONGChavecontinuedhavingsuccessfullyorganized5thSummerSchoolonPetroleumRefiningandPetrochemicalsand6th

ProficiencyCourseon“ModernPracticesinPetroleumExploration”respectively.ForthefirsttimeSubirRahaMemorialLecturewasorganized

on the theme talk “Energy Security” which was delivered by Shri B K Chaturvedi, Members Planning Commission to jam packed auditorium in

SCOPE Convention Centre. The Society proposes to continue this memorial lecture every year. For the first time, a seminar on “Valorization of

PetroleumResidues”wasorganizedincollaborationwithEILwhichagainwasagrandsuccess.Aguestlectureon“SustainableEnergy:Issues

& Future Challenges” was also organized for industry participants which was delivered by MD, InvVest, USA. A student convention of Petrotech

Society Chapters’ was held this year at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun on the theme of the 9th Oil & Gas Conference and

Exhibitioni.e.“GlobalEnergyEquilibrium”.Thiswasagreatsuccess.Ithasnowbeendecidedtoholdsuchconventionannually.Nexthostofthe

Petrotech Chapters’ Convention is MIT Pune.

Elaborate preparations have been put in place by our Conference associate ONGC and the Conference is expected to attain greater heights with

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India inaugurating the main Conference. The activities are starting on 24th October 2010 with many pre conference

events.TheSocietyisorganizingtwoRoundtablesviz(i)“IndustryAcademiaPartnership:IssuesandActionsinassociationwithUniversityof

Alberta Canada (ii) “Sustainable Energy” in association with InvVEST and University of Colorado on 30th October 2010.

Editorial

BriefDetailsaboutPETROTECH2010aregivenbelow:

Pre-ConferenceEvents

24th October 2010 : Theme “Save Fuel-Walk to Work” ‘Walkathon’promotedbyPCRA

25th October 2010 : Students Essay Competition

26thOctober2010 : ChampionshipQuizFinals

27thOctober2010 : ReleaseofNAFOG(NodalAgencyforOil&Gas)set-upbytheMoP&NGtodetermineamanpowerstrategyforthe

Indian Oil & Gas Sector

28thOctober2010 : PETROTECH-WPCYouthForum:TelevisedPanelDiscussion

29th October 2010 : CEOs Panel Discussion (Televised)

30th October 2010 : Parallel Track on

(i) LNG

(ii) City-Gas Distribution

MainEvents

31stOctober2010: PETROTECH2010GolfandInaugurationofExhibition&MediaCentre

1stNovember2010 : • Inaugurationofthemainconference&PosterSession

• ThemeSessionsonCEOsPanel,MinisterialpanelsandThoughtLeadersPanel

• SpecialTrackonFuelRetailing-PricingTechnologyandEmergingBusinessModels

• PETROTECHLifetimeAchievementandExcellenceAwards

2ndNovember2010: • TechnicalthemeSessionsonExigentHydrocarbon,GreeningtheHydrocarbonValueChain,ManagingUncertainty

in the Hydrocarbon Business,

Energy Next and Conventional Hydrocarbon

• 3rdWPCYouthForum

• ServicesProvidersMeet

• SpecialTrackonFuelRetailing-Pricing,Technology&EmergingBusinessModels

• ThemeLunchonSustainableDevelopment

3rdNovember2010 : • ThemeLecture

• Policy–ShapersPanelEnergyNeeds,AspirationsandConstraints:ChallengesofBuildingaHolisticEnergyPolicy

• ConcludingTechnicalPlenarySession

• ThemeLunchonCSR

• ValedictorySession

Hope that the event would be getting another landmark for the Society. Please rest assured that Petrotech Society is fully engaged in its

commitment to reach out to a very wide readership for real time knowledge dissemination.

JLRaina

Secretary General & CEO Petrotech

Journal of the petrotech society

C O N T E N T S Dece mber 2009

Foreword 5

CEOsSpeak 7

UpstreamMission6.0MillionTripura 19VKJainandARVijan

DownstreamExperimentalStudyAnalysisrelatedtoNano-lubricantswith‘Cu’ 23and‘TiO2’blendinaFourStrokeMotorBikeKMurali,PKSarma,VSrinivas,PSeetaRamaRao,TARajivKumar,CSKrishnaswamy,AKJain

UpstreamEmergingTrendsinDrillingFluids 32S Dutta

DownstreamIndianOilSpearheadingResearchinDownstreamPetroleumSector 37DrRKMalhotra,ShBrijeshKumar,DrSSVRamakumar,DrGSKapur

UpstreamSafetyofContractWorkersConcernsandStrategies 43Anoop Kumar

DownstreamStudiesOnMinimizationofFoulinginCrudePre-HeatExchangersinRefineries 47Dr.JayaRawat,VSDhaneesh,PVCRao&NVChoudary

UpstreamCorporateSocialResponsibilityAnIndianperspective 54Piyush Choudhary

E&PIndustryinIndiaPastPerformanceandFutureTrends 60N K Verma

PETROTECHActivities 69

EditorialBoard

JLRaina

Editor

Secretary General & CEO,

PETROTECHSociety

GSarpal

Secretary

SumanGupta

Manager

The views expressed by the authors are their

own, and do not neccessarily represent that of

the Petrotech Society.

Printedandpublishedby

Petrotech Society at Core 8, Scope Complex, 3rd

Floor, New Delhi - 110 003 India

Foreword

Welcome to PETROTECH-2010!

The availability and consumption of energy resources, especially petro-products, has probably been the single most influential factors in shaping the development of modern economies actoss the world. And the natural asymmetry in distribution of petroleum resources over the globe, the geo-politics surrounding its sourcing and consumption and the various business acumen and strategies relating to oil & gas have been the most determining factors in creating ‘haves and have-nots‘ in the world. Besides, much of the reasons associated with the Global Warming have also been attributed to the oil & gas industry the has brought, at the same time, speed and modernization to the civilization. Such contradictory attributes of this prolific industry calls for a concerted focus on `Global Energy Equilibrium', which is the Theme of PETROTECH-2010, the 9th International Oil and Gas Conference & Exhibition, being organized by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) in New Delhi, under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, During 31st October-3rd November 2010.

Let me extend heartiest welcome to one and all the PETROTECH-2010!

I can promise that this conference is going to be an excellent opportunity and the most worthy platform for everyone associated with the hydrocarbon industry to debate over the pertinent issues that are currently influencing and going to influence this industry in future from all perspectives.

Among many new initiatives undertaken in this edition of Petrotech, the WPC Youth Forum is the most significant feature. It is for the first time that Petrotech is being associated directly with the World Petroleum Council (WPC). We are organizing the 3rd WPC Youth Forum as a parallel Track to PETROTECH-2010 on 2nd November, 2010. The Youth Committee of WPC is focused on inculcating values of sustainable development, CSR, ethics & corporate governance and gender sensitivity. This event is the third in the series that were previously organized in Beijing and Paris.

The objectives of WPC Youth Forum is in perfect sync with the major objective of PETROTECH Society- to encourage young generation to take interest in the important subject of Oil & Gas, and enlist their active involvement in furthering

the development of this petroleum industry: which is emerging as one of the most crucial concerns for both developed and developing economies.

The other notable initiatives in this edition of Petrotech are:

• In addition to empanelling the best available speakers and thought leaders on the global energy perspectives, the event format has been re-designed around panel discussions, instead of speeches, so that the programme becomes dynamic, interactive and interesting for the audience and also generates many new perspectives for legacy creation.

• Two pre-conference events on `Shale Gas' and `Oil Spill Response' are being organized jointly with the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) on 30th October, 2010.

• In addition to be existing Lifetime Achievement Award in Upstream, Downstream and R&D category, a new category- Lifetime Achievement Award in International category has been instituted to felicitate an international personality who has had astounding contribution for this prolific hydrocarbon industry.

• We have also instituted, for the first time, Special Technical Awards for innovative Individuals, Team Awards for Project Management, Corporate Award for Greening oil business and CSR & Sustainability.

• It is the first Carbon Neutral event in the country. The CO2 emissions have been

mapped by M/s Deloitte and are undertaken to be written- of by ONGC, as a responsible corporate.

• It is the first PETROTECH event that has also a very strong focus on CSR. In addition, a `Training for Teachers' Center is being set up with an investment of ` 2.5 million. It will train teachers who will then impart educations to children in remote and inaccessible locations.

• A conscious attempt has also been made to reach out to the public directly through pre-event promotion such as a Walkathon, Students Essay and Quiz Competitions, a study on making India a global hub for manpower export for the hydrocarbon industry and televised panel discussions etc.

I call upon all energy professionals, especially the young, and students, to wholeheartedly participate in this conference; and help us work together in a collaborative mode to explore all options in our quest for energy and our quest for a Global Energy Equilibrium.

With best wishes for a very meaningful and effective conferencing,

(R. S. Sharma)

Petrotech Society House Journal

BMBansalchairman, indianoil

Chairman of India’s largest commercial enterprise and a Maharatna company - Indian Oil Corporation Limited (since March, 2010), with over US$ 57 billion turnover for the year 2009-2010.

Also holding the position of Director (Planning and Business Development) responsible for driving business opportunities in new avenues for enhancing the company’s profitability and sustainability. Part time Chairman of group company Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd., besides heading IOT Infrastructure & Energy Services Ltd., a joint venture for building and operating terminalling services for petroleum products.

Have served IndianOil as Director (R&D) from March-November 2005 and pushed several new initiatives in the company’s world-class R&D Centre.

Hold a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering and D.I.I.T in Process Plant Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Armed with over 36 years of extensive work experience in the oil & gas sector in areas spanning business development, R&D, refining and technical services. A member of the IndianOil Board since the year 2005.

BMBansal

With the current edition of the International Oil and Gas Confer-ence and Exhibition –

Petrotech, we will have taken one more step in the integration of our Nation’s Oil and Gas industry with the global industry.

The House Journal being published by the Petrotech Society on the occasion will enable a greater transfusion of in-formation and ideas across the various stakeholders. The theme “Global En-ergy Equilibrium” is appropriate, given that our future as a Nation, and as an emerging country that has its task cut out to make energy available for every-one, will be determined by the efficacy with which we build a sustainable soci-ety in the future.

The key to the future therefore will be on how we can successfully build a low

carbon economy. The concept of a low carbon economy is necessitated by the consequences of industrialization – the spiraling impact of mass consumption. Beyond the esoteric definitions, a low carbon economy would be that which is sustainable today as well as tomor-row. The aim therefore would be to integrate all productive aspects of the economy around technologies that pro-duce energy and materials with mini-mal Greenhouse Gas emission.

At IndianOil, we have always been obsessed with the future. We have not allowed our leadership in the down-stream petroleum business to come in the way of launching a diversification spree, covering Petrochemicals, E&P, Gas Marketing, besides the setting up foreign subsidiaries. IndianOil was one of the earliest to tap alternative energy opportunities and we have set up wind farms and solar charging stations as

well as one of the largest bio-fuel ven-tures, which envisages the production of 30,000 MTPA of Bio-diesel. We are also investing about USD 400 million in alternative energy initiatives trained several teams on new green skills re-quired to build the needs of the future.

Ultimately, every citizen of the world has a responsibility to ensure that future generations have an equally fulfilling and equitable life full of opportunities, if not more. And with every passing day we have lesser time to prove them wrong. International conferences such as PETROTECH actually help us be ahead of the curve in terms of the incu-bating of new ideas.

Let me once again compliment the Petrotech Society on the occasion of the publication of its house journal on the occasion of the 9th International Oil and Gas Conference at New Delhi.

CEOs Speak

Petrotech Journal October Issue 2010 7

Energy Needs & Environment hindustan petroleum corporation limited

SRoyChoudhurychairman & managing Director, hindustan petroleum corporation limited

Mr. S. Roy Choudhury, is Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, one of India’s leading Fortune 500 Global company.

A Mechanical Engineer from Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat, Mr. Roy Choudhury joined the organization nearly three decades ago. He has handled various portfolios in Marketing Function and possesses a rich experience in the oil sector. Mr. Roy Choudhury started his career at Assam Oil Company, (Refinery Division) Digboi, in 1976.

He is credited with creating a Pipelines Division in HPCL and successfully completed several Pipeline Projects and was responsible for smooth transition from APM to Non-APM era in the area of Product Supplies and Distribution

In his capacity as Director – Marketing, Mr. Roy Choudhury spearheaded a number of innovations & initiatives in Marketing, thereby increasing the market share of HPCL. As a result HPCL received a number of awards in Research & Development, New Product Development, Safety & Security, LPG Marketing, Retail, Aviation etc.

In the recent past Mr. Roy Choudhury was awarded the ‘Greatest Brand Builder’ by CMO Asia and was conferred the ‘Marketing Professional of the Year Award’ at the World Brand Congress.

SRoyChoudhury

CEOs Speak

The modern economic system, based as it is on industrializa-tion, globalization and trade, is heavily reliant on commer-

cially traded energy including oil. Oil supplies about one-third of India’s en-ergy needs. The demand for oil has been rising along with economic growth. In 1990-91, just before the onset of lib-eralization, India consumed about 55 million tons of petroleum products. To-day, in a span of about two decades, the consumption of petroleum products has more than doubled to about 140 million tons. India is the fourth largest consum-er of oil in the world despite the fact that per capita consumption in the country is just about one-fifth of world average.

A large part of oil demand comes from the transportation sector. With increase in income levels, expectation of people to have better standard of life is rising and also leading to increase in vehicle ownership. Total vehicle stock in India quadrupled between 1991 and 2006, ris-ing from 21 million in 1991 to about 90 million in 2006 at an average annual rate of 10%. If growth rate were to go higher, increase in number of vehicles will be phenomenal within a short span of time pushing up the fuel consumption.

As far as supply of oil is concerned, the country is dependent on imports for three-fourths of its oil require-ments. Therefore, continuous efforts are on for exploration & discoveries of new fields. However, dependence on imports is unlikely to be reversed in near future given the current reserves/production level of oil in India and ex-pected increase in petroleum products consumption. This makes the oil sector as well as the economy extremely vul-nerable to volatility in the international oil market.

The increasing consumption of fossil fuels is associated with increasing car-bon emissions with attendant adverse consequences for the climate. Chang-ing climate patterns can have cata-strophic consequences for life-systems and thus, solutions are required to re-duce the carbon content of energy.

Thus, three basic issues that define the current oil scenario are- rising demand, oil security and environmental foot-print.

Role of HPCL

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is engaged in refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products. It has two refineries, one in Mumbai (West Coast) and the other in Visakhapatnam (East Coast), produc-ing a wide variety of petroleum prod-ucts - fuels, lubricants and specialty products; HPCL owns and operates the largest Lube Refinery in the country producing Lube Base Oils.

HPCL has been making substantial in-vestments to upgrade its refineries to produce cleaner fuels to meet EURO IV (BS IV ) specifications. HPCL is the first amongst all Public Sector compa-nies to produce Motor Spirit meeting EURO IV specification. HPCL is further investing to upgrade its refiner-ies to produce EURO IV HSD, the cur-rent facilities are producing EURO III specification HSD .

Hindustan Petroleum is investing not only to upgrade refineries and mod-ernizing & expanding its marketing infrastructure to meet the growing de-mand for petroleum products but also to produce alternate cleaner fuels. We have made investment in Bio-fuels both Ethanol and Biodiesel. Alternate fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, not only mitigate oil dependence to some extent but are also less carbon intensive, thus environmental friendly. HPCL is also investing in development of natural gas infrastructure through its joint ventures. These JV companies are into City Gas Distribution (CGD) for supply of Natural Gas – a cleaner fuel compared to liquid hydrocarbon fuel.

To meet growing demand of petroleum products and to reach the same to the consumers, HPCL is modernizing & expanding its supply and distribution infrastructure spread across the country to make them world class. It has more than 120 depots/terminals and 44 LPG plants which caters to network of more than 9250 retail outlets and 2400 LPG distributorships, 32 Aviation Service Facilities, which helps to meet the fuel demand across the country. To-wards modernising its facilities it has installed a Flex Speed Carousel at its Cherlapally LPG plant to bottle cylin-ders at the rate of 2000 to 4000 cylin-

ders per hour. This is the 2nd carousel to be supplied in the world and first in all parts of world outside South Amer-ica. In addition, we own three White Oil Pipelines covering a total length of 2132 KMs with a total capacity of 14 MMTPA thus providing clean and ef-ficient mode of transportation for our products.

Oil security considerations coupled with concerns about environmental impact of increased fossil fuel usage, provide a favourable environment for greater push for renewable energy. We are investing in the renewable energy and we have commissioned wind pow-er projects of 25 MW and planning to add another 25 MW capacity. We are investing in the oil exploration and production in India and abroad, for oil security of the nation.

It is prudent to emphasize conservation and efficiency improvements in the use of energy resources. We emphasize and pay particular attention to efficiency & other parameters in all our operations in-cluding delivery of fuel to our customers.

HPCL is focussed on delivering a dif-ferentiated customer experience by im-proving our service levels at the cus-tomer touch points. Customer centric Formats have been introduced which offer a host of fuel & non-fuel offer-ings at our Retail outlets. We have modernised our retail outlets through bench marking Retail Visual Identity and leveraged technology to Automate our outlets under the brand “e-fuel sta-tion” and introduced NANO (No Au-tomation No Operation) for ensuring Quality & Quantity.

Progress achieved in last few years has ensured India to emerge as one of the most dynamic economies in the world. Energy including oil has played a pivotal role in driving the economic growth. It’s a challenge for the hydro-carbon sector to meet the increasing demand of petroleum products, and at the same time address the environ-mental concerns. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, one of India’s first petroleum refining and marketing companies, has been a part of India’s growth story in both pre and post lib-eralization phases and aims to fuel the future growth too.


Larsen & Toubro

AMNaikchairman & managing Director, larsen & toubro

Mr. A.M. Naik heads an organization that is among the most admired companies in India, reputed for the technological sophistication that characterizes its projects and products, for its contribution to the development of indigenous engineering capability and, most of all, for its ethical value systems and professionalism. Few heads of companies mirror the values of their organizations as faithfully as Mr. Naik.

Joining L&T in 1965, Mr. Naik rapidly secured positions of increasing responsibility as he moved from General Manager to Managing Director and CEO, culminating in the appointment as Chairman in 2003. Mr. Naik has led the Company through challenging times and enabled it to emerge stronger. His global perspective has seen L&T expanding its horizons beyond domestic frontiers and positioning itself as an international player.

Mr. Naik has been described as ‘a visionary in a hurry’. His dynamism and contribution to the company and country have secured wide recognition. Recent national and professional honours include the Padma Bhushan, besides various other awards / honours have been conferred on him.

AMNaik

CEOs Speak

Energy availability is a coun-try’s precursor to economic development and oil and gas contributes major share in

this energy basket and will continue to do so in the near future. Attaining energy security is a prime indicator of economic growth and sustainability. It is projected that the World Energy de-mand will increase by 45% between 2006 and 2030 with an average annual growth rate of 1.6%.

Recent years have seen the growth and formalization of this global oil & gas industry, especially the E&P sector in deepwater. This process has been driven by increased energy demand stemming from consecutive years of economic growth, the maturing of es-tablished hydrocarbon extraction ba-sins, and a growing battle to overcome depleting reserves. Such factors have encouraged global operators to invest billions annually chasing this offshore frontier.

India is an oil deficit country. Growing oil imports pose a serious threat to our national security and economic well-being. Imports now account for over 75 percent of our oil use and are expected to exceed 90 percent by 2030. High and growing oil import dependence adds to our trade deficit, leaves the Indian economy vulnerable to oil price spikes, and increases our oil dependence. With these realizations, India had already acknowledged the importance of im-mediate and serious quest for newer energy resources and streamlining the associated areas.

Recent initiatives including Implemen-tation of “New Exploration Licensing Policy” (NELP), setting up of down-stream regulator” Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board” (PNGRB), for-mation and Implementation of “Coal Bed Methane Policy” (CBM) has made the hydrocarbon sector a market to be in with renewed and enhanced focus. Industries are banking heavily on the oil and gas sector to fuel their growth in the coming years.

India is the 4th largest economy and is the 8th largest oil consumer in the world and expected to be the 5th larg-est oil consumer by 2025. The invest-ment outlay in the oil and gas sector,

as provided by the eleventh five-year plan (2007-12), is US $ 57.3 billion. More areas and opportunities in hydro-carbon sector for investment, technol-ogy and entrepreneurship are opening for the global players as well as for India’s own public and private sectors. The sector is of strategic importance to the country given the important role it plays in energy security and conse-quently economic security. With the recent success of Reliance, Cairn and GSPC, the hydrocarbon story in India is unfolding numerous vistas.

While the domestic market has always been a favorite destination for EPC projects in mid and downstream sec-tor, large scale complex construction projects and cross country pipelines, Middle-East countries are also provid-ing mega opportunities in this arena.

At Larsen & Toubro, this growing mar-ket is recognized in our internal five years strategic plan exercise as a major potential growth driver and also syner-gizes with L&T’s mission for building a strong India economically.

In pursuit of tapping these opportuni-ties, the due emphasis on customer fo-cus at L&T is generally not so much about just cutting cost but winning customer loyalty on a long-term basis. The challenge on these complex mega-projects is to focus on technology im-provement through innovative design, world class project management prac-tices with exhaustive risk-mitigation approach, leveraging the strengths of past experiences while retaining the differentiator of our services and pro-fessionalism.

L&T’s role in Upstream

The Upstream Hydrocarbon Operating Company caters to Offshore Platform and Pipeline projects, both in India and overseas. We are currently executing the largest ever such order placed by ONGC amounting to 1.1 billion USD. This is the Mumbai High North Process Platform and Living Quarters, includ-ing Process Gas Compressor Modules, which will replace the BHN Platform.

Our activities in this area are supported up by the 600-strong, 100% owned engineering subsidiary L&T Valdel

located in Bangalore, Faridabad and Chennai. They also work independent-ly for overseas clients. eg. delivered complete engineering for the Process Topsides of 3 repeat Floating Produc-tion storage and Off-loading (FPSO) vessels supplied to Modec of Japan & US for two Brazilian and one Ghanaian oil field. L&T have some of the largest Manufacturing resources in South Asia for these kinds of offshore projects, comprising three Modular Fabrication Facilities at Hazira on the west coast, Sohar in Oman, and the Kattupalli Shipyard-cum-Port Complex on the East Coast. These facilities are over 1 million sq.mt. in area and can turn out total 100,000 Tonnes per annum of so-phisticated products for a region-wide market which spans Middle East, India as well as South East Asia & Australia.

L&T has todate undertaken Offshore platform projects in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Tanzania and are qualified by most overseas clients like Shell, & Chevron for their projects in West Africa and other places. Emerging markets like Libya, Australia also have large pros-pects. Besides Offshore Platforms, Subsea Pipelines and Floating Produc-tion Systems, the Upstream vertical also offers offshore drilling rigs - both Jack-up & Semi-submersibles design for shallow and deep water application.

L&T has technical tie-ups with leading companies to offer the latest equipment & systems in this area and are geared to supply such Jack-ups & floaters from our yard in Sohar as well as Kattupalli. L&T have recently been awarded a second order for major repair & refur-bishment of Jack-up Rig, which helps clients to substantially reduce project cost compared to new equipment.

L&T has its own 3000T Heavy Lift cum Pipelay Vessel built to undertake Sea Installation of platforms and pipe-lines which makes us self-sufficient across the entire value chain compris-ing of engineering, procurement, fabri-cation as well as installation involved in offshore projects. This gives L&T an unique “turnkey” capability to execute fast-track development of offshore oil & gas fields for clients in India and also abroad by providing globally competi-tive and competent solutions to exploit the Hydrocarbon energy resources.


Mid and Downstream

While Oil continues to remain the dominant fuel in the primary energy mix, to enable continued economic development, access to adequate clean energy to meet the global demand is essential.

Clean Fuels DriveOver the last decade and a half, In-dian Refiners under the directives of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas took the challenge of capacity as well as fuel quality up-gradation to produce compliant fuels in the short-est possible time. The imperative to meet Euro fuel quality norms (Bharat Stage 2, 3 & 4) and residue processing to improve refining margins fuelled the growth of EPC business with In-ternational and domestic companies bringing the best of Engineering, Project Management and Construc-tion resources to meet the challeng-ing targets set by the Refiners. Tight schedules, control on cost and access to International Project Management and execution practices were the key to shifting the execution approach to an EPC/LSTK mode.

Refining HubThe key emerging economies in Asia, such as China and India, are leading the global economic recovery, and are projected to be the centre of growth for the next few decades. India, with 20 refineries with a capacity of about 184 Million Metric Tons per annum (MMTPA), is not only self sufficient for domestic consumption but has sur-plus refining capacity to export petro-leum products to Global markets on a sustainable basis. As a result, India is gradually emerging as a Refining Hub with the benefits resulting from (i) many of the refineries located at coastal region (ii) geographical ad-vantage to provide supplies to west-ern and eastern markets (iii) product qualities meeting Euro standards and (iv) proximity to source of oil being located in major maritime route from Middle East to Far East.

Value Added ProductsThe competitiveness of Indian refiner-ies is being enhanced by processing of bottom of the barrel products in the form of Residue Up-gradation Proj-

ects and maximization of value added products. The last decade also saw world scale refineries and integrated Refinery and Petrochemical Complex-es coming up in different parts of the country as per XIth and XIIth five year plan. During the last few years, the In-dian government has established the Chemicals and Petrochemical Invest-ment Regions (PCPIRs) to promote petrochemical industry and invest-ment.

Natural GasIndia is also fast emerging as the fo-cal point for the future development of the Asian natural gas market. The Gas Processing sector is driven by de-mands in Fertilizer Industry and Pow-er owing to the fact that natural gas is the most cost effective fuel vis-à-vis other liquid fuels. There are several Gas Processing Projects planned for new finds, in addition to the revamp of existing facilities for Value added projects. Considering the success of USA and Canada in shale gas, India is gearing up to the prospects of shale gas with various initiatives under progress.

A proactive approach of stream lining Prequalification criteria and shorten-ing the time for finalization of con-tracts will enable allocation of opti-mal schedules for implementation of the projects. The budget set for the projects requires dynamic alignment with the prevailing market conditions. The concept of License + EPC proj-ects may be extended to more Proj-ects of larger values which will en-able faster execution of the Projects and cost competitiveness. This will not only enable E&C Companies to bring in the best technology partners reducing cycle time for Front End En-gineering to Detailed Engineering and Implementation, as well as providing attractiveness of investment to Owner in terms of highest NPV and IRR un-der a competitive scenario.

