Oilfield services giant SLB, until recently known as Schlumberger, on Monday introduced the EcoShield geopolymer cement-free system that it says minimizes the CO2 footprint of a well’s construction.
" This innovative technology eliminates up to 85 percent of embodied CO2 emissions compared with conventional well cementing systems, which include portland cement. The EcoShield system has the potential to avoid up to 5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually—the equivalent of removing 1.1 million cars from the road each year," SLB said.
“Decarbonizing the well construction process while ensuring safety and performance standards is critical to our industry’s pathway to net zero,” said Jesus Lamas, SLB’s president of Well Construction. “The cement-free EcoShield system is a breakthrough that delivers industry-standard zonal isolation capabilities while significantly minimizing impact from upstream oil and gas production.”
According to SLB, in addition to its embodied CO2 emissions, portland cement creates significant transportation-related emissions from manufacture to deployment. The EcoShield system uses locally sourced natural materials and industrial waste streams in its composition, making this "a far more sustainable well integrity method," SLB said.
The cement-free system can be deployed throughout various phases of the well life cycle including abandonment. It can also be deployed across a range of field applications, including corrosive environments, the company said.
In the Permian Basin, SLB said, Pioneer Natural Resources successfully deployed SLB’s novel cement-free technology on an 18-well field testing campaign and continues with its use.
"This successful pilot program in North America proved the performance of this unique cement free solution while substantially reducing the CO2 footprint in the well construction process. Field trials validated the ability of the technology to fit within standard oilfield cementing workflows without major changes to the design process, onsite execution, or post-job evaluation," SLB added.
“EcoShield is an example of forward-thinking, innovative solutions that will be able to be scaled and deployed in order to help continue the decarbonization of the oil and gas industry,” Katharina Beumelburg, SLB’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer said. “These types of more sustainable, lower-carbon technologies are critically important today as we continue to discover and develop the new energy solutions of tomorrow.”