There is a need for continuous dia-logue between E&C Companies and Operating Companies like IOCL and ONGC with regard to reaching an eq-uitable Standard Terms & Conditions for LSTK contracts which will facili-tate E&C Companies to be more com-petitive.

L&T’s Role in Mid & Downstream sector: L&T continues to be a partner to Oil Processing Companies having associated with many of the presti-gious projects in Hydrocarbon Mid & Downstream sector. With its state-of-the-art facilities in Engineering, Proj-ect Management skills, Global Sourc-ing, Manufacturing, Modularization, Infrastructure & Construction and op-erations support teams, it offers verti-cally integrated In-house capabilities to provide cost effective Total EPC solution meeting International bench-marks in project execution, safety and quality standards.

The customer confidence in L&T’s integrated EPC capabilities in Hydro-carbon Mid & Downstream projects is reflected in L&T’s present role played in implementing a number of projects of National importance. Hydrocarbon industry is looking to have exciting years ahead fuelled by investments in the all important Energy sector with India emerging as a Global Refining & Petrochemical Hub and also natural gas contributing to the energy mix of India.

Innovations in Hydrocarbon Process Plants Construction

There is a relentless global push to expand plants needed to process oil and gas. This places even greater de-mands on the design and construction of complex and large scale process plants worldwide. The importance of bringing in new methods of construc-tion quickly to replace many of the ar-chaic methods is a major challenge to Construction contractors, Engineering companies as well as Plant Owners, necessitating continued reductions in project schedules while extending the level of design integrity, innovation, and quality.

As the leading EPC company of India L&T has been using some of the best-in-class practices at our various proj-ect sites. Some of them are automatic pipe profile cutting, orbital welding, modularization and pre-assembly and auto rebar bending. By adopting selec-tive modularization, the entire Struc-tural, Piping and E&I works could be carried at the ground and erected us-ing heavy cranes. Safety hazards such

Petrotech Journal October Issue 201012

as working at height and confined space are minimized by such innova-tive methods with faster completion times for projects.

Oil & Gas Pipelines

The present pipelines network of In-dia is inadequate to meet the country’s requirements. However, this segment is poised to see rapid growth in the next five years. Regulatory bodies for-mulated by the Government estimate that an investment of $14 billion to $16 billion would be required over the next five years to set up petroleum and natural gas infrastructure in form of Gas highways.

With oil and gas production moving to remote areas, away from consumption centres, there has been a surge in de-mand for greater pipeline capacity to bring these supplies to market.

Primary challenges in Oil & Gas Pipelines Construction

Pipelines construction is increasingly becoming challenging and technol-ogy driven. Stringent safety norms, environmental concerns and new regulatory norms on pipeline man-date huge investments. Greater over-lapping demand for right of ways, scrutiny from public agencies and governments, and the growing com-

plexity of approving agencies are some of major challenges for the fu-ture development of pipelines.

Conclusion

India’s quest for energy security cou-pled with projected aggressive GDP growth rates will ensure the continu-ation of efforts towards creation of a conducive environment for investment in offshore exploration & production, gas processing as well as refining seg-ments, the revival in fertilizer sectors and the rapid expansion of pipelines. This will lead to an increased partici-pation from private sector players and opportunities in the large investments in the Oil & Gas Sector.


Tata Petrodyne

MAPathanchairman, tata petrodyne limited

Mr M A Pathan is a BA (Hons.) in Economics and obtained his Diploma in Petroleum Management from Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He has over four decades of diverse experience in the oil industry and is presently Chairman, Tata Petrodyne Ltd.

Prior to his current assignment Mr Pathan was Chairman to India’s largest commercial organization, Indian Oil Corporation, for a period of 5 years ending in 2002. Various assignments he held thereafter were Chairman of Petroleum Federation of India, Group Resident Director with Tatas, Vice Chairman of Advisory Council of World LP Gas Association, Paris. Besides the above he has been advising various organizations in the field of oil & gas, environment, sports, alternate fuels and has been on the board of various organizations besides being a member of the organizing Committee for Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi.

Mr Pathan is considered an important pillar of the India Petroleum Industry and is a member of the National Committee on Hydrocarbons of CII.

MAPathan

CEOs Speak

Tata Petrodyne Ltd. (TPL) is a Tata Group company en-gaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and

natural gas. The Company was incor-porated on 7th January, 1993. TPL is a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., the premier holding company of the Group. Tata Industries Ltd. Originally promoted TPL with the objective of spearheading the group’s foray into the upstream sector of the oil and gas in-dustry.

Ownership of the company (TPL) changed with its acquisition by Tata Power Company Ltd. in line with the group’s strategy to consolidate all its energy businesses into a single corpo-rate entity. Subsequently considering the very nature of the oil & gas busi-ness which requires focus and large in-vestments, the parent company of the Group i.e. Tata Sons Ltd has bought over Tata power’s 100% stake in Tata Petrodyne Ltd.

TPL has highly skilled technical team and has developed adequate technical capabilities by installing work station and procuring various software license mostly related to G&G work.

Area of Business

Tata Petrodyne has since 1994 par-ticipated in various rounds of bidding

conducted by the Government of India, and today has participating interest in seven Indian oil and gas blocks won in earlier rounds. The Operators for the seven blocks are companies of in-ternational repute and standing in the business, with a high degree of success in oil and gas exploration. Out of these seven blocks three blocks are under production / development and balance four in various stages of exploration.

Overseas Ventures

In March 2007, Tata Petrodyne made its first international venture by farm-in into gas bearing Blocks in North Sea (48 1b/2c). Buoyed by the success of a gas discovery, the consortium of North Sea Block bid and were awarded an adjacent block Block 48/1d, in the 25th Licensing Round (2009) as a tra-ditional license.

TPL as Operator

In 2009, Operator status beckoned the Company after having been granted exploration permit for offshore Block AC/P46 in Australlia where it has 100% participating interest.

TPL as preferred partner

TPL is having a Joint Venture Agree-ments with ONGC, Cairn, Hardy Oil, HOEC, Encore Petroleum, Silverstone

etc. TPL has also entered in Memo-randum of Cooperation (MoC) with companies like Gas Authority of India (GAIL), Kuwait Energy Corporation (KEC) and Bharat Petro Resources (BPRL) a subsidiary of Bharat Petro-leum Corporation Ltd.

Encapsulating Tata ethos

One of the goals enunciated by the Group Chairman is that we should con-tinue to grow internationally, in geog-raphies where we can make our pres-ence felt & where we can significantly participate in the growth & develop-ment of the country or region.

An essential element of the Tata’s val-ue system is commitment to the com-munity. What comes from people goes back to the people many times over. This means we work hard & wisely to generate wealth & then use it to enrich & improve the lives of the communi-ties in which we live & work. This is a sacred duty ingrained in the Tata Group from its inception.

Tata Petrodyne is committed to grow as a significant private sector E&P player in India, while simultaneously gaining international exposure. For achieving the objectives TPL will continue to fol-low the same ideals, values & ethical standards with which it has operated all along.


The Shipping Corporation of India LimitedSHajarachairman, the shipping corporation of india limited

Mr Hajara is Honours Science graduate and a silver medalist from Kolkata University. He went on to obtain his post graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Kolkata as well as Diploma in Law and also obtained his Diploma in Shipping and International Maritime Law & Marine Insurance from the Norwegian Shipping Academy.

He has been with Shipping Corporation of India since 1973 and has vast experience in various aspects of Shipping and has represented the Indian Shipping Industry at various international fora.

Presently, he is President of the Indian National Shipowners Association, a trustee of the Mumbai Port Trust and also on the board of Governors of the World Maritime University, Sweden.

Mr Hajara has made presentations in various national, international seminars and conferences on various maritime issues and has published many papers in shipping and non shipping journals.

At the India Shipping Summit 2007 he was conferred the “innovator of the Year” award and in 2008 the “Business Leader of the Year” Award for Shipping. In 2010 the prestigious TradeWinds newspaper of Norway has ranked Mr Hajara 43rd in the list of 100 most influential personalities in the global shipping industry.

SHajara

CEOs Speak

The Shipping Corporation Of India Limited

Brief History• The policy statement issued by the

Government in the year 1947 envis-aged a significant role for the Indi-an shipping industry in carriage of country's coastal and international trade. The Government also de-cided to take active and direct par-ticipation in the shipping industry along with other private enterprises. This led to formation of Eastern Shipping Corporation in 1950 and Western Shipping Corporation in 1956.

• The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) was incorporated on 2nd October, 1961 by merger of fully Government-owned Eastern Ship-ping Corporation Ltd. and Western Shipping Corporation Ltd. At in-ception, SCI had a small fleet of 19 vessels of 1.39 lakh gross tonnage (1.92 lakh deadweight tonnage), which was just about 14% of the to-tal Indian merchant fleet. This fleet was a predominantly liner fleet con-sisting of 15 liner cargo vessels, 2 small product carriers and 2 passen-ger cum cargo ships. SCI's tonnage grew rapidly in 70s and crossed the landmark of 5 million deadweight in 1981 - in just 2 decades. With the growth of its tonnage, SCI also di-versified and consolidated its posi-tion in various other areas of ship-ping to emerge as a strong and well diversified shipping company that it is today. Along the line, two ship-ping companies - Jayanti Shipping Company (in 1973) and Mogul Line Ltd. (in 1986) - were merged with the SCI.

SCI Today• The SCI today is not only country’s

premier shipping line, but also has a significant presence on the global maritime map. A Navratna CPSE with an IrAA+ rating from ICRA, the Company has offices in four In-dian metros - Mumbai (HQ), New Delhi, Kolkata & Chennai, and also has an office at London. The com-pany's operations are supported by a strong worldwide network of 126 agents at various ports. As on July 01, 2010, Company's employee Strength was 3,522 which includ-

ed 991 shore-based employee and 2,531 floating personnel.

• SCI operates in almost all areas of shipping business catering to India’s EXIM trade, coastal trade as well as international cross trades. SCI owns a well diversified fleet of 74 vessels aggregating to 5.05 million deadweight tonnage, which is about 1/3rd of the total Indian tonnage. SCI’s owned fleet includes bulk carriers, crude oil tankers, product tankers, cellular container carriers, passenger-cum-cargo ships, phos-phoric acid carriers, LPG/Ammonia carriers and offshore supply vessels. Additionally, SCI is also managing 69 vessels on behalf of its joint ven-ture companies, ONGC and other Government agencies. SCI has also achieved the unique distinction of being India's first and only shipping company to have entered into the LNG transportation business.

SCI's Services to Oil & Gas Industry• Over the decades, SCI has been

catering to the needs of the Indian oil and gas industry. SCI started acquiring new tanker tonnage on a massive scale since early seventies in consonance with the then policy of the Government of India to give preference to the public sector in meeting the crude oil transportation requirements of oil industry. The tonnage had to be on the "commit-ted" basis so the the supply of crude oil to the refineries did not get dis-rupted. Initially, SCI acquired its tanker tonnage on the basis of the needs of the Indian refineries and planned developments of ports to receive these tankers at refinery lo-cations on full capacity basis. SCI acquired a diversified fleet of crude oil tankers from MR size to VLCCs. SCI covered almost entire require-ments of the crude oil tanker tonnage and as a part of providing integrated logistics solution to the Indian oil industry pioneered the 'ship to ship' lighterage operations on the high seas. In addition to crude oil trans-portation, SCI has also been partici-pating in coastal movement as well as import and export of products.

• Today, SCI, with its fleet of 26 crude carriers consisting of MR size, LRI size, Aframax, Suezmax tankers and VLCCs, offers integrated shipping

services to the Indian oil industry such as carriage of crude oil im-ports, lighterage operations, coastal movement of crude oil and storage duties for indigenously produced Bombay High crude. Some of the crude carriers are also deployed in international cross-trades. Compa-ny's 10 product tankers are deployed in time charter for Indian oil indus-try and in voyage charter in cross trades. Two LPG/ Ammonia car-riers of the Company are deployed mainly in service of Indian oil in-dustry.

• The SCI diversified into the In-dian Offshore marine business in the 1980s. The Company provides vital offshore logistic support ser-vices to the Indian oil industry in its indigenous oil exploration ac-tivities. SCI’s 10 Anchor Handling Towing-cum-Supply vessels are on charter to Oil & Natural Gas Cor-poration. Apart from operating its own vessels, SCI has over the years also gained expertise in manning, managing and operating specialized vessels for offshore oil industry. It has developed expertise for success-ful execution of state-of-art sub-sea jobs and has earned good merit as a technically competent Offshore contractor.

• Thus, SCI has proved to be a de-pendable partner for the Indian oil industry. Even during critical times between 1980 and 1986, when the Gulf War activity had escalated, SCI tankers continued to load in war torn ports of Iran, particularly at Kharg Island, while other shipowners were reluctant to send their ships to these areas and foreign tanker owners were demanding high premiums to load in this area. This was done in the overall national interest and at no extra cost to the oil industry. SCI's commendable performance was appreciated by the then Prime Minister and the then Minister of Shipping.

• SCI is the first and the only Indian company to have entered into the highly sophisticated shipping seg-ment of LNG transportation. The Company is independently op-erating (manning and managing) two LNG Tankers and manning one more LNG carrier owned by its joint venture companies, thus


gaining expertise in this niche shipping sector.

SCI's Other Shipping ServicesLiner Services• SCI is the only Indian shipping

company operating in the global liner trade. The Company, indepen-dently as well as in consortia with internationally reputed shipping lines, operates a network of global liner services from India to the U.K.–Continent, Far East–China, Middle East. SCI also arranges car-riage of breakbulk cargoes on space charter basis. The SCI also offers joint feeder services on the Indian Sub-continent.

Dry Bulk Services• SCI’s bulk carrier fleet caters to

the movement of various types of dry bulk cargoes in Indian overseas trade as well as to coastal move-ment of bulk cargoes on India’s vast coastline. Some of the bulk carriers are also deployed in international cross trades.

Chemical Carrier Services• SCI has three chemical tankers,

which are deployed in transporta-tion of phosphoric acid from Mo-rocco to India. These vessels also performed some coastal voyages along Indian coast.

Technical Services• SCI's technical services cater to ship

acquisition requirement in-house as well as those of various other Gov-ernment agencies.

Coastal & Passenger Services• On behalf of the Government, SCI

operates domestic passenger and cargo transportation services be-tween the Mainland and the An-daman & Nicobar and the Lak-shadweep groups of Islands and inter-island. SCI also manages/mans coastal vessels on behalf of Government agencies/departments.

SCI Financial

MOU Performance:

• Under the MoU evaluation system, SCI has received “Excellent” rating consistently for the past 17 years.

Joint Ventures

The Company has formed the following JV's - Irano-Hind Shipping Company (IHSC)- This joint venture between SCI &

Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) was established at Tehran, in March 1975. Presently, IHSC owns and operates a fleet of 8 vessels (including subsidiaries) ag-gregating 0.493 mil DWT

JV's for Petronet LNG project- SCI is the first Indian company to

have shareholding in an LNG JV. Other JV partners include Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK, K Line of Ja-pan, Qatar Shipping Company (Q Ship), Qatar Gas Transport Com-pany (QGTC) & Petronet. The three Joint ventures companies are registered in Malta each owning one LNG carrier. All joint ventures are already operational and carry 7.5 million tons of LNG annually from Ras Laffan, Qatar to Petronet's Da-hej terminal.

SCI Forbes Ltd.- This joint venture has been formed

with Forbes Gokak Company and Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt. Ltd. for acquisition and opera-tion of chemical tankers and other specialised vessels. Presently, it is operating two chemical tankers and two more chemical tankers are un-der construction.

SCI's Maritime Training Institute (MTI)

• SCI's own Maritime Training In-stitute (at Mumbai) is recognised as a branch of World Maritime University, (Sweden) and also as a

Regional Training Centre by UNC-TAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development). It had commissioned India’s first GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress Safety System) laboratory in January 1998.

Ship Acquisition Programme

• Out of 62 vessels planned to be or-dered during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the Company has placed orders for 24 vessels and also acquired 1 MR size product car-rier on resale basis in January 2010. Presently, the Company has 29 ves-sels on order with total capital cost of about US$1.5 billion under construc-tions at various shipyards in India and abroad, which include some or-ders placed during 10th Plan period as well as orders placed during cur-rent Plan period. The Company is pursuing more acquisition projects.

Awards and Accolades

The SCI received the following awards in the recent timesa) ‘The Most Compassionate Employ-

er of Indian Seafarers’ at 43rd Na-tional Maritime day celebration in April’06.

b) SCI ship ‘m.v. Tamilnadu’ was cho-sen for the ‘Ship of the Year’ award at 43rd National Maritime Day in April’06.

c) Winner of the Seatrade Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Award 2007 in the category of the “Ship Owner/ Operator”.

d) “Dun & Bradstreet – American Ex-press Corporate Award 2006” in the Shipping and Logistics Sector in August, 2006.

e) Selected by the international ship-ping newspaper ‘Lloyd’s List’ for Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Award 2007 in the cat-egory of “Ship Owner of the Year”.

f) Winner of the “Best International Solution” award at the 3rd Annual HSBC Global Payments and Cash Management Partnership Awards.

g) "Deal of the Year 2008" Award at the India Shipping Summit 2008 in September, 2008.

h) "Safest & Most Environmentally Conscious Indian Shipping Com-pany" award at the World Maritime Day - 2009.

(Rs.Crs)

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Total Income 3,762 4,210 4,084 4,565 3,903 Net profit 1,042 1,015 814 941 377Dividend (%) 85% 85% 85% 65%* 50%**1:2BonusSharesissuedinNov2008increasedequitycapitalfromRs.282.30cr.toRs.423.45cr.

SCI's paid-up capital is Rs.423.45 cr., wherein the Government holds 80.12% share. The Company has a consistent track record of making profits


Mission 6.0 Milliontripura

VKJainandARVijaneD-asset manageroil and natural Gas corporation limited, tripura asset, agartala

A postgraduate in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry, Dr Vijan joined ONGC in 1988. He is a Man-agement graduate and a qualified quality management auditor and proj-ect management professional.

He has authored over 42 technical papers in national and inter-national journals. As an eminent domain expert in Geochronology, Dr. Vijan is a visiting faculty with the Department of Earth Sci-ences, IIT, Roorkee.

He has won many awards such as, International Rotary Club ONGC Goodwill Ambassador to Sri Lanka in the year 2004, Hindi Gourav Samman and Doon Ratan awards for his contribution in the field of Public Relation.

Mr. V K Jain, joined ONGC as a GT in 1975 (1st GT Batch), after graduating in Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Surat and has vast experience in Drilling Operations, Engineering and Project Management activities of ONGC. With a career span of 35 years, he has served in various capacities

at Mumbai, Ankleshwar, Mehsana, Assam and Dehradun. While serving as Head-Drilling Services at Mehsana, he was conferred with the prestigious ‘Manager of the Year Award’, in 2001, for his relentless service to the organization and professional acumen. Known for his conceptual, analytical, technical, administrative and communications skills, Mr. Jain had also been extensively involved in ONGC’s prestigious Deep Water Drilling Project ‘Sagar Samriddhi’.

Widely acclaimed for his expertise in Drilling Technology & Operations, prior to joining Tripura Asset, he was the Head, Institute of Drilling Technology, Dehradun – ONGC’s premier R&D Institute and was responsible for guiding the institute to scale greater heights. He had also taken initiative in marketing ONGC’s rich technical competence abroad through various training and services contracts awarded to ONGC and bringing laurels to the organization.

VKJainDrA.R.Vijan

Upstream

Abstract

Natural gas, in today’s time, is con-sidered as a strategic resource of en-ergy. Abundant availability and being clean fuel, effective use of Natural gas has poised its demand related to energy. In the entire world, the use of gas has increased many folds. In this direction ONGC has also taken initia-tive to use the available gas in Tri-pura. Accordingly, Tripura Asset has been mandated to plan and execute activities so as to augment the gas production and supply potential of 6.0 MMSCMD by 2012-13 to various consumers in the state of Tripura. The asset envisages this as “Mission 6 Million”.

In this paper an attempt has been made to present the current status and future prospects of Tripura asset to achieve its mission.

Introduction

The Indian Economy is set to grow at the fastest rate ever in the coming decades with a major thrust being to manufacturing and services sector as well as formation of Special Eco-nomic Zones (SEZ). For this, India, has set forth a clear agenda for de-velopment of the energy sector in the coming decades with clear emphasis on stepping up domestic production while simultaneously pursuing vari-ous import options.

In the context of energy diversity, natural gas is expected to play a ma-jor role in diversifying the energy options. Natural Gas has become a major feedstock for production of Power, Petro-Chemicals and Fertil-izers’. Further, use of natural gas in refineries is a need of the hour to meet the ever-increasing require-ment and reduction of emission of Green house gases. Natural gas, which is perceived to be – “Fuel of the Century” now constitutes 24% of the Global fuel mix. Global gas demand is expected to grow from about 3,000 BCM in 2007 to 4,313 BCM in 2030; an average rate of in-crease of 1.5% per year. The share of gas in the global primary energy mix is projected to be 21.2% in 2030 (WEO 2009).

The state of Tripura, which covers an area of around 10500 km2 is located in the western flank of Assam-Arakan Basin (Fig. 1). The Tripura Sub-Basin comprises of a huge Tertiary sequence of post Cretaceous to Pleistocene age sediments. The discovery of gas in Tripura Sub-Basin in 1970s raised the hope for development of this remotely located state, which received further fillip in 1986-87 when gas production commenced in Tripura. Unfortunately, absence of adequate industrial devel-opment and poor infrastructure did not allow this natural resource to be fully utilized for strengthening the economy of the State. Thus, this vital source of energy remained under-utilized.

Over the years, commercial gas has been discovered in 11 fields viz Bara-mura, Konaban, Manikyanagar, Agar-tala Dome, Gojalia, Tichna, Sonamura, Kunjaban, Sundulbari, Tulamura & Khubal. At present gas is being pro-duced from four fields viz. Baramura, Konaban, Manikyanagar and Agartala Dome (Fig-2).

The current gas production stands at ~1.7 MMSCMD. The produced gas is mainly utilized for power genera-tion by North Eastern Electric Power

Corporation (NEEPCO) and Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) within the state of Tripura. Meager volume of produced gas is uti-lized by Tripura Natural Gas Company (TNGC) for City Gas Distribution, In-dustrial Growth Centre and CNG Plant at Agartala.

As on date Tripura Asset holds a total of 1297.7076 km2 area under PML, cov-ering 9 discovered gas fields viz. Agar-tala Dome, Baramura, Konaban, Man-ikyanagar, Sonamura, Gojalia, Tichna, Kunjaban and part of Sundulbari gas fields. In addition to this, an area of 84 km2 has been applied for grant of PML


in Tulamura structure which is un-der consideration by DGH. Out of 72 gas wells, 68 gas wells are within the granted PML areas and can be put on production, once surface facilities are created to meet the gas supply commit-ments to various consumers.

A total of 145 wells have been drilled, out of which 72 wells are gas wells, 68 wells have been abandoned and 3 wells need deployment of work-over rig for conclusive testing. Although, the production capacity of the Tripura Asset is more the gas production rate is regulated as per the requirement of consumers.

Present Scenario and Development of Gas Reservoirs

Natural gas is not properly utilized in Tripura due to lack of Industrial devel-opment and inadequate infrastructure base. Though the gas reservoirs are having more capacity, but presently only ~ 1.7 MMSCMD is produced. With a view to monetize the established gas reserves and improve the power scenario of the North-East, ONGC conceptualized setting up Mega Power Plant of 726.6 MW capacity through a joint venture company viz. ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) at Palatana in 2005. In consideration with the gas requirement of OTPC and de-mand by other consumers in the state, ONGC management had strategized to augment gas production potential in its Feasibility Report (FR) titled “Projects and Facilities to produce and supply 6.0 MMSCMD gas from Tripura Gas fields”, approved by ONGC Board in its 181st meeting held on 28th July 2008. Except Khubal all discovered fields have been considered in FR for production and supply of gas. Accord-ingly, Tripura Asset has been mandated to plan and execute activities so as to augment the gas production and supply of 6.0 MMSCMD by 2012-13 to vari-ous consumers in the state of Tripura. The asset envisages this as “Mission 6 Million”.

Inputs EnvisagedThe total inputs considered in the FR includes drilling of 172 locations (68 development locations and 104 ex-ploratory locations for reserve accre-tion plan of 52 BCM by 2019-20),

augmentation of surface gas handling facilities from the then capacity of 1.6 MMSCMD to 7.5 MMSCMD, laying of ~1072 Km flow-lines and ~263 km independent, dedicated Pipe-line Net-works (Fig. 3) for supply of gas to dif-ferent consumers (~240 km for OTPC power plant, ~13 km for NEEPCO, Monarchak).

The project was approved with a total estimated Capital Cost of Rs. 4376.01 Crore to be implemented in three Phas-es as shown in Table-1.

Gas Demand/Supply Commitments Scenario

Keeping in view the increasing demand of natural gas, ONGC has embarked upon an ambitious plan to achieve re-serve accretion of ~52.0 BCM GIPP by 2019-20 through drilling of 104 exploratory wells for production and supply of 6.0 MMSCMD gas on sus-tainable basis. Prospective areas and types of plays favorable for hydrocar-bon entrapment have been identified in proven, partially proven as well as unexplored areas. It is worth mention-ing that exploratory efforts in some of the identified areas have led to the discovery of commercial gas in three new structures/fields viz. Kunjaban,

Sundulbari and Tulamura. In order to translate the prognos-ticated resources into geologi-cal reserves concerted efforts are being made.

Out of the total 6.0 MMSC-MD gas envisaged in the FR,

the firm gas supply commitment as on date is 5.32 MMSCMD. As per GSA signed with OTPC, gas requirement of OTPC is 2.65 MMSCMD (Consid-ered to be ~3.0 MMSCMD including 0.35 MMSCMD to meet the peak gas demands). Summary of gas commit-ments status, consumer wise, is shown in Table 2.

Implementation Status

Implementations of activities planned under Phase-I of approved FR are in progress. The progress made so far in respect of drilling of wells and cre-ation of surface facilities considered in Phase-I are as follows.

Drilling of Wells

As per Feasibility Report a total of 51 locations (42 exploratory and 9 de-velopment) are planned to be drilled during Phase-I (By 2011-12). As on 01.04.2010, a total of 24 wells (16 exploratory and 8 development) have been drilled. Out of 16 exploratory wells drilled, so far, 6 wells have been completed as gas wells. Accretion of 7.73 BCM GIIP and 3.13 BCM Ul-timate Reserves have been achieved through exploratory and development drilling.

PhaseEstimated Capital

Cost(Rs/Cr.)Phase-I (Up to 2011-12) 1946.22Phase-II (2012-13 to 2019-20) 1884.19Phase-III (2020-21 to 2031-32) 545.60Total 4376.01

Table-1: Phase wise Estimated Capital Cost


Sl.No ConsumersGasDemand(MMSCMD)As

per FR

GasSupplyCommitments

Remarks

1 Pre-FR 1.5 1.52 Gas supply to continue2 TSECL,Rokhia 0.1 0.08 Supply continuing w.e.f. July-08

3 TSECL, Baramura 0.2 0.2

Term Sheet signed on 20th November 2009Gas supply started on 30th July 2010

4 ARCL 0.2 - Demand backed-off

5 NEEPCO, Monarchak 0.5 0.5GSAsignedon05.06.2008Gas supply tentatively by 2012-13

6 OTPC, Palatana 3.5 3.0

GSPA signed on 29.09.2008 First gas off-take tentatively by Dec-2011 (Against 2012-13 consideredinFR)

9 TNGC - 0.02For proposed CNG Plant at Kheyarpur.

Total 6 5.32

Table 2 : Gas demand/supply commitments

Facility Management for Surface Handling of Produced Gas

In view of future production and sup-ply of gas to consumers, ONGC has planned to upgrade the present gas handling capacity. As per FR surface gas handling capacity of 7.0 MMSC-MD is planned to be made available by 2012-13 through capacity enhance-ment of in some of the producing fields and creation of new facilities in non-producing fields. The various ac-tivities planned and progress thereof is summarized below:

Up-gradation of Existing GCSsUp-gradation of GCS of Agartala Dome, Baramura and Konaban field were planned as per FR. Status of up-gradation as on date is as under :

Up-gradation of Agartala Dome & Baramura GCSGas handling capacity of Agartala Dome and Baramura GCS has been enhanced from 0.4 to 2.2 MMSCMD

and 0.2 to 0.5 MMSCMD respectively during 2008-09.

Upgradation of Konaban GCS(0.5 to 1.5 MMSCMD) & Gas Grid Network, including Sundalbari & Kun-jaban Manifolds: Contract has been awarded on 17/02/2010. Project com-pletion is 30 months from NOA and ex-pected schedule of completion is July/August 2012.

Creation of New GCSs4 new GCSs are planned to be cre-ated, one each in Sonamura, Gojalia, Tulamura and Baramura (North) un-der Phase-I as per approved FR. Status creation of new GCS and other surface facilities as on date is as under

Creation of Sonamura GCS & Dedicated Pipeline for NEEPCO, MonarchakA new GCS of 0.8 MMSCMD capacity is planned to be created in Sonamura field for catering to the gas supply commitment to NEEPCO, Monarchak. Contract was awarded on 24.11.2009. However, the contractor has backed out

after NOA. It has been re-tendered and bid evaluation is in progress.

Creation of new GCS in Baramura (North), Gojalia, TulamuraNew GCS of 0.5 MMSCMD capacity of each were planned to be created by 2011-12 as per the FR. Creation of sur-face facilities in these fields are likely to be deferred for want of more tech-nical data. Exploratory activities car-ried out so far in Tulamura and Gojalia have not yielded expected result, while in Baramura (North) exploratory drill-ing has been delayed due to delay in deployment of Charter Hired Rigs.

In consideration of the above, gas han-dling capacity of 5.5 MMSCMD will be made available by the year 2012-13 to meet gas supply commitments of 5.32 MMSCMD to various consumers considered in FR.

Conclusion

This is an important step forward by ONGC for the progress of Tripura state. This will enable monetization of gas reserves and also help mitigate the power crisis not only to North Eastern part of India but to whole country. Apart from this it will generate opportunity to sustain the power based industrial units which will create tremendous employ-ment avenues.

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to Ms. Suman Singh, GM (Res.) and Sub-surface manager Agartala and her team for her support and meaningful discussions. Acknowledgement is also due to Mr. Amit Kumar, GM (P) and Surface Manager Agartala for guid-ance and support. Thanks are also due to all the colleagues for meaningful contribution.


Experimental Studyanalysis related to nano-lubricants with ‘cu’ and ‘tio

2’ blend in

a four stroke motor bike

KMuraliDirector (refineries), hpclPKSarma,VSrinivasGitam university, VisakhapatnamPSeetaRamaRao,TARajivKumarhpcl r&D (corporate), mumbaiCSKrishnaswamy,AKJainhpcl r&D (marketing), mumbai

Mr Murali is a Chemical Engineer and at present is Director (Refineries) with HPCL. He has over 30 years of experience in the oil industry and started his career with Erstwhile Caltex Oil Company at Vishakhapatnam.

He has vast experience in refining technology and has headed both the refineries of the organization He has always been a check for utilization of indigenous R&D for commercial applications in increasing units capacity and utilization.

As Head of Corporate R&D He developed projects for HPCL and strategies which are under implementation. As Director (Refineries) he has several plans and ideas for bringing world class competitive edge to both refineries.

KotagiriMurali

Downstream

offender because of reasons: firstly it emits high quantities of hydrocarbons and secondly a large quantity of the un-burnt fuel is vented out. As per the re-quirements the projected planned pro-duction capacities of manufacturers for the year 2001-2002 were as follows.

The density of two-wheeler vehicular transport increases still further region wise in India year after year in course of time with the increase in comforts and living standards of the citizens.

The prescribed emission norms for the two wheelers are as follows

CO 2g/kmHydrocarbons 2g/kmNOx

However, pollution rate of CO & NOX is alarmingly much more than the prescribed norms by the Gov-ernmental agencies because of sub-standard manufacturing designs and improper combustion of fuel in the cylinder. In very thickly populated regions of the metropolitan cities it definitely affects the health leading to ill health and severe respiratory problems. Besides the fuel consump-tion rate is enormously high account-ing for slow moving two wheeler vehicular transports in busy locali-ties. Hence, attention is bestowed to conserve the fuel for better future by

Abstract

The present investigation summarizes detailed experimental studies with standard lubricants of commercial quality known as Racer-4 of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, India blended with different mass concentrations of nano particles of ‘Cu’ and ‘TiO2’ sup-plied by Sigma Aldrich chemicals Pvt. Ltd. The test bench is fabricated with a four stroke Hero-Honda motor bike hydraulically loaded at the rear wheel with proper instrumentation to record fuel consumption, the load on the rear wheel and the linear velocity. The whole range of data obtained on a sta-tionary bike is subjected to regression analysis to arrive at various relation-ships between fuel consumption as a function of brake power, linear velocity and percentage mass concentration of nano particles in the commercial brand of the lubricant. The empirical relation correlates the observed data with rea-sonable accuracy. Further, extension of the analysis has revealed a definite im-provement in brake thermal efficiency which ultimately affects the fuel econ-omy by diminishing frictional power in the system with the introduction of nano component into the lubricant. The performance of the engine seems to be better with the Cu- Racer4 blend com-bination rather than the one with nano TiO2.

Introduction

At a very galloping speed the human needs and demands for comforts are increasing in every corner of the world. Consequentially the consumption of energy resources is indiscriminatingly planned without looking into the grave situation that might arise in the near future.

The increase in entropy and the envi-ronmental pollutions in every sector af-fect very seriously our well being and life on this planet. The most common and preferred mode of transportation in India is a two-wheeler and the sur-vey conducted by the*Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority for the national capital re-gion emphatically declared through a systematic survey that the two wheeler is worst offender in metropolitan cities. The two-stroke engine is rated as worst

employing safer alternative sources and conservation of fuel by improv-ing overall efficiencies of the existing systems. Application of nano fluids in several engineering practices is gain-ing paramount importance and in the literature, many studies related to nano tribology can be found.

The article presents results obtained on a four stroke two wheeler with the lubricants blended with nano particles of Cu and TiO2 of differ-ent percentages mass concentrations in the lubricants. The results indi-cate that the brake thermal efficien-cies can be enhanced so that the fuel consumption rate can be improved by admixing nano particles into the lubricant.

Test rig with four stroke Motor cycle

The motor cycle employed in the study is a four stroke motor cycle available in the INDIAN market under the brand name HERO-HONDA. The specifica-tions of the motor cycle are as follows:

Engine serial number: No. of strokes: Four Diameter of the cylinder: 50 mmLength of the stroke: 49.5 mmDisplacement volume: 97.2 ccAir cooled cylinder with aluminum alloy extended finsThrottle controlled speed regulator.The rated break power at the wheel is around 5.67 kW at a speed of 7, 500 RPM

MotorCycles13,19,000 (Four stroke)

5,20,000 (Two Stroke)

Mopeds1,70,000 (Four stroke)

5,70,000 (Two-Stroke)

Plate 1 Motorbike mounted on roller test bench


The recommended commercial lubri-cant for the motor cycle is SAE 20 W 40 grade lubricant (Racer-4 of Hindu-stan Petroleum Corporation is suitable as engine oil). Fuel is petrol of general quality sold in the commercial bunks situated in local areas.

Preparation of the motorcycle prior to mounting on the stand

The motor bike is a fresh new one from the dealer and hence initially the bike is run with lubricant racer - 4 covering a mileage of 1500 km so that the rotating and reciprocating components in the engine are well lubricated and minor manufacturing or assembly flaws can be ruled out. The bike is mounted firm-ly on the test platform with the front wheel firmly gripped in the special vice designed for the purpose. Besides, the frame of vehicle is vertically held in position with the rear wheel resting on two freely rotating rollers mounted in special bearings. The surface of the rollers is specially made with corru-gations to avoid slipping of the rear wheel in contact during experimenta-tion. A special hydraulic dynamometer arrangement loads the rear wheel and its magnitude is measured with the aid of proper digital measuring device at a specific rotational speed. The fuel line to the engine is through a digital measuring device to register fuel con-sumption rate with good accuracy. The photographic view of the rig with mo-torcycle in position is shown in plate1.

The lubricant used in the bike is to lubricate the reciprocating parts like piston-cylinder and rotary parts in the gear drive. Therefore the test procedure takes into account the sliding friction as well as gear friction and the friction-al power lost in overcoming them.

The brake power can be calculated us-ing the relation

Preparation of the Nano-lubricant with the Nano component

One of the major hurdles in introducing the Nano into the racer is agglomera-tion inhibiting ideal homogeneity and dispersion. An Ultra sonic De-agglom-erator (Sonicator) has been purchased with the following specifications to ensure homogeneous mixing and dis-persion of the nano-particles into lubri-cants without agglomeration (Plate 2).

Maximum Power Output: 600WOperating Frequency: 20 kHzInput: 110VAC @ 10 AmpsProgrammable Timer: 1 sec to 1 hrThe base lubricant used in the study is Racer-4 manufactured by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India. It is 4-stroke bike engine oil cum gear oil with a grade of SAE 20W-40. Since the base lubricant is a popular com-mercial lubricant, it already contains some amount of dispersant and hence in the present study, no additional dis-persant is added to the base lubricant. Copper (< 50nm) and Titanium diox-ide (<25nm) nano particles are mixed in various mass fractions [0.05 %, 0.1

% and 0.2%] into the base lubricant to prepare the required sample. The re-quired quantity is made in batches of 400c.c at a time with the mass of the nano material being accurately mea-sured by electronic weighing machines with a least count of 10 mg. The batch wise sample is subjected to ultrasonic vibrations for a maximum period of 8hrs. Before the sample is charged into the sump of the motorcycle, it is sub-jected to additional 20 hrs of mixing with the sonicator.

Tests Results

Detailed tests are programmed on a stationary motorbike for the following ranges of parameters listed as entries in the table 1

The test results are shown in the appen-dix1 of this report.

Analysis of the test data

Analysis of the test results is quite complex since the rotating and recip-rocating components in a mobile I.C engine are many and these can not be

Plate 2 Sonicator

BallondiscresultsAverageCoefficientoffriction %Changefromracer4

SpeedRPM

Racer4 Cu0.05% Cu0.1% Cu0.2%TiO20.05%

TiO20.1% Cu0.05% Cu0.1% Cu0.2%TiO20.05%

TiO20.1%

300 0.0822 0.0732 0.0715 0.0627 0.0755 0.0728 10.95 13.02 23.72 10.34 11.44600 0.064 0.057 0.0559 0.0486 0.056 0.0576 10.16 12.34 24.06 12.50 13.44900 0.0552 0.0496 0.0486 0.0424 0.0493 0.049 10.14 11.96 23.19 10.87 11.231200 0.0496 0.0448 0.0439 0.0365 0.0476 0.047 8.76 10.59 25.66 3.26 3.67

Tests Results


comprehensively described with in the frame work of a physical model. Hence, it can be described as a ther-mal system following the principles of thermodynamics. The input thermal energy due to combustion of the fuel is partially utilized to do mechanical work to create mobility at a certain ve-locity under specified load conditions on the wheel. The heat balance sheet can not be accurately drawn because of lack of information regarding frictional losses, thermal losses from the exhaust of the burnt gases and other unaccount-ed losses. They can not be separately segregated for a stationary vehicle. The best alternative is to conduct as many tests as possible and subject the data for statistical regression analysis.

The data are subjected to regression analysis as follows:

1. For the case with Racer-4The fuel consumption fc is considered as

(1)

Where F is considered as a second de-gree polynomial in the variable

Where

Where a, b, A0A1, A2 are constants to be determined by applying regression to the test data

fc is the fuel consumption -(kg/hr)

V is the linear velocity of the wheel (m/s)

P is the break power in (kW)

2. For the case with Racer – 4+ Cu nano particles

F is again considered as second degree polynomial in the variable

Where (2)

is the percentage mass concentration of the Nano component added into Racer-4

The break thermal effi-ciency can be computed from the relationship

(3)

is the calorific value of the (fuel kJ/kg)

The comprehensive data shown in ta-ble 1 is subjected to nonlinear regres-sion and the results are shown in fig-ures (1-12).

The results of the analyses for various cases

1. Lubricant RACER-4+0.05% Cu Results of regression yielded a polyno-mial as follows.

(4)

The test data 114 points as obvious from figure (1) could be correlated by second degree polynomial equation (4) with an average deviation of 4% and a standard deviation of 4%.

Equation (4) is shown plotted indicat-ing the fuel consumption as a function of break power in figure (2) at a speed of 60 kmph with 0.05% of Nano Cu in the lubricant.

The fuel consumption can be repre-sented by a second degree polynomial as follow

(5)

The fuel consumption of the motor cycle with pure lubricant at a speed of 60 kmph is also shown plotted in figure (2) and the functional variation is given by the relationship

(6)

Functional relationships Equations (5) and (6) i.e., fCu, fRacer are respectively further extended to cut the abscissa at -0.525,-0.22 kW. Analytically equa-tions (5) and (6) are subjected to New-

ton-Raphson method of analysis to check the correctness of the intercepts on the abscissa. The agreement with the values shown in the plot is very satisfactory justifying the continuity of the functions i.e., equations (5) & (6).

It can be inferred that addition of nano Cu reduced the frictional component substantially. However, these magni-tudes include the heat losses from the cylinder and other unaccounted for losses. With the aid of equation (3) the variation of brake thermal efficiency

with brake power is shown plot-ted in figure (3).

The results shown in figure (3) indicate that there is 4 to 5% rise in break ther-mal efficiency with the addition of Cu Nano into the racer-4.lubricant. Thus, the increase in break thermal efficiency will lead to fuel conservation.

Similar mathematical analysis is car-ried out for the whole range of compo-sitions and results are furnished further.

2. Racer-4+0.1% of CuFigure (4) depicts that the test data could be satisfactorily correlated .The variation of fuel consumption with the variable Z is represented by the rela-tionship:

(7)

Where

132 test results are correlated with an average deviation of 3% and a standard deviation of 5%.Further, variation of fuel consumption with break power at 60 kmph is given by the second degree polynomial in break power, P (see fig-ure5)

(8)

By Comparing these break thermal efficiencies values of figure (3) for 0.05% Cu Nano sample with those in figure (6), it can be seen that increase in break thermal efficiency at higher loads is found to be more marked. The efficiency characteristic shown in fig-ure (6) has a steeper gradient indicat-ing better performance with load with 0.1% Cu Nano sample.

Table1: Details of ranges of test data:Sl.No Lubricant Speed Load

1 Racer-4 20-60kmph 10-50 n2 Racer-4+0.05%cu 40-60kmph 20-80 n3 Racer-4+0.1%cu 40-60kmph 20-80 n4 Racer-4+0.2%cu 40-60kmph 20-80 n5 Racer-4+0.05%tio2 40-60kmph 20-80 n


3. Racer -4+0.2% of CuThe following relationships are obtained for this combination

(9)

Where

The correlation for 138 data points as shown in figure (7) is achieved with an average deviation of 3% and a standard devia-tion of 5%. At 60 kmph, a typical fuel consumption variation with Power P is given in figure (8)

(10)

The engine is found to perform better at higher loads for this sample as can be noticed from figure (9).

4. Racer -4+0.05% TiO2The performance of the bike with a different type of nano TiO2 with 0.05% mass concentration in the racer is further inves-tigated. The total number of tests is 114 and when subjected to regression (see figure 10) resulted in following relationship with an average deviation of 4% and a standard deviation of 4%

(11)

Where

At 60 kmph, the fuel consumption is given by the relationship (see figure 11)

(12)

However the variation in break thermal efficiency with break power for lubricant with TiO2 sample is not as profoundly af-fected as can be seen from figures (6) and (9) of nano lubricants with Cu

Figure 1: Validation of the correlation

Figure 2: Variation of fuel consumption with break power

Figure 3: Variation of brake thermal efficiency with brake power

Figure 4: Validation of correlation

f C a lc u la te d

0.11.0

f Exp

0 .1

1 .0

f .C u = 0 .2 6 3 8 -1 .4 X 1 0 -3 [Z ]+ 0 .0 1 2 [Z ]2

Z = P 0 .4 9 6 V 0 .8 2 6φ 0 .3 4 5

N o o f d a ta p o in ts - 1 3 2L u b r ic a n t - R a c e r 4 + 0 .1 % C u n a n o p a r t ic le s

4 0 < V < 6 0 K M P H1 9 .6 2 < L < 7 8 .4 8 N

0 1 c u .s p w

φ = 0 .1 % (M a s s fra c t io n )A .D = 3 %S .D = 5 %


Figure 5: Variation of fuel consumtion with break power

Figure 6: Variation of break thermal efficiency with break power

Figure 7: Valdation of correlation


Figure 10: Validation of correlation

Figure 9: Variation of break thermal effieciency with break power



Figure 12: Variation of break thermal efficiency with break power

Figure 13: Configuration of Lubricant Film

Figure 14: Forces of the Fluid Element

The results in figures (5), (8),(11) indicates that the frictional power is profoundly influenced due to the inclusion of nano Cu and TiO2 in the lubricant. The reason for such a decrease in the frictional power can be due to two factors viz., either due to frictional coefficient or it may be due to the geomet-ric changes in the lubricant film gap thickness. Hence to establish the plausible reasons the problem is conceptually formulated with the aid of hydrodynamic lubrication theory. In practice the rubbing surfaces between the liner and the piston ring can not be parallel but the gap in between is vary-ing with the lubricant medium in the film faclitatinting load bearing .Hence subsequently from theoretical considerations the likely reasons are investigated. In figure (13) the lubri-cant film is geometrically idealized and the equation of mo-tion of the lubricant film is defined considering the viscous forces and Pressure forces.

Equation (13) after simplification and proper arrangement with the assumption yields the force balance in dif-ferential form as follows:

(14)

The boundary condition for solving the differential equation (14) is that at

X+=0, P+=1 (15)

Fr is the friction factor parameter defined by the term

: and Pm is the mean effective pressure acting on the piston head

V is the mean velocity of the piston

, the gap factor between the liner and the piston rings is defined as

where L is the length of the stroke

m is the variable exponent defining the gap profile between the liner and the piston ring

The differential equation contains two parameters Fr, and by changing these terms we need to two evaluate the fric-tional power variation


Figure 16: Variation of liquid film thickness between the piston ring and cylinder liner

Figure 17: Variation of Dimensionless pressure in the liquid film

Figure 18: XRD analysis of the ball specimen subjected to ASTM four ball wear testFigure 15: Variation of Frictional power with geometry of

liquid film

Evaluation of frictional powerThe frictional power FP can be estimated as follows:

(16)

Thus, the values FP can be estimated from the pressure profile

(17)

Solution of Equation (14)Equation (14) is written in finite difference form as follows:

I is the variable node with I varying I=1 to [J+1] nodes for the range 0< X+<1

Thus, (18)

Where

Equation (16) can be computed

(19)

Thus for different values of Fr, m, Computer runs are gen-erated and the results are shown in figures (16), (17), (18)

After conducting ASTM 4 ball wear tests, the balls of wear test were subjected to XRD analysis for possible deposition of copper nano particle. X-ray scattering techniques are a family of nondestructive analytical techniques which reveal information about the crystallographic structure, chemical composition, and physical properties of materials and thin films. These techniques are based on observing the scattered intensity of an X-ray beam hitting a sample as a function of incident and scattered angle, polarization, and wavelength or energy. The following graph gives the XRD analysis.

From the graph it can be noted that along with iron(Fe), Nickel(Ni), Chromium (Cr) and oxygen(O) copper (Cu) can also be seen at peaks of the plot. This suggests that small

amount of copper nano particles deposit on the surface of the ball and form a protective coating (Mending effect) thereby of-fering resistance to wear and reducing the friction.


Results of exhaust gas analysis

Though the present tests and studies are limited to Nano lubricants with Cu and TiO2 the typical exhaust gas analysis is presented .It is premature to comment on the exhaust gas analysis. However, the results in the last three columns indicating CO2, HC and NOX seem to be marginally influenced. To make any conclusive remarks further detailed data must be collected and analyzed. Besides the Nano is not di-rectly introduced into the fuel to alter the combustion characteristics

Conclusions

The Nano lubricants with Cu blend with 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2% yielded enhanced break thermal efficiencies in relation to the performance of an en-gine with Racer-4 of HPCL. The gra-dients in the characteristics for Nano lubricants are found to be steeper. 4 to 7% rise in thermal efficiency as seen in Figures. 6, 9, 12 in relation to the per-formance of the bike with pure lubri-cant is a promising feature in terms of the fuel economy. It can also be inferred that the bike can accept higher loads at speeds about 60 kmph or more with Nano lubricants than with Racer-4. 0.1

% Cu nano lubricant blend is found to yield better results than with mass con-centrations of 0.05 % and 0.2%.

Introduction of Nano particles into the lubricant effectively reduces the overall frictional power. This aspect is clear from the intercepts of fuel con-sumption characteristics with the break power abscissa. The frictional results could be checked analytically with the Newton –Raphson method. The reduc-tion in frictional power may be due to substantial decrease in coefficient of friction between reciprocating and ro-

tating parts. However, this aspect is to be further ascertained.

Though the results with the 0.05% TiO2 Nano indicate increase in break thermal efficiency the performance of the engine is not on par with the lubri-cant with Cu Nano blend.

The assessment of life of the Nano lu-bricant with Cu & TiO2 in terms of the total mileage is still a matter of further examination. It is found to yield fuel economy promoting fuel conservation in view of the increasing number of two stroke and four stroke motor cycles on the road. The technology is still to

be developed to inhibit unwanted ag-glomeration of Cu Nano with time in the lubricant. The study indicates that if Nano chemistry offers a solution to this problem, the blend with 20-50 nm Cu stands a fairly a good chance in the lu-brication technology as applied to I.C. Engines in general.

Nomenclature

A0, A1, A2 constants in the polynomi-al equations

a constant b constantf fuel consumption [Kg/hr]P Brake power [W or

kW] V Linear Velocity of the

wheel [m/s]W load applied on the wheel

[kgf or N]N No. of revolutions of the

rollers

Roman letters

φ Mass concentration

η Efficiencyλ Calorific value of fuel

[kJ/kg]Subscripts

Brake brake thermal effciencyRacer with Racer-4 as lubricantCu copperTiO2 Titanium dioxide

Lubricant CO CO2 HC NOXRacer4+0.1%Cu 2.672% 7.15 % 489 PPM 15 PPMRacer4+0.2%Cu 2.582 % 6.89% 513 PPM 34 PPMRacer4+0.05%Cu 2.873 % 7.01 % 446PPM 28 PPMRacer4 2.587 % 8.36% 485 PPM 71 PPMRacer4+0.05%TiO2 2.595 % 3.28 % 553 PPM 0 PPM


Emergingtrends in Drilling fluids

SDuttaGGm, hoi-iDt, onGc ltd, Dehradun

Mr. S.Dutta, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from RIT, Jamshedpur joined ONGC on 30th May 1975 as a Graduate Trainee.

During his tenure in ONGC, Mr Dutta is credited with the introduction of many innovative cementing technologies in wells of Mumbai High & cementing of wells in Borholla with bare foot completion without damaging the formation. In the capacity of Head Drilling Services he has taken the achievements of drilling services to new heights wherever he was posted. As Head Corporate Inventory Management, he introduced the iMac – codification system in SAP.

Mr. S.Dutta, GGM, is presently heading the prestigious Institute of Drilling Technology (IDT) a front runner institute of ONGC. Under his dynamic leadership, IDT has earned the recognition of “Centre of Excellence” in South East Asia. through his persistent efforts.

S.Dutta

Upstream

Introduction

Any composition, which is used to aid in genaration and removal of cuttings from the well bore, is termed as drilling fluid. Functions of drilling fluids are:

• Transport drilled cuttings and cav-ings to the surface

• Suspend drilled cuttings and carv-ings when circulation is stopped

• Control subsurface pressure• Cool and lubricate bit and drill

string• Support the walls of the well bore• Help suspend the weight of the drill

string and casing • Deliver hydraulic energy upon the

formation beneath bit and• Provide suitable medium for wire

line logs

Growing orientation towards hitech drilling technologies in both onshore and offshore has led to the advance-ment in drilling fluids too. Emerging trends in drilling fluids in general are:

1. Polyol Based Drilling Fluid2. Formate Brine Based Drilling Fluids3. Non damaging drilling fluids (NDDF)4. Drilling Fluids for Deep Water5. Low toxicity mineral oil based mud

(LTMOBM)6. Hollow Glass Sphere(HGS)7. Non – Invasive Fluid (NIF)8. New Amine technology9. Silicates (Sodium And Potassium

Silicate)10. High temperature high pressure

drilling fluids

Polyol based drilling fluid

What are polyglycols?Polyglycols are formed when two hydroxyl (-oh) groups in the generic group of glycols are condensate to form ether links (i.e. C-O-C- BONDS)

Significant number of polyglycols are initiated from• Alcohols• Fattyacids• Fattyamines whichareconden-

sateswith• Ethyleneoxide(EO)or• Propyleneoxide

Polyglycols have become established as cost effective environment friendly

additives for water based muds (WBM) used to drill clay rich rocks generally referred to as shales. They are used in the concentration of 3-10% by w/v and typically in conjunction with KCl – Polymer muds. They are compatible with fresh water muds and those con-taining Sodium and Calcium salts.

Shale inhibition mechanism• Reduced water activity • Pore plugging by insoluble polygly-

col droplets• Adsorption of polyglycol on clay

surfaces• Filtrate viscosity

Polyol drilling fluid formulations• Bentonite Suspension • KCl (Potassium Chloride)• Biopolymer(TSP) • PAC (R&L) • Sulfonated Asphalt• Linseed oil • Drilling detergent • Barytes Polyglycol

Formate Brine Based Drilling Fluids

Formate brine based drilling fluids (Sodium, Potassium and Cesium salt of Formic acid) were originally de-signed to minimize frictional pressure losses in slim hole drilling operations. In addition their unique capability of stabilizing polymers at high tempera-tures made them more temperature re-sistant than any other polymer based drilling fluid. Subsequent work has shown that these brines because of their high densities and low corros-sivity are ideal completion and packer fluids. Formate brines have excellent HSE profile and they are compatible with reservoir fluids, good shale stabi-lizers, gas hydrate inhibitors and scale dissolvers. Recently techniques have been found for cost effective well clean up and recycling of Formate brine based drilling fluids.

Recent changes in environment legis-lations have driven the industry away from oil based drilling fluids. The most popular option by far is pseudo oil based drilling fluids based on synthetic hydrocarbons. However these systems are still in a stage of to be proven envi-ronmentally safe and their future is not certain.

But, not only environment requirement are to be considered technical require-ment are also needed to be fulfilled. Such as,: temperature stability, good hydraulics, shale stability, material and reservoir compatibility, tolerance to contamination, superior lubricating properties and recycling possibilities. Normal water based muds cannot com-pete with oil based muds in most of these areas. Formate brine based drill-ing fluids are capable of fulfilling most of these characteristics.

Polymers behave differently when they are exposed to higher tempera-ture. Some of the polymers typically biopolymers exhibit transition tem-perature. Transition temperature is that temperature at which polymer under-goes order disorder conformational changes followed by massive loss of viscosity and hydrolytic degradation by two orders of magnitude. Some ions known as water structure breakers called as salting in ions decrease this temperature while others termed as wa-ter structure makers or salting out ions increase this temperature. Formates are salting out ions and hence increase transition temperature.

The transition or breakdown tempera-ture of Xanthan in fresh water is 1230c adding sodium potassium and cesium formates to this solution increases this temperature to around 1600c for ce-sium Formate ,1740c for sodium For-mate and more than 2000c for potas-sium Formate.

Constituents of Formate based NDDF• water• XC polymer, TSP • Pre-gelatinized starch/PAC(L&R)• Micronized calcium carbonate • Sodium Formate ,Potassium For-

mate, cesium Formate and • Cellulosic polymers

Non damaging drilling fluids (NDDF)

Fluids are used in the wellbore while drilling and completing a well. These fluids are maintained at a pressure higher than formation pressure to pre-vent reservoir fluids from entering into the well. Due to this overbalance pressure the fluid (or mud as it is com-monly referred) invades the formation


and can cause formation damage. In-vading particles which were initially suspended in the drilling fluids can plug the pores and hence reduce rock permeability. Mud filtrate can interact with formation minerals to cause mo-bilization and subsequent redeposit ion of insitu fines and to induce wettability changes leading to reduction of perme-ability. Hence it is important to mini-mize filtrate invasion as well as solids invasion in the formation. Control of damage caused by particles in the mud and volume of filtrate is the primary fo-cuses of non damaging drilling fluids.

Many formation damage mechanisms are recognized and have been well documented. These can generally be categorized into two groups, firstly the reduction in pores or pore throat sizes and secondly the change in relative permeability. Apart from the potential formation damage mechanisms like clay swelling and dispersion formation are susceptible to much other forma-tion damage mechanisms most signifi-cant of which is solids invasion.

If all of the drilling damage is caused by solids invasion then these solids par-ticles must be invading relatively deeply into the formation. Many studies have investigated reduction in permeability of cores exposed to various drilling flu-ids. Some of the researchers suggest that although high level of damage may be observed depth of this damage is gen-erally shallow. According to one study depth of solids damage should be less than 2.5 cm (1 in.) if the drilling fluid is suitably designed. Several studies however have reported that solids inva-sion exceed 7.5 cm (3 in.) and invasion up to a depth of 30 cm (12 in) has been reported. It has also been reported that high permeability formations are more susceptible to solids invasion.

Although some of the damage due to solids invasion is inherent to all the drilling fluids it is possible to minimize both the damage and depth of invasion by correctly sizing the bridging mate-rial in the drilling fluid. Bridging is re-quired to initiate filter cake formation and filter cake will further control sol-ids and filtrate invasion.

NDDF are clay free (Clay being col-loidal particle and hence damaging)

drilling fluids. An optimally designed NDDF

• Should conform to all safety health and environment standards.

• Should retain all relevant drilling fluid characteristics

• Contain specialized sized materials to bridge all exposed pore openings.

• Deposit a non - damaging filter cake that is easily and effectively removed by initial production and/ or by treatment of mild reactants/ oxidizing agents.

Certain statistical guidelines are con-sidered, 1/3 rule, D1/2 relationship etc.

• Basic summary of 1/3 rule is Mean particle size of bridging material should be greater than 1/3 of the median pore size of the formation. SPE–36430

• A median particle size of the bridg-ing additive equal to or slightly greater than one third of the median pore size of the formation. –SPE–68964

• The d1/2 relationship suggests that for ideal bridging, the cumulative weight % of the bridging materials should be directly proportional to the square root of their particle size. –SPE–364304.

• The concentration of the bridging agents must be at least 5% by vol-ume of the solids in the final mud mix. –SPE–68964

NDDF Formulation• Water • Potassium Chloride• XC polymer • Pregelatinized starch/ PAC (L&R)• Micronized Calcium Carbonate/

Sized Salt• Bactericide

Fluids are compatible with

• Sulfonated Asphalt• EP Lubricants&• Polyglycol (Polyol)

Drilling Fluids for Deep Water

Definition of deep water and ultra deep-water has tended to vary geographical-ly and chronologically as drilling and completion operations have advanced into deeper and deeper waters. On the

basis of geographical locations deep-water can variously be defined as water depth greater than 400-500 meters and ultra deepwater as water depth greater than 1500-1700 meters. Operation in deepwater involve some unique issues which can pose significant operational challenges in offshore drilling. From drilling fluid perspective these include:

• Remote location and well cost• Shallow water and gas flows• Large circulating volumes• Low temperature in riser and pits• Low fracture gradient and narrow

mud weight-fracture gradient win-dow

• High ECD and prospects for loss circulation

• Gas hydrates risk

In addition to these environmental and safety issues are of paramount concern. Issues those are frequently of concern are

• Formation damage• Wellbore stability• Drilling and completing in uncon-

solidated sands

In deepwater drilling, selection of a stable drilling fluid which can be left in the well for extended periods is essen-tial. Inhibitive fluids with low dilution and consumption rates are of consid-erable benefit in minimizing logistics and supply problems. With typical riser volumes from 160 to500 M3(100 to 3000 bbls) and circulating volumes from 400 to800M3(2500 to 5000 bbls), any requirement for further massive di-lution volumes must be avoided.

Solid control efficiency is essential in controlling low gravity solids. As per lit-erature (SPE 66061) four linear motion shale shakers ideally preceded by four scalping shakers, plus two high speed centrifuges in parallel. One or two drier shakers for synthetic or oil base mud re-covery may also be required.

Materials stock, keeping in view the emergencies such as riser disconnect or other problems i.e. lost circulation, stuck pipe and well control must be available at the site.

In deepwater/ultra deep-water opera-tions, the rig is essentially to be provid-


ed with sufficient reserve pit and sack room capacity and variable deck load.

Flows can occur while drilling, during conductor cementing or indeed at any time during the well.

As per literature one solution has been to drill the 26” hole with a weighted fluid to control the flows.

Managing the effect of temperature and pressure on the rheological proper-ties of a drilling fluid is crucial to the successful drilling of ultra deepwater wells. Control of the mud’s rheologi-cal properties at low temperature and high pressure will help prevent gener-ating high down hole circulating pres-sure loss and ECD. This will minimize the risk of inducing the fracture of weak shales.

In deep water, the combination of cold sea-floor temperature and substantial hydrostatic head from weighted mud can result in conditions where hydrates can form in water based mud and, theoretically, in oil-based or synthetic based mud.

Once formed in the BOP stack, they are difficult to remove and can make the stack inoperable. Hydrates grow rapidly, once initiated, and have high compressive strength. They can freeze or stick the drill pipe preventing rota-tion. Even background gas levels can result in hydrates forming in the cavi-ties of the BOP stack if suppression is inadequate.

Thermodynamic gas hydrate inhibitors include chloride salts, alcohols, glycols and glycerol. In water based muds, so-dium chloride brine is commonly used as a primary inhibitor for both cost and inhibition efficiency. The addition of high molecular weight, polyalkylene glycols to a Salt/Polymer mud system can add additional inhibition and as-sist filtration control by endowing the filter cake with greater compressibility. These shale stabilizing glycols also provide a significant level of hydrate inhibition although not as much as the low molecular weight ethylene glycols. For the purpose of gas hydrate in-hibition during drilling by drillingfluidSod.Chlorideintheconcentra-tionof13–22%andMonoEthylene

Glycolintheconcentrationof10%hasbeenusedasthermodynamicin-hibitor.

Drilling fluids choices for deep waterWater Based• Salt- PHPA• Salt Glycol• KCl- Salt- XCP –PHPA- Glycol• CaCl2 • Silicate• Cationic PolymerSynthetic based• Olefins• Linear alpha Olefins• Esters• Paraffin’s

Low toxicity mineral oil based mud (LTMOBM)

An invert emulsion is water in oil emul-sion in which fresh or salt water is the internal phase and where diesel, crude oil and any other oil is the continuous phase. An emulsion is defined as a dis-persion of fine particles of one liquid in another liquid. For an invert emulsion or true oil based drilling fluid brine wa-ter is dispersed into fine droplets within a continuous oil (LTMO in this case) phase. Brine droplets are dispersed (in-ternal) phase and oil is the continuous phase as it is the external phase which surrounds the water droplets in the in-vert emulsion.

An emulsion is stabilized by adding chemical additives called emulsifiers. For a good emulsion there should be no tendencies for the phases to separate. Oil will remain the continuous phase and the water droplets will not break or come in contact of formation or drill string.

Modern theories dealing with forma-tion and behavior of emulsions are very complex and no single theory can explain the important behavior characteristics. It is seen however that the stability of emulsions is strongly influenced by oil/water ratio, time and degree of agitation. Emulsions in which dispersed phase is in the form of very fine droplets are more stable. Water (brine) phase provides viscosi-fying properties to the emulsion and is responsible for controlling gelling characteristics, weight suspension and fluid loss control.

Hollow Glass Sphere (HGS)

Are used for designing low density drilling fluids• Can successfully and predictably re-

duce the densities of drilling fluids without adversely affecting drilling fluid properties.

• High strength (up to 18,000 psi).• Low density (between 0.1 and 0.6 S.

G.),• Unicellular and chemically inert.• HGS has been found to be chemi-

cally inert. Rheological properties are within acceptable limits.

• HGS system based formulation have capacity to load barite in case of unwanted formation fluid influx..

• In case of gas influx in HGS based formulation no deterioration in drill-ing fluid properties.

Non – Invasive Fluid (NIF)

NIF is a blend of modified cellulosic polymers and surface functionalized organic solids. The molecular weights of the polymer components are low, which allows easy mixing and does not contribute significantly to fluid vis-cosity. The technology has been pre-sented in several SPE papers and other acknowledged industry publications, including SPE 77189, SPE 85304, SPE 85326, SPE101329, AADE HO-DF-04-33 and AADE 06-DF-HO15.

The high-grade polymers and organic solids in NIF are modified to exhib-it a range of water and oil solubil-ity and wettability. When added to a water-based fluid certain components are only partially solvate because of their oil-loving properties; these spe-cies assemble into small deformable aggregates that give an NIF fluid its ultra-low invasion, low damage char-acteristics. A similar mechanism oper-ates in oil-based fluids except that here it is the more water-loving components now produce the aggregates.

Particle analysis shows that the ag-gregates are present in the fluid in a very wide range of sizes: from a few microns to several hundred microns in diameter. These aggregates pro-vide the excellent invasion control seen with NIF additives: as wellbore fluid tries to enter rock pores or mi-cro fractures because of the overbal-


ance pressure, an ultra-low permeabil-ity layer of aggregates quickly forms and greatly reduces any further inva-sion of solids or fluid. The aggregates making up the layer are deformable so, as the pressure is raised, they are increasingly compressed and the bar-rier permeability is reduced even fur-ther. From laboratory tests and field measurements, it is seen that the NIF gives much lower fluid invasion than conventional fluids, including sized calcium carbonate muds.

The broad size distribution and com-pressibility of the aggregates means that the one grade additive can seal a wide range of pore sizes and micro fractures. There is no need to change the size distribution of the product as drilling moves from formations of one permeability to another – as is the case with calcium carbonate.

New Amine technology

Quaternary hydroxy aminesA very effective and non toxic low mo-lecular weight quaternary monoamine material is β- hydroxyethyl- triethyl ammonium chloride (HETMAC).

With a molecular wt. of 104 the cation can easily penetrate shale pores and serve as a K substitute at relatively low conc. 5-6 ppb (1.5% -1.8%) = 6% KCl.

Amine/ glycol polyaminesApparently, the amine group bound the molecule to the clay minerals and the glycolgroupsstabilized the clay.

Amine based drilling fluids have been used in Ahmedabad Asset.

Silicates (Sodium And Potassium Silicate)

Silicates areInexpensive and environmentally be-nign drilling fluid additives and are ex-cellently suited for shale stabilization.

Soluble silicates will react with poly-valent ions in shales to form insoluble precipitates. Neutral to acidic pH of pore fluids will trigger silicate gelation. Gelled and precipitated silicates will prevent filtrate invasion and pressure penetration. Form highly efficient os-motic membrane

High temperature high pressure drilling fluids

Critical issues in HTHP environmentWhen bottom hole temperatures ex-ceed 300°F, the design and formulation of drilling fluids can present a host of problems. Drilling fluids destabilize under such extreme conditions, possi-bly causing wellbore instability, well control problems, and ultimately loss of the well. The critical issues are:

High-Temperature GelationThis can occur in both water and oil-based drilling fluids. In water-based drilling fluids (WBM), gelation under prolonged static conditions at tempera-ture is caused by flocculation of swell-ing clay such as Bentonite and is com-pounded by the thermal degradation of chemical thinners, a drop in pH and an increase in the filtrate loss. In oil-based drilling fluids (OBM), the interaction of colloidal particles (clays and fluid-loss additives) and breakdown of emul-sifiers may cause gelation.

High-Temperature Fluid LossRegardless of the type of drilling fluid, the static and dynamic fluid losses usu-ally increase with temperature and are affected by gelation and thermal deg-radation of synthetic and natural poly-mers.

Rheological Property ControlHigh-density drilling fluids, by defi-nition, have high volume fractions of weight material formulated to maintain hydrostatic pressure and well control. Properly controlling the rheological properties in the field depends on ef-ficient solids-control equipment and high-performance drilling fluid addi-tives. Small increases in colloidal-sized drilled solids can rapidly escalate the fluid’s rheological properties, leading to unacceptable pressure losses, drill-ing fluid gelation, and excessive swab and surge pressures. Conversely, low rheological properties promote poor hole cleaning, sag of weight material, and a non-uniform density profile in the annulus that can promote drilling fluid losses to the formation or poten-tial well control problems.

Product DegradationWith the exception of weight mate-rial and clay-based viscosifiers, many

drilling fluid products are susceptible to thermal degradation at elevated temperatures. The kinetics depends on temperature, pressure and time. Once these products break down, other fluid properties can be negatively impacted, especially fluid loss and rheological properties. Thus, in designing drilling fluids for a high-temperature well, it is important to acknowledge these dif-ficulties, recognize the limitations of existing technology and develop novel solutions to mitigate these adverse ef-fects. Some of the polymeric additives for use at high temperature are:

• Acrylate/arcylamide Copolymers.• Vinylsulfonate/vinylamide Copoly-

mers.

Selection of Drilling Fluids

Selection of drilling fluid for drilling of any well depends on the type of forma-tion to be drilled, formation pressure and temperatures, logistic issues and ultimately the total cost of chemicals. The cost of chemicals for drilling fluid is not more than 4 to 6% of the total cost of the well. In single well a combi-nation of drilling fluids are used to drill it successfully. Generally top sections are used with conventional drilling flu-id systems. The new generation drilling fluids are used in intermediate section and pay zone. With advance in drilling technology now more directional wells are drilled than vertical wells. This again requires use of new generation drilling fluid systems. So, any operator has a wide choice.


IndianOilspearheading research in Downstream petroleum sector

DrRKMalhotra,ShBrijeshKumar,DrSSVRamakumar,DrGSKapurindianoil

Downstream

Dr. G.S. Kapur is presently working as Chief Research Manager, Pet-rochemicals and Polymers at the IndianOil R&D. He did his M.Tech. and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in the area of synthesis and character-ization of polymers. After that, he carried out postdoctoral work at Institute of Macromolecular Science, Prague and at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He is a recipient of prestigious international fellowships like Alexander Von-Humboldt, Germany and UNESCO. He has 4 patents and more than 60 research papers to his credit, published in International peer reviewed Journals and presented more than 35 papers in various National/international conferences.

Dr. Malhotra did his Mechanical Engi-neering from IT, BHU and Ph.D. from IIT, Delhi. He has 32 years of expe-rience in the application and testing of Fuels and lubricants, engine / ve-hicle testing, vehicular emissions and alternative fuels. He has published more than 50 research papers on

fuels, alternate fuels, lubricants and emissions and has 4 inter-national patents to his credit. He has been member of several national committees for formulation of fuel quality and emission norms in India and is closely associated with the Expert Commit-tee on Auto Fuel Policy headed by Dr. R A Mashelkar. Dr. Malhotra is Secretary in the ISAS India Board and Chairman of ISAS India Northern Section. Presently he is Director (R&D) of IndianOil Corporation Ltd.

Mr. Brijesh Kumar, is Deputy General Manager (Refining Technology) at R&D Cen-tre of IOCL, Faridabad. He is a Chemical Engineer from Panjab University, Chandi-garh and started his career from Refineries Division of IOCL in 1981. He is well versed with refinery operations and has 17 years of rich experience working in different capacities in Refineries-HQ and various refineries. During this period he also completed his MBA. In 1998 he joined R&D Centre of IndianOil for liaisoning with Refineries, project identification and troubleshooting. Presently, he is working in the area of Refining

Technology and is responsible for development and commercialisation of refining technologies.

Dr.RKMalhotraDr.GSKapur

BrijeshKumarDrSSVRamakumar

IndianOil-the Energy of India

IndianOil is India’s flagship national oil company with business interests spanning the entire hydrocarbon value chain – from refining & petrochemi-cals, pipeline transportation, marketing of petroleum, petrochemical products and natural gas. The company has also entered into the upstream business of exploration & production of crude oil & gas recently. It is the leading Indian corporate in the Fortune 'Global 500' listing, ranked at the 125th position in the year 2010.

With over 34,000-strong workforce, IndianOil has been helping to meet In-dia’s energy demands for over half a century. With a corporate vision to be the Energy of India, IndianOil closed the year 2009-10 with a sales turnover of around $ 60 billion and profits of around $ 2 billion.

The Corporate functioning is strategi-cally structured along business verti-cals with various divisions- Refineries, Pipelines, Marketing, R&D Centre and Business Development ( E&P, Petro-chemicals and Natural Gas). To achieve the next level of growth, IndianOil is currently forging ahead on a well laid-out road map through expanding upstream business into oil exploration & production (E&P) and downstream business into petrochemicals – and di-versification into natural gas marketing and alternative & renewable energy, besides globalisation of its downstream operations. Having set up subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), IndianOil is si-multaneously scouting for new busi-ness opportunities in the energy mar-kets of Asia and Africa.

Exploring the Power of Possibilities through Research & Development

IndianOil has a sprawling world-class R&D Centre that is perhaps Asia's fin-est. It conducts pioneering work in lu-bricants formulation, refinery processes, pipeline transportation and alternative fuels, and is also the nodal agency of the Indian hydrocarbon sector for ushering in Hydrogen fuel economy in the coun-try. The Centre holds 230 active patents, including 109 international patents.

Refining Technology

Continuous and focused research work in the area of petroleum refining since 1985 has culminated into development of Refining process technologies like INDMAX technology for maximis-ing light olefins from residue, Indalin Technology for conversion of naphtha including olefinic naphtha from FCC, Delayed Coker and Visbreaker units to high yield of light olefins and BTX and an adsorbent based deep desulphu-risation process (IndAdept) to bring the sulfur level to less than 10 ppm for both gasoline and diesel streams. IndianOil R&D has also developed expertise in formulation, scale up

and manufacturing of FCC catalysts and additives and DHDS catalysts. In today's dynamic business environ-ment, innovation through a sustained process of Research & Development (R&D) is the only cutting edge tool for organisations to thrive. With emphasis on development and speedy commer-cialisation of globally competitive products, processes and technologies, the focus has now shifted from R&D to RD&D (Research, Development & Deployment).

INDMAX, a hallmark technology de-veloped by the Centre for maximiza-tion of light olefins from refinery resi-due, has been selected by IndianOil for

Figure 1: IndianOil-Research and Development Centre

Figure 2: INDMAX Unit at Guwahati Refinery


setting up a 4 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) INDMAX unit as a part of the 15 MMTPA integrated re-finery-cum-petrochemicals complex at Paradip. The first demonstration plant of 100,000 TPA capacity was earlier commissioned at Guwahati Refinery in 2003 and has been continuously oper-ating adding value to refining margin. The key of the INDMAX process is the proprietary catalyst formulation, which offers multi-functional catalytic activity with excellent dry gas and coke selectivity and very high metal toler-ance. The process and the catalyst are highly selective towards the produc-tion of light olefins with more than 40 % propylene and 45 wt% isobutylene in LPG. A variety of feedstocks start-ing from vacuum gas oil (VGO) to re-sid feedstock with feed CCR upto 11 wt % can be processed in INDMAX.

While LPG produced in INDMAX is highly olefinic, the RON of gasoline is very high (> 98) compared to 89-91 in normal FCC units. INDMAX technol-ogy can be adopted in refineries for up-grading residues to high value products like Ethylene, Propylene and Butylene, which in turn can be used as Petro-chemical feedstock for further value addition. IOCL has entered into an agreement with M/s Lummus Technol-ogy Inc, USA for worldwide licensing of Indmax Process technology.

IndianOil R&D has developed propri-etary adsorbent as well as process for reducing refractory sulfur from diesel (INDAdeptD) and total sulfur from cracked gasoline (INDAdeptG) for production of low sulfur fuels meeting Euro-V specification. In this process, the hydrogen consumption is signifi-cantly low, needed only for saturation of olefinic bond generated by cleavage of the sulfur from the sulfur compounds. This process can be utilized in the down stream of existing DHDS/DHDT units for removal of most refractory sulfur compounds for production of < 10 ppm sulfur diesel. This combination will al-low the refiners to operate the existing

DHDS units at higher capacities and also to minimise hydrogen consump-tion at refineries. The INDAdeptG pro-cess for gasoline desulphurization is similar to INDAdeptD except changes in operating parameters such as pressure, temperature, H2/HC ratio etc. This pro-cess is capable of processing full range cracked naphtha (LCN/MCN/HCN) in single step in contrast to other commer-cially available processes, which require multistage processing. The process con-sumes much lower hydrogen (0.15 to 0.25 wt% of feed) compared to competi-tive processes with minimal octane loss of 1 to 2 units. The adsorbent has been specially designed and proprietary in nature. The adsorbent is comprised of a base component, a reactive component, and an activity booster component. Regeneration of adsorbent is accom-plished insitu by controlled oxidation of the adsorbed carbon & sulfur with a mixture of air & nitrogen. A 48000 TPA IndAdeptG demonstration unit at one of IOCL Refineries is under design stage.

INDALIN is a novel process for con-version of naphtha to LPG / Light Ole-fins and Aromatics. In this process, the reaction occurs in a dense fluidized bed reactor and the coke is burnt in a sepa-rate fluidized bed regenerator. The pro-cess yields high level of Propylene (25-27%) and gasoline with high octane number with significant toluene and xylene content. The process is suitable for both straight run as well as cracked naphtha streams. The INDALIN cata-lyst has the desired acid strength for cracking the paraffin molecules of straight run naphtha. Other possible feed stream for this unit could be natu-ral gas liquid (NGL), light naphtha cut and surplus gas oil streams.

In view of growing importance of Hy-droprocessing, and to achieve leader-ship in developing, adopting and as-similating state-of-the-art technology for competitive advantage, IndianOil-R&D initiated a systematic program to build up knowledge base in hydropro-cessing technology. With this exper-tise, Indian Oil R&D has become lead-er in providing technical services to the refineries in the key areas of process optimization, troubleshooting and per-formance monitoring. IndianOil-R&D in association with EIL (Engineers In-dia Limited). Developed its proprietary

Figure 3: Process Flow Scheme of Reactive Adsorption Process (INDAdept) developed by IndianOil

Figure 4: INDALIN Process

Figure 5: DHDT Unit at Bongaigoan Refinery

Figure 6: Needle Coke Pilot Plant at IndianOil-R&D

Figure 7: PGH Unit at Gujarat Refinery


Diesel Hydrodesulfurization (DHDS)/ Hydrotreating (DHDT) technology.

A Grass root unit of 1.2 MMTPA DHDT is currently under installation IOC-BGR for producing the diesel meeting EURO-IV norms (Sulfur < 50 ppm and Cetane number of more than 51). Unit is expected to be commis-sioned shortly.

Needle Coke is a premium grade, high value petroleum coke used in the manu-facturing of graphite electrodes of very low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) for the electric arc furnaces in the steel industry. Only few companies in the world manufacture Needle Coke using own proprietary technology. IOCL R&D has developed a technolo-gy for production of Needle Coke from low value heavier hydrocarbon streams without any major feed pre-treatment. Salient features of the IOCL technol-ogy are:

• Uses low value heavier petroleum streams available in refinery with-out major pre-treatment.

• Employs existing Delayed Coker unit hardware.

• Operation similar to normal delayed coking process.

• Needle Coke with CTE of less than 1.1x10-6 /oC and real density more than 2.12 g/cc

The technology for production of PolymerGrade / FoodGradeHex-aneis also offered by IndianOil in as-sociation with engineering partner EIL (Engineers India Limited). The fin-ished product is having excellent qual-ity which contains nil olefin, Sulfur < 1 ppm and Benzene < 50 ppm. This ex-ceeds the most stringent specifications for PGH. A plant of 28000 TPA is run-ning successfully at Gujarat Refinery since its commissioning in 2001. The technology is under commercialization at GGSRL (Guru Govind Singh Refin-ery Ltd) for a new 20,000 TPA FGH unit with an objective of <500 ppm benzene in product.

Catalysts

FCC/RFCC catalysts used today in the refining industry are the most sophis-ticated and manufactured with high active crystalline material with selec-tivity for gasoline range products. IOC

R&D has developed a process for the manufacture of FCC catalyst, named as Lotus-24. This catalyst exhibits supe-rior performance as a result of alumina binder and optimum use of zeolite. Ju-dicious combination of silica-alumina as matrix offers excellent bottom up-gradation property.

For overcoming the limitations in FCC catalysts in producing LPG be-yond certain limit, the additives made with ZSM-5 zeolite, are in practice from late 80s. However, commercial additives do have limitation in up-grading of bottoms beyond a certain limit and in spite of having higher ze-olite content, don’t produce adequate LPG rich in propylene proportional to the zeolite content

i-MAX formulation developed with ju-dicious combination of acidic and ba-sic phosphates, “Zeolite stabilizationtechnology”and silica-alumina matrix leading to new products named as • i-MAX Premium• i-MAX Supreme • i-MAX Ultra These products have superior perfor-mance characteristics and can be cho-sen depending on refinery specific op-erational requirements.

For upgrading bottom of the barrel, Resid FCC (RFCC) is being adopted world over. However, there are issues that need to be addressed while pro-cessing metal rich feeds especially re-lated to decreased catalytic activity and increased undesired products such as dry gas and coke. IOC R&D has devel-oped a novel metal passivation addi-tive named IndVi for handling heavier hydrocarbons feedstock (high CCR, Ni &V) in RFCC unit

Hydrotreating technologies employ robust high-performance catalysts, which can produce ultra low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) meeting the required cetane and other quality criteria. Such catalyst recipes are well guard-ed and available only from select commercial catalyst suppliers. IOC R&D’s Diesel Hydrodesulfurization / Hydrotreating Catalyst, INDICAT-DH-IV, is suitable for production of diesel with 10-50 ppm sulphur at ap-propriate operating conditions. The catalyst was scaled up and commer-cially manufactured. The commercial operation of the catalyst is success-fully established through plant dem-onstration in CPCL and is in opera-tion since June 2009.

In recognition of the excellence in the area of hydro processing, IndianOil R&D was conferred with the presti-gious WPC Excellence Award 2008 in the technical development category for its path-breaking work in ‘Hydropro-cessing Technology in the 19th World Petroleum Congress held at Madrid, Spain.

Instrumented PIG Technology

Instrumented Pigs (IPIG) are devices used for Inline inspection of long dis-tance buried pipelines for their health monitoring. During the inspection run, data acquisition system of IPIG acquires pipeline features & metal loss data of both surfaces of pipeline. The acquired data is analysed and metal loss data is provided to pipeline operators with optimum size & loca-tion accuracy. Accordingly correc-tive action is taken after carrying out digsite verification. Inline inspection helps in maintaining the good health of pipelines and also their increased residual life.

Figure 9: DHDT Catalyst developed by IndianOil


IndianOil-R&D, in association with BARC, Mumbai have developed 12”, 14” and 24” size of IPIG and Caliper pig (CPIG). About 800 Km length of Pipeline section has been already inspected by using 12” IPIG. IPIG and CPIG of 14” size have been used to inspect Delhi-Panipat section of NRPL.

Data analysis software has been de-veloped in-house and is perfected for achieving better accuracy in de-fect sizing and location. Further, the inspection data revealed that the predictions with these newly devel-oped pigs were comparable to MNC benchmark technologies.

Lubricant Technology

IndianOil R&D Centre plays a pivotal role in satisfying the diverse lubrication needs of entire gamut of Indian indus-tries covering sectors such as railways, steel, automotive, power generation etc., in addition to the strategic needs of Indian defence services. The SER-VO product line of 4000 lubricant for-mulations covering 800 brands is wid-ened each year with innovative, high

performance, eco-friendly and energy efficient products. Commensurate with the higher growth trajectory of Indian industry in the last few years, special efforts were undertaken by IndianOil R&D because of which, SERVO could not only maintain its market leader-ship domestically but also spread its tentacles in 17 overseas destinations. Customer satisfaction and product dif-ferentiation have been the watchwords that guided Indian Oil’s research ef-forts. Continuing in the energy saving goals in formulating superior grades of Diesel Engine Oils for Railways, initiated with the introduction of multi-grade energy saving engine oil, further work was completed to launch a new Servo RR 606MG Plus based on API Group-II base oil for field evaluation in 4000 hp GM Locomotives.

Standing in the select club of six worldwide technology holders for Marine Oils, IndianOil's SERVO Ma-rine Oils are now technically quali-fied to cater to the lubrication re-quirements of more than 90% of the world's Marine 2-stroke engine popu-lation. In the power-generation seg-ment, the newly developed SERVO

Marine K-Series was approved by Wartsila-Sulzer for use in their entire family of 4-stroke stationary engines, besides Yanmar Co. Ltd. of Japan for use in their engines operating on dis-tillate fuels.

Indian Oil R&D has pioneered in de-veloping environment friendly bio-degradable lubricants in the coun-try. It’s Servo Agro Spray Oil has earned many laurels, the latest being the highly prestigious Indian CSIR award for Science & Technology Innovation for Rural Development. Indian Oil’s food grade lubricants numbering 23, approved by National Sanitation Foundation, USA, cover a set of greases, hydraulic / gear / high temperature chain lubricants suitable for food manufacturing / packaging industry in a large way.

Bioremediation Technology

IndianOil-R&D, jointly with TERI, has developed and commercialized “OiliV-orous-S technology” for treatment of Oily Sludge. The technology is in com-mercial use at Refineries, Marketing & Pipeline installations at both IOC & Non-IOC locations

Recently, the technology was put to successful use for remediation of the oil spills in Marine environment at Paradip and Mumbai Coasts.

Figure 10: 14 inch Instrumented Pig developed by BARC and IndianOil

Figure 11: Lubricant Technology Basket of IndianOil

Figure 12: Bioremediation Technology Developed by TERI and IndianOil-R&D


Alternative Energy

As a step towards ensuring energy se-curity of the nation, IndianOil has launched several initiatives to exploit alternative sources of energy such as Hydrogen and Bio-fuels. Subsequent to commissioning India's first experimen-tal H-CNG (Hydrogen-Compressed Natural Gas) dispensing unit at the R&D Centre campus at Faridabad, dem-onstration projects are underway on use of H-CNG blends in heavy and light ve-hicles. IndianOil has also set up India's first commercial H-CNG dispensing station at one of its retail outlets in Delhi in the year 2008 for fuelling experimen-tal vehicles running on H-CNG blends as well as on pure Hydrogen. IndianOil R&D is also working on production, storage, transportation, distribution and

commercialisation of Hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

In Bio-fuels, besides spear-heading com-mercialisation of Ethanol-Blended Petrol in the country, India-nOil has been in the forefront of technology devel-opment for Bio-diesel production from various ed-ible and non-edible oils and its application in vehicles. Pioneer-ing studies by

IndianOil’s R&D Centre established that Bio-diesel produced from Jatropha seeds were at par with that produced from vegetable oils. In the past few years, the R&D Centre has studied the entire value chain of Bio-diesel, start-ing from Jatropha plantation to field trials on passenger cars, light commer-cial vehicles and railway locos in col-laboration with several vehicle manu-facturers, railways and state transport undertakings.

IndianOil has, till date, invested close to $ 220 million in setting up world-class facilities at its R&D Centre for building world-class capabilities in analytical services, engines, test rigs and pilot plants for all major refinery processes, catalyst characterisation & development, etc. It plans to invest about $ 110 million during the period 2007-12 to maintain its leadership in downstream R&D activities in the hy-drocarbon sector.

While continuing with cutting edge R&D in the core areas of lubricants formulations, refinery process tech-nologies and pipeline transportation, the thrust would now be on com-mercialising the developed technolo-gies and initiating research in new frontier areas such as Petrochemicals and Polymers, Residue Gasification, Coal-to-liquid, Gas-to-liquid, Alterna-tive fuels, Synthetic lubricants, Nano-technology, exploring Hydrogen, So-lar, Shale Oil and Algal sources etc. Through these R&D initiatives, India-nOil will continuously enhance value for all its stakeholders.

Figure 13: Bioremediation Technology Managing Mumbai Oil Spill

Figure 14: Continuous Biodiesel Pilot Plant at IndianOil-R&D

Figure 15: Golden Jubilee Memorial at IndianOil-R&D


Safety of Contract Workersconcerns and strategies

AnoopKumarexecutive Director-chief hse, onGc

Upstream

Shri Anoop Kumar is Executive Dierctor- Chief HSE in ONGC posted at Delhi. He is professionally an electrical engineer, having completed his engineering in Ist Class from Agra University. He joined ONGC as second batch of Graduate Trainee in 1976 and has completed more than 33 years of service in ONGC in various positions. His early work experience include design, estimate and project management of various production installation in Ahmedabad Oil Field and Electrical air conditioning & control work of various buildings, sub-station and hospitals in Dehradun & Chennai.

In Ahmedabad and in Mumbai he worked in Drilling Group and has experience in Rig Building, Offshore Maintenance, procurement and major repairs. He also headed the Technical Services as Chief Technical Services since 01.06.2006 to 12.07.2010.He is also completed many project successfully like Replacement of Engines for drilling rigs. rate contract with OEM for spares, Mass Training of Energy conservation techniques through PCRA to all ONGC officers etc.

He also earned his name in Energy Conservation and Energy Projects. He is the main coordinator of ONGC’s 51 MW Wind Power Project which has been commissioned recently. He received C&MD’s award in 1989 for Solar Energy work. He also worked in Sudan as head of facility engineering and completed three projects comprising of new GGS (Group Gathering Station), new Pipelines & CTF extension at the estimated cost of US$ 100 million.

At present he is working in the capacity of Executive Director – Chief HSE looking after all the activities of Health, Safety and Environment of ONGC. He is widely traveled to UAE, Europe, USA, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. and had specially been to Dubai dry docks. He has been trained recently at ISB Hyderabad in international petroleum business. He was also exposed to ADC, a unique programme developed by IIM Ahmedabad for Sr. Managers. He has written/ read many technical papers in National and International Conferences, the latest one was for Wind Energy Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

AnoopKumar

Preamble

As the economy grows, as we become global and as competition increases, more and more work in Indian Indus-tries is being outsourced to contract workers through independent private contractors. These contractors deploy at sites workers who, in most cases, are raw hand available indigenously and are made to work without proper initial training and are required to do critical and risky jobs. A trend has been seen that these contract workers not only are subjected to unsafe working conditions, they are the ones who get involved in major or fatal accidents. An attempt has been made to address this concern and look for solutions to mini-mize the accidents to these workers.

Introduction

Many new trends have been seen re-cently in the Indian industrial and busi-ness horizon. Outsourcing of low-tech work, keeping the company structure lean and thin, adopt new technology at faster pace and involve contract work-ers in all area of work – from simple to complex, from old to new and from bottom to top. Involving contract worker itself is a complex situation. Experienced and trained workers are very few. For immediate need, any-body from the street corner is picked up. There is competition as well as at-trition among contract workers as they leave one company and join another for higher wages or ease of work. Contrac-tor spends minimum money on them on safety gear, safety training, proper tools and safe practices, thus compro-mising on their safety.

Petroleum industry is no different. There is large number of contract workers on rigs, on pipelines, at oil installation both onshore and offshore and in services like logistics and house keeping. Then there are large private operators and service provider in oil industry who also employ contract workers through sub-contracts and so on. In most of the cases of major accident or fatality contract workers have been observed as the first cau-sality. Time has come to address this problem so that number of causalities is reduced and smooth and safe opera-tions takes place.

Incidents and their causes: Incidents can be classified under four categories. Near-misses, minor accidents, major accidents and the fatal ones. Near-misses are the indicators of how safe we are operating, the fatal accident indicate the real ebb in the operations. Where as it is good to report near-miss for analysis, the major and fatal acci-dents must be avoided at all cost. This brings into focus the contract workers, their overall experience, their work knowledge their safety awareness, their trainings etc. This also invites attention to the safety policies of independent contractors, the attitude of CEO’s and supervisors towards safety and the en-vironment in which the contract work-ers work. Investment made for safe operations by the private contractor and the principal employer is also an important factor in overall safety of op-erations and workers.

It is observed that following causes leads to major and fatal accidents of the contract workersCauses attributed to environment and the contract worker themselves1. Intensity of risk at the place of op-

eration of worker.2. Simultaneous operations in the op-

erating area of the worker.3. Job knowledge and work experience.4. Awareness or lack of it by the work-

er about safety and safe operating procedure.

5. Use of personal protection equip-ments (PPE) or inconvenience of using them.

6. Indifference towards disciplined working or resistance to follow in-structions given in permit to work document.

7. Illiteracy of workers.8. Unaware about other lurking dan-

gers.9. Health and fitness of the contract

worker.

Causes not in control of contract worker1. Lack of guidance by immediate su-

pervisor on safety issues.2. Lack of training to the workers on

safety3. Unsafe operating conditions.4. Unsafe or inferior quality of PPE.5. Quick hire and fire policy of many

private contractors.6. Pushing the workers for production

targets at the cost of safety.

Some of the above causes are very well known and even the contractors gener-ally adhere to some fundamental safety systems to prevent accidents or at least show their concerns. However, some simple and innocuous looking reasons become the real trouble makers. Take for example PPE. Even if one is wear-ing the helmet, if the strap is not fully fastened, the whole purpose of wearing the helmet is defeated. Yet many work-ers do not secure the strap because it becomes restrictive to the movement of head. Same is the case of safety belts, goggles etc which each worker resists as these appear to be inconve-nient initially. It is the duty of immedi-ate supervisor to make sure that work-ers understand the importance of these safety gears and use them for their own protection.

Another important factor is the knowl-edge and experience of the worker. In many cases the inexperienced workers are hired due to recommendations of a friend or colleague and given important jobs. In some cases urgent requirement are taken as justified reason to compro-mise on knowledge and experience. An instance has come to notice that on a rig the contract worker was removing the pin of the platform on which he was himself standing. As soon as the pin came out, the heavy platform col-lapsed along with the worker who was badly crushed.

In offshore working, significant num-ber of cases have been observed about “Man Overboard” meaning that a per-son - mostly a worker - has fallen into sea from an offshore supply vessel or from an oil installation. In some cases it was analised to be the ill-health of the worker while in many other cases it was their inexperience of working in offshore environment.

Dealing with oil and gas is risky. This risk, if ignored, will lead towards sure fatality. In many cases contract work-ers are blissfully ignorant about this risk and have paid heavily when the gas catches fire. In such events many injuries of lots of workers takes place, specially at onshore pipeline repair works. Similarly working in closed spaces without measuring presence of H2S or hydrocarbons presence is very dangerous.


An important factor causing accidents to contract labour is their spontaneous response of helping a colleague worker who is doing another job in the vicin-ity. In one of the cases, on a drilling rig a big MS plate was being lowered to machinery deck – level three - by a crane operator. The plate was just the size of the open hatch and at one point of time it somehow got stuck. Another contract worker who was passing-by tried to help and tried to shake the plate to loosen it. The plate suddenly got loosened and fell in the opening. This passer-by contract worker could not maintain his balance and coupled with the rolling and pitching of the rig was pushed into the opening. He fell three floors and instantly died. The PPE also could not help in this kind of situation. Had this worker did not come to help the crane operator; he would have not met with this accident risking his life.

Many avoidable accidents take place because the infrastructure where the worker is supposed to work itself is not safe. Unsafe erection of scaffoldings, weak and clumsily fabricated platforms for doing external work, use of ropes in place of slings for fastening or lifting are to name a few. In some cases the metallic structures become weak due to corrosion but these are not properly tested for their load carrying capacity. In one of the reports, the grating at an offshore structure was not properly bolted and it gave way due to weight of the people standing on it causing a major accident.

These are some of the risk associated with the work which causes major and fatal accidents. However, there are many lurking dangers which are not caused by worker or its supervisor but caused by external reasons. In one such instance, a worker was taking rest in the shade of a trailer which had come to deliver pipes at an onshore instal-lation. When the pipes were counted and all paper work completed, the trailer helper untied the slings holding the pipes for getting them delivered to the pipeyard. This made the pipes roll down to all sides from the bed of the trailer and few of them fell on the con-tract worker sleeping beside the trailer and killed him. In this case the contract worker who was resting did not trigger any unsafe act but somehow became

the ultimate causality. Thus, it is very important to remain alert at site all the time. It does not matter whose fault it is or caused the incident. The impor-tant thing is who suffered and to what extent.

Strategies for reducing fatal and major accidentsAs we are dealing the cases of contract worker, we have to involve the inde-pendent private contractor who em-ployees these contract workers. First thing is to see how is the agreement made and what are the safety clauses in the contract or sub-contract. Even if nothing is mentioned, the law of the land states that basic safety is to be pro-vided by contractor to its worker. This means minimum PPE, a safe working climate, sufficient rest hours, minimum training of the job is the responsibility of the main contractor.

The second step is to involve the top management in case of big private en-terprise or the owner of the company. These owners are generally more con-cerned about the production and the bottom line and at times relegate safety to second position. This mindset is to be changed by sensitizing them with the analysis and trend of various acci-dents. Initially this can be done through a friendly atmosphere and subsequently tough dealing with them as per provi-sions of law. In new contracts all safety provisions to be clearly defined and in some critical cases we may ask them to quote separately for safety activities of the contract.

Reporting of the accidents is important. Many contractors try to cover the acci-dents by paying some meagre amount

to the victim’s family. This is not fair. The contract managers must insist on the accident information within a day and a detailed report in reasonable pe-riod. Unless the contractor accepts that an accident has taken place, he’ll never take action to minimize it. As a third step towards improvement, managers should start a system of daily reporting of accidents, even if it is a nil report. This will ensure that contractor is con-scious towards safe operations.

The next step in your strategy should be to effectively deal with middle level site supervisors. Check their qualifica-tion, experience, their alertness, their behaviour towards contract workers and finally their attitude. These mid-dle level site supervisors are the most important link between safe opera-tions and accidents. If they so aspire, they can ensure that no accidents takes place. It is only a matter of mindset and looking things from a different angle. An alert and proactive supervisor will not only meet the production targets, he will do it in a safe way. It is not at all difficult to ensure safety of contract workers by their supervisors. A well thought out orientation program for these supervisors will have to be de-signed to change the mindset of these important pillars of safety. The basic design can be prepared by the principal employer; the successful implementa-tion should be the responsibility of the operating companies.

The last step, but not the least one of your strategy is to deal with the work-ers themselves. A comprehensive learning and training program needs to be developed. The program is to be in easily understood language - may be in


workers’ mother tongue - with lots of pictures and is to be delivered at site itself. The trainer should be able to demonstrate the safety issues by doing it himself. For example, use of safety belt demonstration should not only be about how to tie the belt but also by hanging in air by the trainer to show how safe is the belt. Similarly how to hold the tools, how to safely stand on a working platform, how to safely climb on a scaffolding is to be induced by actual doing it. A specialized agen-cy will have to be hired and program developed with the help of regulators for specific areas. Involving NGO’s and organising safety ‘festivals’ for the workers can do wonders.

Inculcating safety among workers and avoiding major and minor accidents

is not at all difficult. Most of us are also willing to improve; and will not hesitate to invest some more time and monies into safety trainings. The need of the day is to change the mindset and attitude at all levels by well de-signed and delivered safety training programs.

“SAFE TOGETHER TOMORROW” campaign launched by Corporate HSE, ONGC, Delhi

In its continuous endeavour, to enhance safety standards in our operations, a new initiative has been taken up by the Corporate HSE team, Delhi under the able leadership of Mr. A.K. Hazarika, Director(Onshore)-I/c HSE. A direct contact campaign with contractors for improving safety standards in over-

all operations was launched with the Contractor Safety Workshop -2010 held on 21.09.2010 at New Delhi.

The workshop was attended by con-tractors across the work areas- includ-ing Drilling-Rig contractors, support service providers and engineering/ maintenance contractors. The initia-tive was lauded by one & all pres-ent as it provides a forum not only to communicate freely with ONGC on safety issues but also a forum to learn and implement good ideas on Safety, from fellow contractors dur-ing the discussion. The contractors ensured their commitment to the ONGC-CHSE initiative by sending their senior management representa-tives along-with their HSE Team for the workshop.


Dhaneesh VS is a Senior Research Scientist at Corporate R&D Centre of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India. He holds M Tech degree in chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He has been working in the area of Refinery plants Corrosion, fouling problems mitigation, Pipeline internal corrosion, product development at BPCL R&D Centre and having 5 research publications.

Studieson minimization of fouling in crude pre-heat exchangers in refineries

Dr.JayaRawat,VSDhaneesh,PVCRao&NVChoudarybharat petroleum corporation limited, corporate research centre, Greater noida, u.p.-201306

Dr. Jaya Rawat holds Ph.D. in Chem-istry from AMU in Corrosion Science. She has over 15 years of experi-ence in research and development. Presently she is working as Deputy Manager at the Corporate Research & Development Centre of Bharat Pe-troleum Corporation Limited. She is

working in the areas of Refinery plants Corrosion, fouling prob-lems mitigation, Pipeline internal corrosion, Paints/coating & Sea water corrosion, Corrosion inhibitor development for biofuels. She has 4 patents and 44 Research publications in national & inter-national journals.

Dr.JayaRawatVSDhaneesh

Dr. N. V. Choudary is presently working as Chief Manager at Cor-porate R&D Centre, Bharat Petro-leum Corporation Ltd., India. He has over 26 years of research ex-perience in petroleum refining, and petrochemicals. He holds MSc., and Ph.D., degrees in Chemistry from Shri Venkateswara Univer-sity, Tirupati. His areas of Research include petroleum refining and petrochemical processes, catalysis and adsorption, fuel additives, bitumen and alternate fuels. Dr. Choudary has filed 55 patents both in India and abroad including 10 US patents and published about 65 research papers in international jour-nals. He has also presented about 100 papers in national and international conferences.

Dr. P.V.C.Rao holds Ph.D. in Chem-istry from Indian Institute of Tech-nology, Bombay. He has over 23 years of experience in R&D in Refin-ing and Petrochemicals. Presently he is working as Senior Manager at the Corporate Research & Develop-ment Centre of Bharat Petroleum

Corporation Limited. He is working in the areas of Biofuels, crude assay & compatibility, Fuel additives, Corrosion & Foul-ing and new products development. He has 8 patents and 62 Research publications in national & international journals.

Dr.PVCRaoNVChoudary

Downstream

Petroleum refineries are pro-vided with very good heat exchangers network for better utilization of energy. Fouling

in heat exchangers results in higher fuel consumption in furnaces and decreased crude throughput. The fouling depos-its are mainly normally inorganic im-purities, derivatives of hydrocarbons, asphaltenic, aromatic, waxy hydrocar-bons or oxidized/polymeric derivatives etc. These deposits tend to decrease the heat transfer coefficients of the metal surfaces and hence increase the oper-ating expenses. Controlling fouling in heat exchangers results in better heat recovery leading to savings in fuel consumption and longer stream time between two cleaning operations.

In Refineries antifoulant addition is done in crude preheat exchangers in-volving various streams like crude oil, Atmospheric column residue and vacuum residue to reduce fouling. A new approach has been developed for the selection of antifoulant based on detailed analysis of feed streams which resulted in better control of fouling in exchangers.

The crude incompatibility is the most probable cause for fouling problems encountered in pre-heat train heat ex-changers during their processing. This paper describes the methodology for predicting the fouling in crude pre-heat exchangers by laboratory and simula-tion studies along with effect of anti-foulants additions to minimize heat exchanger fouling.

Inroduction

Fouling is generally defined as the ac-cumulation of unwanted materials on the surfaces of processing equipment. Process equipment fouling is a trouble-some and costly problem to the petro-leum refining and petrochemical indus-tries. Insoluble hydrocarbons which are formed in process streams deposit on heat transfer surfaces to create insu-lating barriers and also act as binding agents for other entrained solids. These agglomerates limit capacity, reduce heat transfer, and increase fuel and maintenance costs. Asphaltene deposi-tion is considered to be a major cause of crude unit fouling. As well, reactive constituents of oil may undergo ther-

mal decomposition, polymerization or auto-oxidation reactions to produce fouling precursors or foulants. Foul-ing products reduce the cross-sectional area which causes an increase in pres-sure drop across the exchanger leading to lower throughput.

Fouling problems in crude pre-heat exchangers• Accumulation of organic/ inorganic

impurities on heat exchange sur-faces:-– Poor heat transfer – Increased pressure drop across

exchangers– Increase in delta T– Tube leakage vis-à-vis under-

deposit corrosion– Increased Fuel consumption

in furnace/ Decreased crude throughput

Fouling MechanismFouling mechanism can be well under-stood by the following table as given below:-

Various types of fouling mechanisms are involved in fouling process. In case of crude oil fouling four SARA compo-nents (Saturates. Aromatics, Resins and asphaltenes) misbalance develop prob-lem of coke formation. Asphaltenes in the oil contain thermally stable, poly-nuclear aromatic cores with pendant groups connected to the core by ther-mally unstable bonds. When exposed to high temperatures (above 350ºC), these bonds break to form free radi-cals. As long as the asphaltenes are dispersed in the rest of the oil, they abstract hydrogen from hydroaromat-ics and terminate the free radicals. How-ever, the loss of pen-dant groups makes the asphaltenes less soluble. Eventu-ally, the converted asphaltenes become

insoluble and undergo a liquid-liquid phase separation. This asphaltene rich phase has little or no abstractable hydrogen. As a result, the asphaltene free radicals combine to form high molecular weight and insoluble coke. However, before coke is formed, the polynuclear aromatics in the converted asphaltenes tend to orient with the large flat aromatics parallel to each other. If the coke was formed by oil incompat-ibility on mixing and the insoluble as-phaltenes were later thermally cracked, no carbonaceous mesophase would be observed. One of the simplest is to de-termine the hydrogen to carbon atomic ratio of the foulant

H/C Atomic Foulant1.4 – 1.9 Wax1.0 – 1.2 Unconverted Asphaltenes0.7 – 1.0 Thermally Converted Asphaltenes0.3 – 0.7 Coke

Designers use fouling factors to maxi-mize the lifespan, runtime and efficien-cy of heat exchangers by accounting for the amount of fouling an exchanger will sustain over a period of time. In the heat transfer equation, the fouling factor is added to the other thermal resistances to calculate the total thermal resistance. A. P. Watkinson had done the comparison of crude oil fouling using Hot Liquid Process Simulator (HLPS) and Portable Fouling Research Unit (PFRU) at differ-ent operating conditions. M. Srinivasan et al had conducted the thermal fouling study of Canadian crude oils with a re-circulation loop, equipped with annular electrically heated probe.

Mechanism Effect on heat transfer surfaceParticulate deposition Accumulation of particlesCrystallization Precipitation of dissolved salts (Scale formation)Chemical reaction Insoluble products formationCorrosion Corrosion products accumulationBiological activity Growth of living matterFreezing Process fluid solidification

Table: 1 Different types of mechanism involved in fouling process


According to Ebert and Panchal, foul-ing in crude oil is controlled by two competing mechanisms. The first, which is related to chemical reaction, promotes fouling while the second, which is related to the shear stress at the tube surface, acts to mitigate fouling. If the first mechanism dominates the second, deposition on the heat trans-fer surface will occur. The researchers have also reported that the formation of a fouling deposition initially give rise to increased heat transfer in chemical reaction fouling via roughness effects.

The build up deposits of the fouling material function as an insulating ma-terial and cause problems such as:-

• Decreased heat transfer and ex-changer efficiency

• Costly over firing to compensate for heat transfer losses

• Expensive and frequent periods of down time to remove fouling depos-its

• Reduced or lost production. In petroleum refining operations, the nature of the fouling deposits varies ac-cording to the operating conditions, type of feed, deposition mechanism etc. The possible mechanisms include chemical reaction, corrosion, deposit of insoluble materials and deposit of materials made insoluble by the temperature difference between the fluid and heat exchanger wall. The insoluble fouling deposits fall mainly in four categories.

• High molecular weight hydrocarbon polymers

• Trace metals, particularly heavy metals and metals of the iron group

• Organic peroxides, and inorganic salts

Problems in processing opportunity crude oils

Opportunity crude oils typically require more intensive processing to obtain op-timum product yield and quality due to high value of asphaltene, sulphur, TAN (Naphthenic acids, etc.) and high PP (pour point) . These crude oils are low priced due to a discount in crude oil market because of both real and per-ceived processing problems. Process-ing these crude oils in optimized blend composition gives more profit to refin-ers. However, their processing causes a

lot of problems related to fouling and corrosion such as:

• Accelerated heat exchanger fouling in crude pre-heat train

• Problematic desalting• Accelerated corrosion in the distil-

lation units, side strippers, furnaces, piping and overhead systems.

The fouling in case of waxy crude is mainly due to high paraffinic compo-nents. Thus aromatic solvents have shown a significant improvement in cleaning as well as reduction in foul-ing. Similarly aromatic rich crudes viz., may be processed to reduce the fouling in heat exchanges and it expected to clear the deposits created by the earlier processed crudes.

Optimal crude blends can be identified based on lab HLPS studies to reduce the fouling caused by waxy crudes. In the same manner the crudes which are compatible with waxy crudes and rich in aromatics may help to work as cleaning crudes. Processing crudes which are aromatic rich and low sul-phur crudes may aid in reducing the fouling in heat exchangers.

The thin-layer chromatography-flame ionization detection (TLC-FID) tech-nique using Iatroscan instrument is now well recognized for qualitative and quantitative characterization of solvent extracts and crude oils. This is widely practiced due to its efficient, fast and cost effective measurements. TLC-FID generally dealt with the separation of a complex mixture, such as crude oil into number of fractions. In light of this, the present study is specifically aimed at analyses and characterization of vari-ous crude oil blends and application of the TLC-FID technique in determining stability of crude oil blends. The aggre-gation and flocculation process from incompatible crude oils have been in-vestigated in detail based on changes in the asphaltenes, saturates, resins and aromatics (SARA) of crude oils.

Antifoulants: Their role in fouling reduction

Antifoulants are chemical additives that are comprised of one or more func-tional chemicals in an aromatic solvent. These additives are injected directly

into the process at various dose rates preferably from 6 to 30 parts per mil-lion depending on the fouling severity. Antifoulants typically contain a inor-ganic /organic dispersant, chelate metal ions, sufactants and corrosion inhibi-tors in their formulations. Dispersants for hydrocarbon process applications are organic molecules that contain a surface-active functional group on a polymeric, hydrocarbon soluble back-bone. They function by attaching themselves to particles in the oil being treated, and suspending these particles in the bulk phase. An additional benefit of the dispersant is in keeping the par-ticle sizes small. There are many dif-ferent types of molecules available that can provide dispersancy action; some are effective on organic particles, such as asphaltenes, while others effectively disperse inorganic particles, such as iron sulfide, and some molecules work well on both types of materials.

Other components of antifoulant prod-ucts are used to chelate metal ions, which can catalyze reactions, or film the process walls to prevent corrosion and downstream deposition, or to in-hibit the polymerization of reactive hydrocarbons. These components are utilized when there is evidence that the fouling problem is being influ-enced by factors that can be addressed through adjunct chemistries in the product.

Antifoulants are being used to solve process fouling problems in heat ex-changers. However there is a need to develop a test method to predict anti-foulant performance not only for the cases of severe fouling but also for other process streams which exhibit moderate to low fouling. A laboratory, fouling test has been developed which quickly provides this key information directly from heat transfer measure-ments. To overcome this problem a new approach is developed for the se-lection of antifoulant and its optimum dosage. The approach involved

a) Analysis of feed stream for SARA (saturates, aromatics, resins and as-phaltene)

b) Laboratory simulation of fouling and performance evaluation of an-tifoulant & dosage optimization us-ing HLPS


Laboratory Techniques

Analysis of feed stream by SARA AnalysisThe thin-layer chromatography-flame ionization detection (TLC-FID) tech-nique (using Iatroscan instrument) has been used for qualitative and quantita-tive characterization of crude oils. An Iatroscan MK-5 TLC-FID instrument (Iatron Laboratories Inc. Tokyo, Ja-pan) was used for analyses of whole oil samples and individual fractions. Chromatographic separation was car-ried on Chromarod-III, consisting of silica gel having definite pore diameter. Samples were dissolved in toluene and a fixed volume was applied on the rods manually. The chromarod development was carried out using solvents of grad-ual increased polarity followed by dry-ing. A typical chromatogram is shown in fig.-1

Fouling StudiesFouling studies were done using Hot liquid Process Simulator (HLPS-400, ALCOR), which is one of the major technique for determination of fouling potential of various feed stocks. HLPS simulates the fouling of heat exchang-ers at various operating conditions like temperature, pressure and flow rates etc. The testing arrangement includes a reservoir containing a feed supply of test sample. The feed supply is heated to a desired temperature and then fed to a shell containing a vertically oriented heated rod. The heated rod is made of carbon steel. The heated rod simulates a tube in a heat exchanger. The rod is electrically heated to a predetermined temperature and maintained at that temperature during the trial. The feed is pumped across the heated rod at a flow rate of 3-5ml/min. The spent feed is fed back to the reservoir after pass-ing through a gear pump. The system is pressurized with nitrogen at 600-800 psi to ensure gases remain dissolved in the oil during the test. Thermocouple readings are recorded for the bulk fluid

inlet-outlet temperatures and for the surface of the rod.

During the constant surface tempera-ture testing, foulant deposits build up on the heated surface. The foulant de-posits are thermally degraded to coke. The coke deposits cause an insulating effect that reduces the efficiency/abil-ity of the surface to heat the oil passing over it. The resulting reduction in out-let fluid temperature (Delta T) contin-ues over time as fouling continues. The reduction in the temperature can be de-pended up on type of feed, testing con-ditions and/or other effects such as the presence fouling promoting materials.

For the current studies HLPS was oper-ated in single-pass mode and the data

was generated at 250ºC temperature, 700 psi pressure for duration of 5 hours at 3ml/minute flow rate. A typical sche-matic flow diagram of HLPS tube has been shown in Fig. 2. Antifoulant per-formance tests were done at the similar operating conditions to see the reduc-tion in fouling rate.

Results & Discussion

Different petroleum oils with API gravities in the range of 20 to 40 were selected for the study and their fouling tendencies were determined. In this study two types of cases are discussed in detail:-

CASE-1: Fouling in waxy low sulphur crude blendsCASE-2: Fouling behavior in individual low and high sulphur crude

CASE-1: Fouling in waxy low sulphur crude blendsThe crude oils, A & B, were used as neat as well as in their blends for Foul-ing potential and antifoulant addition etc. Some physical properties of A & B crude oils are given in Table – 2.

Figure 1: Typical TLC-FID Chromatograph

Figure 2: Schematic Diagram for Hot Liquid Process Simulator


Blends of A & B crude oil were pre-pared in various proportions in the ratios 10:90 up to 90:10, respectively. Hereafter the following particular blends of interest are termed as 20:80 as A20, 30:70 as A30, 50:50 as A50, 70:30 as A70 and 80:20 as A80, re-spectively, for convenience.

Fouling StudiesFouling studies were used as a tool for identifying the compatible blend using Hot liquid Process Simulator (HLPS), which is one of the major techniques for determination of fouling potential of various feed stocks. HLPS simulates the fouling of heat exchangers at vari-ous operating conditions like tempera-ture, pressure and flow rates etc.

The results of neat A & B and their blend in 70:30 proportions are shown in FIG-3. A and B crude oils have shown Δ T values of 4ºC and 10ºC, re-spectively, whereas their blend (70:30) showed higher Δ T of 65ºC, which indi-cates a severe fouling tendency of this blend.

The tubes used in the above study were weighed before and after the fouling test. It was observed that the tube weight has increased as an effect of fouling deposits on tube surface. Lot of fouling deposits was seen on the tube surface after the test as com-

pared to tube before the test (FIG-4). Tube weight was higher with the crude blend (0.0224 gm) as compared to neat crude oils (With crude 0.0008 gm and with B crude 0.0026 gm) which also supported for high fouling with 70:30 blend.

Fouling behavior of various crude blends (A20-A80) was studied and results are given in FIG-5. It can be clearly seen in the graph that A70 and A80 have shown very high foul-ing as compared to A50, A30 and A20 blends. From the above laboratory performance evaluation techniques it can be concluded that the blend of A and B crude having percentage of

A beyond 50% was highly incompat-ible and results in heavy fouling in pre-heat exchangers and other refinery equipment.

Effect of antifoulant addition Processing capabilities of these blends in Refineries were studied with the use of antifoulants. Antifoulant was added in various dosages to all crude blends and fouling tests were done in HLPS. The ΔT values obtained after the ad-dition of optimized antifoulant dosage with various blend are shown in FIG-6.

It can be seen from the graph that anti-foulant is capable of reducing the foul-ing rate of all blends. The required dos-age of antifoulant was from 5-25 ppm depending upon the fouling behaviour of crude oils and their blends. Very high antifoulant dosage (25 ppm) is re-quired for A80 or A70 crude blends to get ΔT value of 12ºC whereas with A20 and A30 blends fouling an be mini-mized 2-4ºC by only 5 ppm dosage.

CASE- 2: Fouling behavior in individual low and high sulphur crudeTypical high sulphur and low sulphur crudes were selected and their fouling was studied individually. The typical properties of the crudes are given in Table:-3

Analysis of feed stream by SARA AnalysisThe quality of the chromatography is generally good with the four fractions (saturated hydrocarbons, aromatic hy-drocarbons, resins and asphaltenes) giving four prominent peaks. Though in few cases a continuum between two fractions is present which can be attrib-

Property Crude A CrudeBoAPI 39.2 23.9Sulphur, %wt 0.158 0.142Pour point, oC 7.2 <-20Viscosity @ 40oC, cSt 3.5 8.5

Table-2: Physical properties of crude oil A & B

Figure 3: Comparison of Fouling Data of A, B & their Blends

Figure 5: Fouling Behavior of blends of A & B Crude oils

Figure 4: Tubes before and after the test with crude oil blend

Before Test

After Test


uted to the composition of the oils and the inability of the fractions to separate into distinct groups within the given measurement conditions. From the na-ture of these chromatograms it is clear that hydrocarbons are dominant in all the oil samples.

The SARA analysis of each crude oil was done before the fouling test and the deposits collected from the HLPS tube. The results are given in Table-4. It was observed from the results that:-

• Crude 1 & 2 are rich in saturates and aromatics while crude 3 is rich in as-phaltene and resins. Crude 1 & 2 are non-asphaltenic whereas crude 3 is asphaltenic crude.

• The deposit obtained from these crude1&2 are rich in saturates and aromatics

• The deposits obtained from crude 3 is rich in resins and asphaltene

These results guide us to select the suit-able antifoulant. In case of crude oil 1&2 the antifoulant should have a good wax dispersant, while in case of Crude -3 the antifoulant should have asphal-

tene dispersant. A good surfactant and corrosion inhibitor should also be part

of the antifoulant formulation. Based on the study the antifoulant commer-cial samples were tested.

Fouling StudiesThe fouling studies were done for these three crude oils at similar test condi-tions, the results are shown in Figure-7. It was observed that initially up to 120 minutes crude 1 has not shown any sig-nificant change in delta t, but after it has shown Δ T of 12º C in 5 hours. Crude 2 is found to be less fouling during the initial operating hours and an overall Δ T of 40C for 5 hour operation. In case of crude 3 a constant increase in Δ T value was observed with increase of time.

Antifoulant performance studyAntifoulant performance study was conducted with Crude 3. Antifoulant chemistry plays a role on performance of antifoulants for various types of crude oils. For the study 6 types of an-tifoulants were used. Out of them only 2 antifoulants were giving satisfying

Figure 6: Effect of Antifoulant Addition in Fouling of Crude Blends

Property Crude1 Crude2 Crude3API Gravity 23.9 39.93 31.05Total sulfur, %wt 0.142 0.112 2.2667Viscosity @400C, cSt 8.5 2.217 7.450Pour point, 0C -20 9 -27.00

Table 3: Characteristics of crude oils

system Saturates(%) Aromatics(%) Resins(%) Asphaltene(%)

Crude1Crude1 29 62.5 8.0 0.5

Tubedeposit 36 50 12 2.0

Crude2Crude2 62 26.2 11 0.8

Tubedeposit 68 30 2 --

Crude3Crude3 9 45.2 40.2 5.6

Tubedeposit 5 20 47 28

Table 4: SARA analysis of crude oils and their fouling deposits

Figure 7: Fouling results of crude 1&2


results. Some antifoulants were giving negative effects on fouling.

Antifoulant A & B are mainly asphal-tene dispersant, and they were tested on Crude -3 (asphaltenic). When the antifoulant A of 10ppm is added to the same crude, for the same operating conditions the temperature drop has drastically reduced to 4ºC. While us-ing antifoulant B of same dosage, the temperature drop is of 6ºC. From the results (figure-8) it can be seen that the antifoulants reduce fouling.

Conclusions

• The fouling nature of crude varies according to its composition and operating parameters

• The analysis of feed stream helps Refiners to choose suitable antifou-lant w.r.t. feed composition.

• To minimize the fouling in crude pre-heat exchangers it is important to study and understand compat-ibility of two or more crude blends and the range of blend composi-tion.

Figure 8: Antifoulant performance with crude-3 • Study showed use of suitable anti-foulant reduces fouling while pro-cessing incompatible blends.

Acknowledgements

The authors thankful to BPCL man-agement for support and permission to publish this work.

Literature Cited

1. Paul Watkinson, Hans M¨uller-Steinhagen, and M. Reza Malayeri Fouling Characteristics of a Light Australian Crude Oil , Proc. ECI Conference 2003

2. A. P. Watkinson, Comparison of Crude Oil Fouling Using Two Differ-ent Probes, 2003 ECI Conference on Heat Exchanger Fouling and Clean-ing: Fundamentals and Applications

3. D.I. Wilson, A.P. Watkinson, A study of autoxidation fouling in heat exchangers, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 74 (2) (1996) 236–246].

4. Yamamoto Y., Sekiyu Gakkaishi, 31, 351-362, 1988.

5. Bharati S., Rostum G. A., & Loberg R.,Adv. In Org. Geochem.,22, 3-5, pp-835-862, 1994.

6. Bharati S., Patience R., Mills N. &Hanesand T., Org. Geochem., 26, 1-2, pp-49-57, 1997.

7. Karlsen D. and Larter S., Org. Geo-chem. 17, 603-617, 1991.


Corporate Social Responsibilityan indian perspective

Piyush Choudharyee (e)-cmG & csr, corp cmG & csr, new Delhi

Piyush Choudhary, Executive Engineer (Electrical) ONGC, has dealt with activities related to development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Projects in ONGC. He is also associated in the Fugitive Emission team for the Project (Methane to Markets) M2M. He joined ONGC in April 2001.He has worked in offshore drilling rig as maintenance Incharge & currently working in the Corp CSR and Carbon Management Group (CMG).

Piyush Choudhary

Acknowledgements

A culmination of views on any subject is always the result of more than one mind meeting and bringing about a successful product. This paper could not have been successful without the help of a few people.

Firstly, I would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Ashok B. Chakraborty (Chief CSR & Chief Carbon Manage-ment Group), ONGC Ltd, for providing me the opportu-nity and mentoring necessary to complete this paper. I am also thankful to Mr. Shantanu Das Gupta, Chief Chemist, Carbon Management Group, who has always been very encouraging to me. This encouraged me to explore, study, innovate & analyze on various topics under CSR. Off course the comments from Ms Anusha Chatterjee, CSR

Executive, is indeed appreciable.

Upstream

Executive Summary

Corporations across the world are at present feeling an increasing impetus to become socially responsive to the world around them – socially and en-vironmentally. This is primarily guided by the twin global realities – the exter-nal reality of a fast-changing society and environment that makes it essen-tial for corporations to adopt sustain-able practices for its sheer survival and the internal reality of increased need for business innovations which make carefully carried out corporate social responsibility practices a profitable business strategy.

A review of the various definitions of CSR implies CSR in the modern world involves going beyond compliance – it needs to involve investment in human capital, the environment and the rela-tionship with stakeholders.

However, the global participation in attaining the above said aim has been anything but equitable. While, the reasons for this might be contested, developed countries seemingly lead the bandwagon of global corporations that have taken the plunge by commit-ting themselves to sustainable devel-opment. Emergent economies of the world, for instance, the Asian coun-tries, have significantly lower CSR penetration as suggested and corrobo-rated by numerous studies.

Indian corporations have historically had a rich tradition of ‘giving back to the society’ that can be elucidated with various corporate initiatives that date back to the early 20th century. The public sector in India is increas-ingly taking its commitment to sus-tainable development seriously. The oil and gas sector has especially taken on the onus of arresting and minimiz-ing the environmental ill-effects that the sector has. As a case in point, ONGC has taken a big step forward with its commitment towards carbon neutrality. Along with its commitment towards the environment, ONGC has adopted a ‘projectised’ approach in-volving taking up social projects with clear objectives and deliverables, an implementation plan to achieve it and proper monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the project attains what it

set out to do. This approach is a far cry from the sporadic, philanthropic, one-time engagements that dictated the In-dian CSR activities even a couple of years back.

There emerge hence, a number of issues that dictate how CSR is car-ried out in the present and the future. These areas include those of climate change, corporate governance, labor and human resources, environmental issues, partnerships with stakehold-ers, regulation and leadership from governments, community investment and pro-poor development, product responsibility, the professionalization of CSR, bribery and corruption.

In view of the above, the priority ar-eas that emerge include moving from philanthropy to social investment, making the investments towards sus-tainability, ensuring transparency in the social activities carried out and linking CSR with the financial perfor-mance of the corporations.

This paper attempts to look at the prime motivators that have resulted in the increased priority being accorded to corporate social responsibility. (CSR) as it is practiced in India with special reference to the oil and gas sector and the issues that emerge that will guide the practice of CSR in the coming years. The main objective of the paper is to explain these emergent issues in the emergent economy of In-dia with a view to then list the priority areas and suggest an action plan that might be taken up to strengthen cor-porate social responsibility practices in India.

Genesis

Defining corporate social responsi-bility, as it is understood and prac-ticed in the present world, would give rise to far more divergence than con-vergence. The emergence and subse-quent rise to prominence of CSR can be explained by drawing linkages between the two most compelling re-alities that present themselves in to-day’s global context.

One of them is the consciousness that it is going to become increasingly difficult to let the fast-changing so-

cial climate pass unnoticed. It is be-ing recognized that realities like de-pletion of natural resources, climate change, and increasing inequality in the burden of global poverty among many other phenomena that have far-reaching effects on society and environment also possess a signifi-cantly high downward spiral effect that impacts the global market. Busi-nesses all over the world, public and private, are awakening to the fact that it is sheer foolhardiness not to ac-cept, adapt and alter to the changing realities of the world– social respon-siveness, therefore becomes essential to not only the survival of the world but also individual corporate entities. This social responsiveness can be conceptually understood in terms of one of the most important concepts that dictate the present world– sus-tainable development. Development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (United Nations Rio Earth Summit, 1992) is therefore seen as the only way to accept and adapt to the irreversible changes across the win our world as well as mitigate the evils to reduce the ill-effects of past and current practices.

The second reality is internal to the global economy. The reality of grow-ing competitiveness, the market vola-tility, fluctuating economic cycles have brought in another component to play – the need for constant inno-vation in business. To prevent oneself from redundancy, corporate social responsibility then becomes a ‘busi-ness strategy’. The strategy is seen to yield results that might vary from short-term cost savings and revenue gains for emerging market econo-mies to brand value and reputational enhancement for companies in de-veloped countries (Study for Corpo-rate Social Responsibility Practice of the World Bank, 2003). ‘CSR makes business sense’ then becomes the new mantra of the businesses veered towards leading in a competitive economy.

In essence, therefore the concept of corporate social responsibility can be seen to emerge from the synergy of the above two global realities. Cor-


porate social responsibility then be-comes not only essential to the very survival of a corporate entity, but also a driver towards its success.

While the origin of the concept of corporate social responsibility can be traced to its two prime motivators- emerging social and environmental realities and the need for business in-novation, the essential next step lies in defining the concept. The World Bank defines Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) as the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to im-prove their quality of life, in ways that are both good for business and good for development. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines Corporate Social Responsibil-ity as “the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and the society at large.” CSR therefore involves going beyond compliance – it needs to involve investment in hu-man capital, the environment and the relationship with stakeholders.

Contextualizing CSR practices in India- An Emergent Economy

Putting the ideals behind CSR into practice, has however, differed glob-ally. The Responsible Competitive-ness Index (RCI), from the British non-profit, Accountability, and Brazil-ian business school, Fundação Dom Cabral, looks at how countries are performing in their efforts to promote responsible business practices. Their 2007 index looked at 108 countries covering over 96% of global GDP, with geographical representation on all five continents. Their index, un-surprisingly, finds that more advanced economies do better with European countries like Sweden, Finland, Unit-ed Kingdom leading the bandwagon and not a single developing country made its place among the top 20. The extent of CSR penetration in 7 Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Malay-sia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand) along with the

industrially advanced Japan, is only at a mean value of 41% which when compared to the penetration of a de-veloped country like United Kingdom (98%) show that CSR is at its nascent stage in all emergent economies of the world (Chambers et al., 2003; Moon, 2002).

In view of the seemingly unequal global burden with respect to ‘giving back’ to the society, India can be taken up as a case study to review how CSR is viewed in India, some of the key ef-forts that are being made and the road ahead. The effort is aimed to provide a clear picture of how CSR despite be-ing integral to the Indian corporate so-cial fabric, needs to run down some of the major roadblocks that it has come up against at present.

India has one of the world’s richesttraditionsof CSR. Much earlier than the invention of the term or the social and economic compulsions driving modern day CSR activities, Indian or-ganizations have engaged in activities of ‘giving back to the society’ mean-ingfully. While much has been done in recent years to raise awareness on so-cial responsibility as a business imper-ative, CSR in India has yet to become inherent to business practices across the country. Emergence of India`s CSR perspective appears long back in 1900 with an initiative taken by Tata’s ,who along with other philan-thropic activities, also set up institutes of higher education geared towards enriching academic knowledge, sen-sitivity and awareness of social and scientific realities– the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) conceived as a 'Re-search Institute' or 'University of Re-search' by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata as well as establishment of the pres-ent Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai which introduced in India a course on social work bear testimony of these efforts. For a number of the other corporate dynasties of India, in-cluding the Tatas and Birlas, concepts of nation-building and trusteeship have been alive for a long time.

In the present day, alongside these, on one hand, are the leading Indian companies with strong international shareholdings, such as Hero Honda, HLL (Hindustan Lever Ltd), ITC, and

Maruti Udyog, where local dynamics fuse with the business standards of the parent or partner. On the other hand, for publicsectorenterprises, such as BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd), NTPC (National Thermal Power Cor-poration), and ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), social obligations have been integral to the foundational ethos of the corporations.

And then there is the new generation of enterprises that has surged on the back of knowledge- based globalization, such as Dr Reddy’s, Infosys, Ranbaxy, and Wipro, where less emphasis is on minimizing negative impacts and more on maximizing the positive spill-over effects of corporate development.

Table 1 presents a selected list of CSR innovations from some of India’s lead-ing companies.

A majority of the leading corporates in India are involved in corporate so-cial responsibility (CSR) programmes in areas like education, health, liveli-hood creation, skill development, and empowerment of weaker sections of the society. Notable efforts have come from the Tata Group, Infosys, Bharti Enterprises, ITC Welcome group, In-dian Oil Corporation among others.

The Oil and Gas Sector: A Case illustration of ONGCOne sector of business that makes strong claims to business ethics and/or corporate social responsibil-ity — human rights, employee rights, stakeholder rights, environmental protection, community relations, transparency, corruption, product stewardship, principles and codes of practice – is the oil and gas sector (Frynas, 2005). The very nature of the business has a good prospect for a sound CSR activity. Oil and Gas is an energy intensive industry causing GHG emission. Further, its activities are spread in the remote areas includ-ing offshore. Both mitigation and adaptation, the two arms of climate change, are crucial for the sustainable development and growth of the indus-try. A sound CSR policy considering the risks associated with the climate change, viz. work towards betterment of surrounding communities and work towards betterment of information


system can lead both to sustainable growth and community participation towards the cause of the industry.

The oil and gas Transnational Cor-porations are active and play leader-ship roles in developing good corpo-rate practices and codes of conduct in the work place and engagement with different facets of society. The in-volvement of Shell, ChevronTexaco, BP-Amoco, ExxonMobil, OVL, Oc-cidental, TotalFinaElf, ENI, etc, in the United Nations’ Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sullivan Principle, the Voluntary Prin-ciples on Security and Human Rights, the Millennium Development Goals, Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and the World Summits on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg are some instances. Hence, capturing the harmful effects of climate change has become one of the major commitments within the oil and gas sector.

Towards this effect, the Oil and Natu-ral Gas Corporation (ONGC) in India has taken a major step forward with its declaration of commitment towards obtaining carbon neutrality. The envi-ronmental and social commitments for ONGC, however, do not stop there. It is playing an increasingly important role in strengthening India's corporate world with a tuned sense of moral re-sponsibility towards the community of people where it operates and the country at large. In its vision/mission and the philosophy regarding CSR it claims that the company feels re-sponsible not only for wealth creation but also for social and environmental good. It also aspires to abiding com-

mitment to safety, health and environ-ment to enrich quality of community life and to imbibe high standards of business ethics and organizational values. Its approach to CSR is summa-rized best as “an approach to business that exemplifies transparency and eth-ical behavior, respect for stakeholder groups and a commitment to add economic, social and environmental value ONGC is currently responsible for formulation and implementation of policies in tune with the strategies of CSR theory of ONGC called ‘Cor-porate Rejuvenation Campaign’. It has attempted to ‘projectise’ its social operations where social projects with clear objectives and measurable mile-stones, timelines, specified beneficia-ries, implementation plan and moni-toring and evaluation plans are taken up and executed in a systematic and structured way.

Emerging Issues

Hence at present, a number of factors are driving the increased adoption of CSR practices in the corporate India. Regulation obviously provides the baseline for corporate action, nota-bly for employment practices and the environment. Beyond this, for many companies, being a good corporate citizen is a vital aspect of their iden-tity, values, and vision. Far-sighted business leaders recognize that it is unsustainable for their companies to exist as ‘islands of prosperity’ in a sea of poverty. Market forces are also propelling many firms to go ‘beyond compliance’, notably for those sell-ing into international supply chains. No longer a legal necessity and a nice thing to do, CSR is emerging as

a ‘hard’ commercial factor, linked di-rectly to profits and brand value.

Despite the promise shown by many industries in the emergent market economies of the world, (with spe-cific reference to the Indian oil and gas sector) discussed earlier, it is im-portant to realize that the roadblocks are too many. These include lack of understanding, inadequately trained personnel, non availability of authen-tic data and specific information on the kinds of CSR activities, coverage, policy etc. CSR is coming out of the purview of ‘doing social good’ and is fast becoming a ‘business necessity’. The ‘business case’ for CSR is gaining ground and corporate houses are real-izing that ‘what is good for workers - their community, health, and environ-ment is also good for the businesses’.

In this context, looking forward, some of the major issues that are to become central to CSR can then be reviewed.

Research conducted through interviews with over 70 experts, knowledgeable of and working with CSR issues in the Asia Pacific region in 2009 have zeroed down to the following issues. By engaging with these issues in a pro-active way a company will gain trust and respect from stakeholders who are influential in the field of CSR. By re-sponding to these issues a company can reduce risks to brand and reputation. In addition the information will help build effective business strategies.

The issues that have emerged thereby can be elucidated below:

• ClimatechangeClimate change remains the key con-cern of expert stakeholders in 2009 and they see this as dominating CSR agen-das for the next ten years. Companies are seen as allocating more resources to this issue and the emergence of China as a key player in the discourse over appropriate policy will create a new impetus for Asian businesses. Nev-ertheless Asia Pacific companies are likely to remain laggards. The climate change agenda is now rapidly shifting from strategies for mitigation to a new emphasis on adaptation. Companies are going to have to demonstrate that they are reducing their own carbon impacts

Issue Company Action

Community development HindalcoAsianCSRAwardforitsIntegratedRuralPovertyAlleviationProgramme

IdentifiedfocusareasofCSR ONGC

Dedicating 2.0% of net profit to community developmentInitiatives through “Projectised approach”

GoldenPeacockGlobalAwardforCSR

Health Larsen and

ToubroOneoffirstcorporatestolaunchanHIV/AIDSprogramme

Labour standards ITCFirst company in India to be certified to the SA8000 socialaccountability standard for its Chirala facility

Human capital InfosysPioneering evaluation of human capital using an educationindex for its employees

Table 1 India Inc.: Selected CSR innovations


as well as working in partnerships with others on adapting to climate change. There will be a new emphasis on en-ergy efficiency.

• CorporategovernanceThe economic turmoil experienced in recent months seems to have led to increased concerns over the way that companies are governed and the way that decisions are made. The future is seen as one where companies will have to be increasingly transparent and ac-countable. New corporate governance structures are seen as being at the heart of new models of economic sustain-ability. Those governance structures will be more inclusive and will better represent the views of a wide range of stakeholders. Pressure from a new breed of socially responsible investors will increase the pressure on business-es to behave in an ethical way.

• LabourandhumanresourcesThe treatment of workers within or-ganizations and down supply chains is likely to remain for the coming decade. Concerns over appropriate wages levels, discrimination, work-place conditions and child labour are still important. A new emphasis on decent work in a context of protect-ing human rights is emerging. Within organizations work-life balance will be increasingly important and com-panies will increasingly recognize the benefits associated with diversity and inclusion strategies.

• EnvironmentalissuesThe way that businesses impact on the environment is likely to come under much closer scrutiny. Environmental performance will increasingly be part of company reputation and brand. A particularly worrying aspect of envi-ronmental change concerns the avail-ability of clean and safe water. Loss of biodiversity and changing land-use are also increasingly going to be hot topics. Sourcing activities will inte-grate environmental concerns. New infrastructure developments are likely to have to take into account a broader set of environmental concerns than we have seen to date.

• PartnershipswithstakeholdersStakeholder engagement will increas-ingly develop into meaningful partner-

ships between the private sector and those able to tackle local and global challenges. This will see increased collaboration at both government and local community levels. Businesses will have to demonstrate how they are working with others to tackle the sus-tainable development agenda through innovative community investment strategies.

• Regulationandleadershipfromgovernments

Voluntary approaches tackling social and environmental challenges have had limited success in the Asia Pacific region and the future will see increased pressure from governments via regula-tions. These are likely to embrace en-vironmental issues and labour issues and provide new requirements for CSR reporting. Regulations in place in Eu-rope covering mandatory reporting and disclosure are likely to be replicated in Asia. Other regulatory pressure is like-ly to come from stock exchanges, secu-rities regulators and institutions tasked with tackling health and safety.

• Communityinvestmentandpro-poordevelopment

Companies will have to demonstrate that they have positive impacts on the communities where they operate. In the least developed parts of the region busi-nesses will be increasingly involved with pro-poor community investment projects, micro-finance initiatives and programmes to encourage entrepre-neurship. Community investment strat-egies will increasingly involve climate change adaptation and responses to environmental challenges. There will be a new emphasis on community edu-cation initiatives. Contributing to pov-erty alleviation and community health initiatives will be seen as an important part of the wider agenda for business who will increasingly have to measure their community impacts.

• ProductresponsibilityConcerns over product quality, product safety and health concerns over prod-uct use are increasing. Companies are likely to have to take more measure to ensure a range of safety and security processes are in place. Better labeling, including more information on country or origin, ingredients and carbon im-pact will emerge. Boycotts of products

and of brands are set to increase with increased sophistication of consumers and a lack of trust in the power of regu-lators to protect them.

• TheprofessionalisationofCSRThe role of CSR managers within or-ganisations will be better recognised. An increase in professional courses and better quality education on CSR will help to increase the understanding of what CSR is and the value of hav-ing a CSR function within the organ-isation. A growth in certification and qualifications around CSR will help to enhance both the professionalism and the credibility of CSR managers.

• BriberyandcorruptionIn many parts of the Asia-Pacific re-gion bribery and corruption will con-tinue to reduce the amount of economic activity and continue to have a nega-tive impact on the poor. However, at the same time there will be increasing investigation and reporting of bribery scandals, often supported by govern-ments, increasing the reputational risks to companies seen as complicit in such irregularities. Companies will have to demonstrate a proactive strategy for dealing with bribery and corruption.

The Way forward

In response to the above, it is of in-creasing importance for businesses across the globe and in India to demon-strate a clear link between a company’s own commercial objectives and the wider goals of society. Table 2 seeks to depict the linkages between these two agendas for each of the four ‘capital’ stocks critical for business and national success.

Demand of the future - Making priorities

Building on existing good practice, four inter-locking priorities for action emerge.

Philanthropy to stake holder participationIndia’s inadequate social infrastructure means that corporate funding of com-munity initiatives will remain a critical contribution to the national develop-ment for years to come. However, better understanding is needed of the perfor-mance of these programmes to enable


companies to allocate their funding appropriately and for their stakehold-ers – notably affected communities – to be able to have a real influence on decision-making. In addition, there is a real opportunity for corporate action in this area to move upstream into core operations to make underlying busi-ness models ‘pro-poor’.

SustainingCritical natural capital India’s natural resource base continues to be depleted through a range of pressures—techno-logical, economic, social, and demo-graphic. The result is often an acute ‘resource crunch’ leading to conflicts between companies and communi-ties over scarce water or biomass re-sources, for example. A vital area of corporate commitment – particularly in resource-intensive sectors, such as metals and mining, power, and oil – is to develop clear programmes first to as-sess and then reduce the corporate foot-print so that it rests within the available carrying capacity, thus ensuring equita-ble access, particularly for low-income groups.

Ensuring transparencyWithout disclosure of performance, there is no basis for evaluating cor-porate movement towards responsible business practice. Good practice does exist in India, but it is limited. Working with leading international institutions, such as the ACCA and the Global Re-porting Initiative, there is a powerful opportunity to develop a core set of common CSR indicators that leading companies can use to communicate their performance, both internally and externally.

Linking CSR and financial performanceIn North America and Europe, socially responsible investment has become an important complement to CSR. In the words of the Association of Brit-ish Investors, ‘incorporating social responsibility can reduce portfolio volatility and increase returns’ (Risks, Rewards and Responsibility, February

2004). If CSR is to be pursued on a truly sus-tainable basis by India Inc. then investors will need to appreciate the linkages with financial performance and under-stand the challenges of

delivering long-term social returns in context of the ever-shrinking financial horizons. Opening a dialogue between the business and financial communi-ties on social responsibility is therefore essential, and should help to provide a stronger analytical case for CSR.

Conclusion

CSR is picking up now as an area where companies are showing interest. How-ever, it is limited to the big players; and has to be spread to smaller players through proper information for CSR to sustain in India. Social Consciousness is not, at present, the priority for most corporates. To most organizations, it is a cosmetic tool to ward off regula-tory scrutiny. Organizations which believe in it however, will vouch that it has stood them in good stead. This necessitates delinking CSR for altru-ism and linking with corporate vision. Organizations are getting competitive in whatever they do. Moreover, compa-nies are being closely monitored under provisions like corporate governance and RTI Act which bind organizations towards ethics and transparency. In such a scenario, future looks healthy and people in general can expect to de-rive benefits out of it.

Note: The contents/ views in the paper are of the author`s own and not necessarily of the organization –ONGC, where author is employed.

Annexe 1: Resources UN Global Compactwww.unglobalcompact.org/un/gc/un-web.nsf

BSR (Business for Social Responsi-bility) is a global partner for respon-sible business leaders. With more than 1400 members and affiliated compa-nies worldwide, the BSR helps busi-nesses achieve commercial success in ways that respect ethical values, people, communities, and the environ-ment.

http://www.bsr.org/Meta/about/index.cfmEthical Trade InitiativeAn alliance of companies, NGOs, and trade union organizations committed to working together to identify and pro-mote good practice in the Implementa-tion of codes of labour practice.www.ethicaltrade.orgSustainable Development 2003. World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) (online). http://www.sustainable-Development.gov.uk/wssd/wssd6.htm Article 13 Group 71a The Grove Lon-don W5 5LL UNITED KINGDOMCBI ‘AccessGuide’ for exporting to EuropeInformation on non-tariff trade barri-ers, selected for companies and Busi-ness promotion organizations who wish to export or promote export to the EU.www.cbi.nl/accessguideOECD Trade Policy pagesOECD work on trade provides analyti-cal underpinnings to support continued trade liberalization and foster an un-derstanding of trade policy linkages of public concern.http://www.oecd.orgUNCTAD–WTO International Trade CentreUN focal point for technical coopera-tion with developing countries in trade promotionwww.intracen.org/mdsNatural Resources Institute’s NRET programmeNRET is committed to improving the benefits of trade in renewable natural resources for poor people and the en-vironment in the developing countries.Codes of Practice in the Fresh Produce Industry.www.nri.org/NRET/World Bank Standards and International TradeBackground papers propose a Stan-dards Development Forum coordinated with the assistance of the World Bank, with a mission to develop the frame-work for a targeted financial assistance plan in modernisation of standards in-frastructures for the least developed countries.www.worldbank.org/wbiep/trade/Stan-dards.htmlBridging the Standards Divide: Challenges for Improving Africa’s International Market Accesswww1.worldbank.org/wbiep/trade.html

Capital stocks Internal objectives External objectivesEconomic Profitability Per Capita income growthHuman Worker productivity Employee well-beingSocial Reputation WelfareEnvironmental Resourceefficiency Sustainability

Table 2: Making the links


E&P Industry in Indiapast performance and future trends

NKVermaGm (Geology)-basin manager, frontier basins, onGc, Dehradun

Mr N K Verma is a M.Sc. in Applied Geology and a Gold Medalist in M.Tech in Petroleum Exploration from ISM Dhanbad and went on to complete his MBA in finance.

He is presently working as GM (Geology)-Basin Manager, Frontier Basins, ONGC, Dehradun.

He has over 28 years of experience in petroleum exploration and development related projects with ONGC and has worked in vari-ous ONGC blocks/fields as Exploration Manager for large blocks, handling exploratory and drilling activities. He has also worked in foreign basins in Vietnam Indonesia, Mynamar, Qatar, Iran and in the Caspian regions.

He is an active member of various Societies such as AAPG, SEG, SPG, APG and was awarded the National Mineral Award 2001for his contribution to Petroleum Exploration. He has to his credit more than 20 technical papers and 40 technical reports.

NKVerma

Upstream

E&P Industry has been the backbone of World econo-my since its inception. It is a source for sustenance of

many other industries which are de-pendent on it. The origin of oil & gas industry in India can be traced back to 1867 when oil was struck at Makum near Margherita in Assam. At the time of Independence in 1947, the Oil & Gas industry was controlled by interna-tional companies. India's domestic oil production was just 250,000 tonnes per annum and the entire production was from one state - Assam.

The sedimentary basins of India, on-land and offshore up to the 200m iso-bath, have an areal extent of about 1.79 million sq. km (Figure 1). So far, 26 basins have been recognized and they have been divided into four categories based on their degree of prospectiv-ity as presently known. In the deep waters beyond the 200m isobath, the sedimentary area has been estimated to

be about 1.35 million sq. km. The total thus works out to 3.14 million sq km.

The foundation of the Oil & Gas In-dustry in India was laid by the Indus-trial Policy Resolution, 1954, when the government announced that petro-leum would be the core sector industry. In pursuance of the Industrial Policy Resolution, 1954, Government-owned National Oil Companies ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Commission), IOC (Indi-an Oil Corporation), and OIL (Oil India Ltd.) were formed.

ONGC was formed as a Directorate in 1955, and became a Commission in 1956. In 1958, Oil India Limited was set up and the first gas pool was dis-covered in Jwalamukhi (in erstwhile Punjab). In 1959, for marketing of petroleum products, the government set up another company called Indian Refineries Ltd. In 1964, Indian Refin-eries Ltd was merged with Indian Oil Company Ltd. to form Indian Oil Cor-

poration Ltd. During 1960s, a number of oil and gas-bearing structures were discovered by ONGC in Gujarat and Assam. Discovery of oil in significant quantities in Bombay High in Febru-ary, 1974 opened up new avenues of oil exploration in offshore areas. Dur-ing 1970s and till mid 1980s explor-atory efforts by ONGC and OIL India yielded discoveries of oil and gas in a number of structures in Bassein, Tapti, Krishna-Godavari-Cauvery basins, Cachar (Assam), Nagaland, and Tri-pura. In 1984-85, India achieved a self-sufficiency level of 70% in petroleum products.

In 1984, Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) was set up to look after trans-portation, processing and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. GAIL has been instrumental in the lay-ing of a 1700 km-long gas pipeline (HBJ pipeline) from Hazira in Gujarat to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh, pass-ing through Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

After Independence, India also made significant additions to its refining capacity. In the first decade after in-dependence, three coastal refineries were established by multinational oil companies operating in India at that time. These included refineries by Burma Shell, and Esso Stanvac at Mumbai, and by Caltex at Visakhapat-nam. Today, there are a total of 18 re-fineries in the country comprising 17 in the Public Sector, one in the private sector. The 17 Public sector refiner-ies are located at Guwahati, Barauni, Koyali, Haldia, Mathura, Digboi, Pa-nipat, Vishakapatnam, Chennai, Nag-apatinam, Kochi, Bongaigaon, Numa-ligarh, Mangalore, Tatipaka, and two refineries in Mumbai. The private sector refinery built by Reliance Pe-troleum Ltd is in Jamnagar. It is the biggest oil refinery in Asia.

By the end of 1980s, the petroleum sec-tor was in the doldrums. Oil production had begun to decline whereas there was a steady increase in consumption and domestic oil production was able to meet only about 35% of the domestic requirement. This initiated the Govern-ment to introduce the PEL (Petroleum Exploration License) concept and be-tween 1991 to 1994, the 4th,5th,6th 7th

Figure 1: Map showing Sedimentary basins of India


and 8th rounds of exploration bidding were performed.

The concept of NELP (New Explora-tion Licensing Policy) was introduced in 1999 to give entry to Multinational and private companies in the field of hydrocarbon exploration.The first to eight rounds of NELP bidding were carried out from 1999 till date.

It is noticeable that exploration of the vast tracts of sedimentary basins in our country still needs a pivotal thrust as only 20% of the total area is well ex-plored whereas exploration has been initiated in 445 of our area available (Figure 2). It is noteworthy that 15 % of our area still remains poorly explored whereas 21% of our area remains to-tally unexplored. These Figureures lead us to believe in the famous lines of Robert Frost:

“The woods are lovely dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles and miles to go before I sleep”

To meet its growing petroleum de-mand, India is investing heavily in oil fields abroad. India's state-owned oil firms already have stakes in oil and gas fields in Russia, Sudan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Qatar, Ivory Coast, Australia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Oil and Gas Industry has a vital role to play in In-dia's energy security and if India has to sustain its high economic growth rate. ONGC has played a pivotal role, with its foreign arm ONGC Videsh Limited

(OVL) in investments in foreign oil and gas fields abroad in a very aggres-sive manner.

The introduction of the NELP regime has led to an accelerated boost in the new discoveries of hydrocarbons. It has also added to a huge database of Geoscientific database, which was be-ing acquired at a much lesser pace in the Pre-NELP regime, as is evident from the Figure 3 given below:

The total number of significant dis-coveries made during the last eight years stand at 118. Of these, the most noteworthy are the discoveries located in the offshore East Coast basins of Krishna Godavari and Mahanadi-NEC and the western Offshore. Amongst the onshore Basin discoveries, the signifi-cant ones are from Rajasthan,Cambay and Assam-Arakan basins.

With the advent of the NELP regime, a large number of private companies have entered in the field of hydrocar-bon exploration.The Indian private sector has a large number of companies

engaged in Exploration, such as Reli-ance Industries Limited (RIL), Cairn energy India Ltd (CEIL),Petronet, Es-sar and others. Under the seven NELP rounds, 212 bid blocks have been awarded, of which 56 blocks have been awarded to private companies and JVs. Significant investments have been made by Foreign companies in India such as Cairn Energy Plc (over US$ 1 billion), British Gas (over US$ 800 million), Shell (US$ 650 million) and

BP (US$ 440 million) (Figure 4). There is also a steady increase in the Foreign Institutional holdings (FIIs) in sev-eral Public Sector companies in India. These are all indications of a healthy growth of the Oil sector and its con-tinual improvements in the policies of exploration. The rising trend of FIIs is a direct measure of the ease with which our country has accommodated them in the core energy sector.

As is evident from the above two charts (Figure 5 a&b), there has been a marked increase in the gas production rates from the private players /JVs since 2000-01. Also, barring a few exception years, there has been a sustained rate of production of hydrocarbons.

It is indeed noteworthy to mention the role of DGH in the boost given to hy-drocarbon exploration and production in India. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) was set up in April 1993 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) to promote the sound management of domestic oil and gas resources, keeping in view en-vironmental safety, and the technologi-cal and economic aspects of upstream activities. DGH was given its statutory powers by the Central Government un-der the 1948 act in September 2006.

As a governing body for hydrocarbon

Figure 2: Status of Area under exploration in India (Values in %)

DataAcquired PreNELP(1993-2006) NELPItoVII(2000-2008)2D Seismic Surveys (LKM) 24091 1093053D Seismic Surveys (SKM) 5304 67773Exploratory Wells (No.) 167 199 (until NELP V)Development Wells (No.) 313 (until NELP IV)PSC Blocks 28 149No.ofdiscoveries(upto15/04/2009) 25 180Investment made in Exploration (in US$ Million)

Figure 3: Table showing increase in quantum of data acquisition in NELP regime


exploration, it has helped in nurturing the increase in opening of exploratory acreages in many areas of India. It keeps a close watch on the disburse-ment of acreages and the MWP com-mitments. In the earlier years, there was no concept of penalties, which was a major impediment for time bound ex-ploration. With the advent of Minimum Work Programmes, the operators have time limits to adhere to for an acreage and the data committed is either ac-quired or, in its absence, compensation of the leftover work commitment is charged from the acreage holder. This has inculcated a sense of commitment in the bidder, which is an important pa-rameter in exploration.

In the field of Oil refining, India has a total of 19 refineries, of which 17 are in the Public sector and 2 are in private sector. It is quite an achievement for an increase in the capacity of refining hav-ing increased from 62 MMT in April 1998 to 149 MMT in January 2008 (Figure 6). It is expected that the refin-ing capacity would reach 235 MMT by April 2012, as per the forecasts. Also, there is a large export potential of re-

fined crude oil products, which form backbones of many other industries.

The opening of the refining sector by the Government of India for the private sector speaks volumes of the liberalized scenario of E&P industry in the coun-try. As per the available data, around 53.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) is planned to come up un-der the Public sector units (PSUs) in the near future. Also, under Joint ventures, 24 MTPA capacity will be added between 2008 to 2012 by Private sector.

From the data of the in-stalled capacities of vari-ous refineries, it can be seen that the major player in the Public sectors is IOCL with an installed ca-pacity of 49,700 thousand tonnes whereas in the pri-vate players, RIL tops the cards with an installed ca-pacity of 62,000 thousand

tonnes. The maximum capacity utiliza-tion is from MRPL working at 129 % of its installed capacity.

The need of the hour for the country is for a “paradigm shift” toward gas and greener resources. It is required to build a business model around increased gas availability and usage. There is a need for augmenting the business mix with “No carbon footprint” renewable ener-gy generation and usage. Further value addition to this would be by more ef-ficient energy usage and lowering car-bon footprints. It is of utmost impor-tance, at this juncture for the country, to develop an operational and financial template to facilitate further develop-ment on this issue.

As is evident from the Figureure (Fig-ure 7) there is a growth in the global demand by more than half over the next quarter of this century, with coal use rising most in absolute terms. The oil consumption Figureures are consid-erably lower in the SE Asian region, as compared to the rest of the world, espe-cially the developed countries. (Figure 8).

India is the fifth largest primary energy consumer with a compounded annual growth rate (from 1997 to 2007) of 4.5%.The country on top of this list be-ing USA, followed by China, Russia,

Figure 4: Maps of India showing a marked increase in the areas under exploration in Pre-NELP and NELP regimes

Figure 5 (b): Status of Crude Produc-tion (in MMT) DataSource : MOPNG

Figure 5 (a): Status of Gas Production (in MMT) Data Source :MOPNG

Figure 6: Installed Capacities and Capacity utilization for refineries


Japan, and our country stands fifth in this order. However, it is painstaking to note that the per capita energy con-sumption of our country is only 28% of the global average (Figure 9). Much of this is due to the poor usage of energy in the rural sector.

It is estimated, as per the projections of the planning commission, that by the year 2020, the energy requirement of our country would increase by 1.74 times, after having reached an esti-mated population of 1.3 billion with an urban population share of 41 %.

The Demand Supply curves for Oil and Gas are the best indicators for planning the future strategies for any action. As is evident from the De-mand curve of oil, there is a sharp increase in the demand of oil from 2011-12 to 2024-25. As compared to the demand of 199.6 MMTPA in 2011-12, the demand for oil in 2024-25 would reach a whopping 376.5

MMTPA. However, dismal picture for the Supply curve indicates clear-ly that as against a supply of 33.47 MMTPA, the increase in supply by 2024-25 would only be 61.4 MMT-PA. This is squarely due to the fact that there are no significant oil dis-coveries in the past few years and no breakthroughs may be achieved in the future as well. However, the Demand Supply curve for Gas presents a dif-ferent scenario. As against a demand of 313 MMSCMD as on 2011-12, the demand increase in 2025 is 391 MMSCMD, which is an achievable Figureure. On the other hands, the Supply curve of gas shows a steady increase from 2006-07 to 2024-25, with Figureures 94.84 MMSCMD and 170 MMSCMD respectively for these two years.

From the above Figureure, it becomes crystal clear that India should put its thrust on the development of Gas sec-tor. The major reason this is that it is a cleaner fuel. The emissions subse-quent to its consumption are minis-cule as compared to Oil and coal. The nuclear and hydel percentages are not being considered for comparison as they form less than ten percent of

consumption, both in terms of World and India’s energy consumptions.

The other reason is the fact that the share of oil in world primary energy mix is expected to decline (Figure 10) in view of no major expected breakthroughs in terms of finding huge reserves of oil. Also, the volume of discoveries of oil lags behind pro-duction, while those of gas continue to exceed production.

As per a statistical review by BP, an oil major in the world, done in 2008, the Global World energy mix has a share of 24% in the usage of gas, whereas our country lags behind in this aspect having a share of only 9% in gas us-age. In our country, the major usage in the energy circle is that of coal, which forms more than half the usage of en-ergy, which is double that of the world average. This needs to be curbed down in view of the labor intensive and slow production of Coal.

The Figureure of 9% share of gas for our country, which is much lower than 24% of the world average (Fig-ure 11). These Figureures are indica-tive guidelines for our country’s fu-ture Strategy. We should target more towards the development of Gas sec-tor and keep up with the world aver-age as our country is richly endowed with gas resources. Apart from the conventional gas sector, stress should also be given for the development of the non-conventional gas resources for future growth such as Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Gas hydrates, Un-derground Coal Gasification (UCG) and Shale Gas.

Figure 7 : Increased usage of hydrocarbons

Figure 8: World Oil consumption pattern

Figure 9: Per Capita energy consumption for India (TOE)

Figure 10: Demand Supply curves for Oil and Gas


Key Drivers For Gas Sector Development

The foremost need for the development of the gas sector would be to enhance domestic gas reserves. This can be achieved by stressing on the fine tun-ing of the existing maps of the avail-able gas fields in India and carrying out detailed remapping and develop-ment of fresh geological models for these fields. Needless to say, added stress should be given on capitalizing on Non-conventional reserves such as Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Gas hy-drates, Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and Shale Gas. These efforts should be complimented with the re-newable energy sources such as Wind, Solar and Hydrogen energy sectors. All this should be complimented with busi-ness diversification and infrastructure development in the associated areas.

Accelerated stress should be given on gas consumerism. Unless this sec-tor comes to the doorstep of more and more number of people its popularity would be lost in a short time. Efforts need to go into development of gas consumerism. Existing Indian compa-nies and NGOs should be active for such drives. This should be coupled with promotion of efficient energy us-age and environmental compliances, to ensure that the emissions are kept to a bare minimum.

Action Plan

Major thrust area should be the devel-opment of gas fields. The existing gas fields possess much greater potentials than they are being utilized at. This needs to be improved to its optimum, using both upstream and downstream technologies. Aggressive exploration in Frontier areas needs to be carried out to tap the available indications of gas in any such areas. These areas include vast tracts of land as well as sea, which have possibilities for presence of gas.

A good strike of gas in any such unex-plored or less explored area could tip the scale to our advantage.

There is a strong need to adopt a cen-tral role in developing regional gas re-source bases / supply grids in the sub-continent. This is attainable only when the leading gas company GAIL joins hands with other majors like ONGC, Reliance and others. This would lead to effective transmissions of the produced gas to areas much farther away from the capability of a single company by amalgamated gridding of pipelines by many companies.

There should be Fast track efforts to convert non-conventional gas resourc-es into reserves. This is possible by a combined effort of all the hydrocarbon upstream companies of India, under the guidance and control of Central Gov-ernment.

Keeping in view the growing de-mands of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), our country should also go full steam ahead in its development as well. Currently, there are units at Dahej,Hazira,Dabhol and Kochi. The Dahej plant is owned by Petronet LNG and has a current production of 6.5 MMTPA.This is currently the largest plant and plans to increase its production to 12.5 MMTPA by 2012. The Hazira plant comes next to it, which is owned by Shell and TOTAL

consortium, having a current produc-tion of 2.5 MMTPA. Two other LNG plants which are yet to start produc-tion are Dhabol and Kochi, which are owned by Ratnagiri Gas Power projects Ltd. And Petronet LNG re-spectively. Dhabol and Kochi have forecasted production Figureures of 5 MMTPA and 2.5 MMTPA respec-tively.

Non Conventional Resources

In view of the dwindling demand supply ratios, there is a strong need to develop Non- conventional gas re-sources. These mainly include Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Gas hydrates, Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and Shale Gas.

Coal Bed Methane

CBM is one such alternative source of hydrocarbons. CBM was initiated for degassing of coal mines for safety, but has become an important source of hy-drocarbons. It has immense potential of storage of vast quantities of gas. India has 247 billion tons of Coal reserves, which happens to be the 4th largest in the world (Figure 12). The CBM re-source is estimated to be about 35 TCF. India has a major coal resource base in the Central and Eastern India,

covering the states of Bihar,Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, West

Figure 11: Comparison of Global and Indian Energy mix

Figure 12: Proved Worldwide Coal reserved (MT)


Bengal, Orissa,Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh (Figure 13). The CBM resource base of 35 bcf/ sq. kms. is one of the highest in the world. In other words, In-dia has one of the highest coal resource distribution per square km. of area in the word. It may be worthy to note that the tertiary basins have additional coal resources for Underground Coal Gas-ification. The basic procedure for any CBM production unit includes drilling of a minimum of two wells, wherein one well is used to heat the gases in a coal seam whereas the other is used to extract them to the surface (Figure 14). The gases pressurized due to heat are

being contained in the coal seam itself due to the overlying cap rocks.

In India, the oil major ONGC already has a CBM program and this program needs to be expedited through SPVs for CBM exploration and exploitation, fast track technology induction and by acquiring participatory interests in coal mining companies having coal/ CBM resources. There is also a strong requirement for creation of Joint ven-tures with companies around the world having core competence in the field of Coal Bed Methane exploration and production.

Underground Coal Gasification

Underground coal gasification could be another alternate source of hydrocar-bons, wherein heated air is injected in the coal seams, which pushes the in-situ gas towards the producer wells and raw combustible gas is produced (Figure 15). This process converts unmineable coals into gas energy resource with a recovery of 80 to 100 %. It is a clean coal option in the unconventional gas resource base. There are extensive coal seams, having reserves to the tune of 63 billion tons in Gujrat at a depth of 600 m. having an equivalent 15,000 BCM of natural gas. It is noteworthy that Gov-ernment of India recognizes UCG as a legitimate end use of coal and Syngas produced from UCG is input for Power and Fertilizer industries. Our national oil company ONGC is to create SPVs for Underground Coal Gasification and would acquire participatory interests in coal mining companies having Coal / UCG resources, under its CBM project.

Shale Gas

Another upcoming alternative hydro-carbon is Shale gas, where the target is gas stored in fine grained shale beds. In this case, the source and the reservoir are the same. Orientation of fractures is critical for production of shale gas and horizontal drilling in required orienta-tions helps in production. Production of Shale gas is greatly enhanced if the orientation of the well is designed in such a way so as to land the produc-tion casing in the reservoir bed itself, as shown. As compared to this, a ver-tical well’s drainage area would be quite small. However, the cost of drill-ing horizontal wells has to be borne in mind during the cost estimation for field development. In USA, such shale gas contributes to 2% of the total gas production. Shale gas has inplace vol-umes of 497-783 tcf with recoverable reserves of 31-76 tcf. KDMIPE, the re-search institute under ONGC is work-ing with M/s Schlumberger for pilot study to map and establish the reserves. For this purpose, all deep wells in dif-ferent basins are being sampled.

Gas Hydrates

Gas hydrates are another form of al-ternative hydrocarbons, possibilities

Figure 13: Major Indian Coal Fields and Potential CBM Blocks

Figure 14: Method of production in CBM Project


of exploitation of which are being cur-rently explored all over the world. Gas hydrates are crystalline solids consist-ing gas molecules, especially methane. Each molecule is surrounded by a cage of water molecules. One cu.m. of Gas hydrate is equivalent to 164 cu.m. of gas. These are of Biogenic and Ther-mogenic origins.

There is an immense potential of Gas hydrates in the near future. As is evident from Figure 16, the presence of recov-ered gas hydrates are mostly from the West coast of North America,Alaska, China Offshore and in other near-off-shore areas of the world. Inferred Gas hydrates are abundant in the offshore of the Indian subcontinent and in off-shore areas of North America,South America and China.

India has an area of 55,850 sq.km. which is promising for the occur-rence of gas hydrates. 1894 TCM re-serves are estimated for our country. The National Oil Company ONGC is spearheading the exploration of Gas hydrates in the Indian subconti-nent. The production technology for gas hydrates is yet to be developed. However, ONGC has the advantage of having experience and infrastruc-ture in Offshore operations, giving it an edge over other companies. It is now required that ONGC joins hands with R&D consortiums for develop-ment of technology for production of gas hydrates. Once this technology is developed, a Special group should be formed within the company to imple-ment the same.

Strngthening The Existing National Pipeline Grid

In view of the increasing urbanization and greater concern for environment and safety, the share of pipeline trans-portation is likely to increase in India. The initial cost of laying the pipelines may seem to be large, but the effec-tive and long range economics would prove otherwise. About 50-60% of the primary transportation of petroleum products in developed countries is done through pipelines (Figure 17). Our country lags behind severely in this case. The pipeline network of In-dian Oil Ltd. has grown to 9273 km. with a capacity of about 62 million metric tonnes per year. Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) owns and oper-ates 6700 km. of natural gas transmis-sion network which is over 82% of

the total pipeline infrastructure in the country.

There is a strong need to pursue the Gas related infrastructure in our coun-try, as discussed earlier. The task of creation of National gas grid and cross country pipelines needs to be taken up by joining hands with GAIL. It is equally important in the task of part-nering the task of transnational gas pipelines between Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI), Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pak-istan-India (TAPI) and Oman-India Subsea pipeline and others. This re-quires active involvement of Gov-ernment of India, who should be the forerunners for the task. Building of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) termi-nals and Re-gasification plants near consumer areas would greatly aid the efficient, cheap and quick supply to the consumers, thereby reducing the burden on the common man of India.

Integration of the entire value chain in dedicated Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) to capitalize on scale of econo-mies and synergize the complimentary business processes would greatly help in the development process.

The need of the hour is to strengthen the National Gas grid (Figure 18). A total of 7800 kms. Of national grid is planned. The colossal task would be taken up in different phases. This grid would connect LNG terminals to the producing gas fields. The Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline has a current capacity of 60 Mmscmd.

Figure 15: Method of production in Underground Coal gasification (UCG)

Figure 16: Map showing Worldwide discovered Gas Hyrates


The process of connecting this pipeline to Punjab is in progress. Further con-nection to Kochi and Bangalore is also planned. The process of connecting Kakinada to Hazira by Reliance Indus-tries is under progress.

In short, the completion of the National gas grid would link our gas resources all across the country, thereby integrat-ing the transportation of the produced gas, reducing the cost and increasing the supply to the consumer’s doorstep in reduced time and money.

To sum up, our country should adopt the “Green strategy”, which would involve the green house gases inven-tory and control. Under this, the emis-sion of green house gases needs to be monitored and reducing targets on an annual basis is to be carried out, to re-duce these emissions in a phased man-ner. The gas flaring from various gas producing fields in our country needs to be reduced, which would give us in-creased revenue in the form of the un-flared gas reaching the consumers and industries, thereby generating revenue for the concerned E&P companies. ONGC has played a pivotal role in the reduction of gas flaring in our country. As per the Figureures for the reduc-tion of Gas flaring by ONGC between 2001-02 to 2007-08,it has saved Rs 1054,98 Crores just by this act! This speaks volumes on potential of gas flaring reduction.

For efficient energy usage, it is re-quired that all E&P companies adopt the CDM (Clean Development Mech-anism) and conduct regular energy audits. There is a strong need for plan-ning of green buildings in all work centres and induction of energy effi-cient equipment. ONGC has already started 4 CDM projects registered with UNFCCC wit committed reduc-tion of 1,20,000 t of CO2 equivalent. It is recommended that this initiative is carried forward by ONGC and all other E&P companies in India in their future projects.

All these strategies would help our country to strengthen the portion of economy centered around hydrocar-bons and would help to bring our coun-try on the World hydrocarbon map like a shining star in the future.

Figure 17: Crude Oil & LPG pipelines in India

Figure 18: National gas grid: Present and Future


Petrotech JournalHighlights 2010

Petrotech Society in association with Indian Oil (R&D) organised a three days seminar on ªR&D challenges in Petroleum sectorº from 17th to 19th January 2010 at Goa. The conclave was inaugurated by Mr L N Gupta, Jt Secy (Ref) Ministry Of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Mr. B N Bankapur, Dir (Ref.) IOCL delivered a Special Address. Mr. Anand Kumar, Dir (R&D) IOCL gave introduction about the conclave. Mr Probir Ghosh, President & CEO InvVEST, USA and Prof Peter Hodgson, Deakin University Australia delivered Keynote address. Mr. J L Raina, Secretary General & CEO welcomed the august gathering present during the conclave and Mr. G.Sarpal, Secretary Petrotech proposed a Vote of Thanks. The three days seminar was attended by 81 participants which includes senior executives from Oil & Gas Industry and professors from prestigious Technical Institutes involved

R&D Conclave IV

in research work. Indian Oil (R&D) signed an MOU with Deakin University, Australia for Developing effective Industry- Academia Research partnerships.

PETROTECH 20102nd Core Group meeting was held on 9th March 2010. Secretary, MoP&NG presided. CMD ONGC welcomed the participants. An update on the latest status was given by DGM, ONGC through a presentation. The event promises to be an enriching conference of experts and other dignitories from all over the globe. Secretary, MoP&NG complimented team ONGC and thanked other industry members for their support to the Conference.

Activities


Seminar on Sustainable Development: Corporate Strategy and Approach ªLow Carbon Economyº

Petrotech Society in association with ONGC organized a two days seminar on ªLow Carbon Economyº from 18th - 19th February 2010 at Hotel The Claridges, New Delhi. The seminar was inaugurated by Mr R S Sharma, CMD, ONGC & Chairman Petrotech Society. Mr A K Hazarika Director (Onshore), ONGC and Mr V C Agrawal, Director (HR), IOCL delivered Keynote Address. Mr A B

Chakraborty, GGM Chief-CMG, ONGC gave introduction about the seminar. Mr Naresh Kumar, MD, Jindal Drilling & Industries Ltd President, Petrotech Society welcomed the august gathering present during the session. Mr J L Raina, Secretary General & CEO, Petrotech proposed a Vote of Thanks. The two days seminar was attended by 84 participants from 12 organizations from oil & gas industry.

ª2nd Veteransº Forum Meet

ª2nd Veteransº Forum meet was held at Claridges on 8th March 2010. Members paid tribute to Ex Chairman Petrotech Society Late Shri Subir Raha and observed one minutes silence as mark of respect.

Chairman Petrotech Society welcomed all the Veterans present and hoped that the deliberations on the proposed topic ªGlobal Overview of the LNG Business and Key Trendsº would generate a useful debate on

various issues that would come up after deliberations. Two presentations were made by Ms Gauri Jauhar, Senior Consultant PFC Energy and Mr Sham Sunder, former Director (Tech) PETRONET LNG. Ms Gauri made an introductory presentation on the subject in absence of Mr Mike Rodger Partner and Head PFC Energy who could not visit India due to delay in VISA clearance. Petrotech Society has since forwarded the copies of presentations to all the Veterans through email.


Chairman Petrotech Society held a review meeting at Society's office in SCOPE Complex on 24th March 2010. President and other officials of the Soiety were present.

Review Meeting

Petrotech Chapters' Intercompetition / Convention at UPES, Dehradun

Petrotech Society organized an annual all India Convention of Petrotech Chapters at University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun on 30th March 2010. Mr D K Pande, Director (Exploration), ONGC & Vice President WPC inaugurated the Convention. He delivered a thought provoking inaugural address which has been put on Society's website for appreciation of all concerned. Later he gave away the best Chapter award to student chapter MIT Pune for all round activities carried out throughout the year. Mr Ravi Kumar, Research Officer, IOCL R&D and Ms Sitanshu, Geologist, ONGC made presentations to the gathering on the topics of ªOptions and Challenges for the

Youth in Energy Sector: Experience at 2nd WPC Youth Forum ± PARISº and ª3rd WPC Youth Forum- proposed agendaº being held on 2nd November 2010 at New Delhi, respectively. All the Chapters made presentation on the next Petrotech Conference theme viz ªGlobal Energy Equilibriumº. Mr Anand Sahu, GM, Geology E&D Directorate, ONGC and Dr Manoj Asthana, GGM (Geol), KDMIPE judged the presentations and Pro Vice-Chancellor, UPES give away best presentation award to UPES, Dehradun and runner up to ISM Dhanbad. It was a lively event wherein students from different Chapters put forth very efficiently their assessments regarding ªGlobal Energy Equilibriumº.


PETROTECH 2010: Steering Committee Meeting

The steering committee meeting of Petrotech 2010, 9th International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition was held on 19th April 2010 at Hotel The Claridges, New Delhi. Mr R S Sharma, CMD ONGC & Chairman Steering Committe warmly welcomed the Steering Committee members and appreciated everyone for their unflinching support and enthusiasm in charting the roadmap till date. In his opening remarks he said that ONGC has to better the high benchmark set by IOC in organizing the last Petrotech. Mr. Sudhir Bhargava, Additional Secretary, Government of India. assured the Steering Committee

that he would extend all possible support from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for making Petrotech - 2010 a grand success. He further noted that Petrotech would provide a platform for the flow of ideas, showing knowledge and expertise and networking among the experts of the World for betterment of the industry.

Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva, Director (Offshore), ONGC & Chairman, Organising and Programme Committee expressed his satisfaction on the progress made so far and affirmed his confidence of taking Petrotech to

even greater heights. Later, Petrotech Secretariat made a presentation giving an update on the ground covered so far and issues which needs urgent attention. The steering committee meeting was attended by the Representatives of Knowledge partners to the event - AIMA, TERI & Earnest & Young in addition to the members of Oil and Gas industry. Mr. B M Bansal, Chairman, IOC shared his experience of organizing the last Petrotech and stressed that actionable points pursued with whole hearted commitment would ensure the smooth execution of this event.

PETROTECH Society organized a Guest Lecture on 28th April 2010 at IOCL Conference Room, SCOPE Complex, Core 8 on the theme ªSustainable Energy: Issues & Future Challengesº by Mr. Probir Ghosh, President & CEO, InvVest USA. The lecture was well received by 32 participants Mr. Anand Kumar, Director (R&D), IOCL inaugurated the lecture. Director General, ONGC Energy Centre and Executive Director (R&D), ONGC and other Senior Executives from major upstream & downstream companies attended the lecture.

Guest Lecture


The meeting of Research and Fellowship Committee of Petrotech Society was held on 22nd April 2010 at IOCL Conference Room, SCOPE Complex, Core 8, 3rd Floor, New Delhi. The committee reviewed the 3 research proposals received from BPCL R&D in collaboration with IIT Delhi and IT-BHU. The proposals

were explained by representatives from BPCL R&D viz Dr Bharat Newalkar, Manager and Dr P V C Rao, Senior Manager, BPCL (R&D) to the committee members. Out of the three projects the proposal on ªSynthesis and Characterization of Nano-porous materials for Hydrocarbon Conversionsº was considered by

Committee members for grant of fellowship but before taking the final decision, BPCL R&D was asked to give further details on the Project. BPCL R&D was also asked to invite the faculty from the related institute in the next meeting for detailed interaction with Committee members on the proposal.

Research Fellowship Committee of Petrotech Society

Petrotech Society organized 5th Summer School in collaboration with IOCL R&D and IIPM, Gurgaon from 7th-11th June 2010 at IIPM Gurgaon. The summer school was inaugurated by Mr V C Agrawal, Director (HR) IOCL and Dr R K Malhotra, Executive Director (R&D), IOCL delivered the Keynote Address.

5th Summer School on Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals

The seminar was attended by 63 participants, 37 professors/lecturers from 19 institutes and 26 Practicing Managers from 10 Organizations. A one day visit to Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex was also organized for the participants. The seminar was very much appreciated by all the participants.


19th Meeting of Governing Council of Petrotech Society was held on 15th June 2010 at Hotel Le Meridien. Secretary General, Petrotech Society presented his report on Society‘s activities held since the last Governing Council Meeting. Members reviewed the progress and appreciated the efforts being made by Society for upgrading its stature. As the tenure of Chairman and President, Petrotech Society was getting over election was held during the meeting and Mr R S Sharma, CMD ONGC and Mr Naresh Kumar, Managing Director, Jindal was unanimously elected as Chairman and President of the Society respectively. Members were informed that PETROTECH 2010- Life

19th Governing Council Meeting of Petrotech Society

Time Achievement Award in the field of Upstream Downstream and Research and Development would be conferred to distinguished personalities for their outstanding contribution in the above field. Besides the above awards International Life Time Achievement Award, and Special Technical Awards for Innovation, Project management, Greening of Oil & Gas Business, Sustainability & CSR- Corporate Award are also being introduced during the PETROTECH 2010.

Mr. A Kumaria, DGM, ONGC, Coordinator, Petrotech, 2010 gave a brief presentation apprising GC members the progress and status of PETROTECH-2010.

Petrotech Society organized a seminar on ‘Valorization of Petroleum Residues‘ in collaboration with Engineers India Ltd on 24th-25th June 2010 at Hotel Le Meridien. The seminar was inaugurated by Mr B N Bankapur, Director (Refineries), IOCL and Mr M K Joshi, Director (Tech), EIL delivered Keynote Address during the inaugural Session.

The seminar was attended by 75 Participants from 14 Oil organizations and 1 institute. The eminent speakers were drawn from esteemed national and international companies/institutes viz. EIL, IIP, UOP Hydroprocessing Centre, Exxonmobil, Axens, GE EnergyLurgi, Air Liquide and KBC.

Seminar on ªValorization of Petroleum Residuesº


3rd Veterans' Forum

The 3rd Meeting of Veterans' Forum was held on 15th July 2010 at Hotel The Claridges, New Delhi. The subject of discussion was ªGlobal Overview of the LNG Business and Key Trendsº as this meeting is a follow up of earlier meeting on the same subject when presentations were made by Mr. Sham Sunder, Former Director (Technical),

Petronet LNG Ltd and Ms. Gauri Jauhar, Senior Consultant, PFC Energy. Mr Suresh Mathur, former CEO & MD Petronet LNG gave the feedback of the previous meeting and then the subject was discussed at length by the members. Next meeting is proposed to be on ªShale Gasº.

3rd Industry Educational Tour to University of Alberta, Canada

After the success of previous two tours, Petrotech Society and University of Alberta has once again joined hands in organizing its 3rd Industry Educational Tour and conduct a certified programme on ‘Technology Futures‘ from 25th July -3rd August 2010. University of Alberta issued certificates for all participants. A group of 19 participants from major Oil Companies viz. ONGC, IOC, EIL, OIL, HPCL, GAIL have participated in the tour.


The course was organized by Petrotech in collaboration with KDMIPE-ONGC Dehradun from 6th-10th September 2010. The course was attended by 55 participants out of which 31 from Academia from 15 institutes/universities and 24 executives

from major oil & gas companies attended the seminar. The course was inaugurated by Mr D K Pande, Director (Exploration), ONGC and released the book of presentations on the occasion. The participants were enlightened with the thought

provoking ideas given by Shri Pande. Visit to Subir Raha Oil Museum, GEOPIC, Geology & Geochemistry labs were also organized. A Half day session was also organized at Institute of Drilling Technology. The Course was a grand success.

1st Petrotech Subir Raha memorial Lecture

1st Petrotech Subir Raha memorial Lecture on Energy Security organized by Petrotech Society on 27th August 2010 at SCOPE Auditorium, SCOPE Building, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The lecture was on the topic ªEnergy Securityº by Mr. B K Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission. Mr. R S Sharma, Chairman, Petrotech Society and CMD, ONGC welcomed the august gathering. Mr. Naresh Kumar, President, Petrotech Society and MD, Jindal Drilling & Industries participated in discussion, Mr. J L Raina, Secretary General & CEO, Petrotech Society proposed vote of thanks. A short film on Achievement of Late Subir Raha was shown during the lecture.

About 325 participants attended the lecture. The participants were Directors / Sr. Executives from major Oil & Gas companies like ONGC, OIL, IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, EIL, Schlumberger, GAIL & Petrofed. Faculties and students from Institute of Energy Management & Technology also attended the lecture. The august gathering was enlightened with thought provoking Lecture on Energy Security by Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission and Former Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The lecture was a grand success.

6th Proficiency Course on Modern Practices in Petroleum Exploration


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petrotech journal october 2010

Documents

issue engrossing

industry visits

hydrocarbon industry

industry education tour

industry educational

energy supply

technical articles

oil gas conference