This document provides information about cesium formate brine, including its uses, benefits, and the company that produces it. Specifically: - Cesium formate brine is a high-density, non-toxic brine used for drilling, completing, and suspending deep gas wells. It can have densities up to 143 pcf. - Using cesium formate brine improves economics by allowing faster drilling and completions while improving well safety. It also maximizes reservoir production and definition. - Cabot Corporation produces cesium formate brine from pollucite ore in Canada. It has been used in over 250 deep gas wells worldwide since 1999.

1. CESIUM FORMATE BRINE
John Downs
Cabot Specialty Fluids
A cesium formate sales presentation from late 2009

2. More information at: www.formatebrines.com

3. Formate brines
NaCOOH KCOOH CsCOOH
62 pcf
8.3 ppg
81 pcf
10.8 ppg
97 pcf
13.1 ppg
143 pcf
19.2 ppg
• Sodium formate
• Potassium formate
• Cesium formate

4. Formate brine applications
Low-solids fluids for deep gas well constructions
• Reservoir drilling
• Completions
• Workovers
• Packer and long-term well suspensions
A mature field proven technology used in deep gas fields since
1995

5. Deep and/or HPHT gas fields developed using
formate brines, 1995-2009
Published information on 35 fields
Some deep and/or HPHT gas fields developed using formate brines
Country Fields Reservoir Description
Matrix
type
Depth, TVD
(metres)
Permeability
(mD)
Temperature
(oC)
Germany Walsrode,Sohlingen
Voelkersen,Idsingen
Sandstone 4,450-6,500 0.1-150 150-165
Hungary Mako Sandstone 5,692 - 235
Kazakhstan Kashagan Carbonate 4,595-5,088 - 100
Norway Huldra ,Njord
Kristin,Kvitebjoern
Tune, Valemon
Victoria
Sandstone 4,090-7,380 50-1,000 121-200
Pakistan Miano, Sawan Sandstone 3,400 10-5,000 175
Saudi Arabia Andar,Shedgum
Uthmaniyah
Hawiyah,Haradh
Tinat, Midrikah
Sandstone
and
carbonate
3,963-4,572 0.1-40 132-154
UK Braemar,Devenick
Dunbar,Elgin
Franklin,Glenelg
Judy, Jura, Kessog
Rhum, Shearwater
West Franklin
Sandstone 4,500-7,353 0.01-1,000 123-207
USA High Island Sandstone 4,833 - 177

6. Why oil companies like formate brines
They improve the profitability of HPHT gas field
developments
• Drill and complete faster and easier
• Improve well safety and reduce risk
• Maximise well performance
• Reduce the need for future well interventions
All simply from using a low-solids non-corrosive fluid

7. Low-solids fluids cut the costs of deep gas well
constructions by speeding up drilling operations
Cesium formate brine increases ROP by >100% in deep hard
rock drilling
Data from DOE Deep Trek project , see SPE 112731
Effect of Mud on Rate of Penetration
Carthage Marble with 7 Blade PDC Bit
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000
Weight on Bit (lbf)
RateofPenetration(ft/hr)
Water
16ppg OBM
16ppg CsFm
16ppg OBM + Mn

8. Cesium formate brine
• Cesium formate dissolved in water
• Density up to 19.2 ppg/143 pcf
• Non-toxic
• Safe to handle, pH 9-10
• Little or no risk to the environment
• Non-corrosive
• Minimizes formation damage
Cesium formate
2.3 s.g.

9. • Cabot founded in 1882
• Headquarters in Boston, USA
• Operates 39 plants in 20 countries
• Approximately 4,200 employees
• 2008 sales of $ 3.2 billion
Cesium formate brine manufactured by a
division of Cabot Corporation

10. Fuel cells
Security
NEW
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
SPECIALTY
FLUIDS
CORE SEGMENT
Cabot Corporation
The four divisions
Rubber
blacks
Supermetals
FMO PPBG
Catalyst
Inkjet
www.gilletvertigo.com
Nanogel
Solar

11. Cabot produces cesium formate brine at
Lake Bernic in Canada from pollucite ore
Pollucite ore
Cs0.7Na0.2Rb0.04Al0.9Si2.1O6·(H20)
• Mined at Bernic Lake, Manitoba
• Processed on site to Cs formate brine
• Cs formate brine production 700 bbl/month
• Brine stocks > 30,000 bbl

12. Cesium formate brines used in 253 deep HPHT
gas wells since 1999
Drilling, completion, workover and suspension fluids
• At densities up to SG 2.25 (18.7 ppg or 140.2 pcf)
• At BHST up to 235oC (450oF)
• For periods of up 2 years dowhole (well suspensions)
• In sandstone and carbonate reservoirs, 0.01 mD up to 4 Darcy
• Wide variety of completions – barefoot open hole, cased and
perforated, with sand screens and gravel packs

13. Cesium formate applications
253 jobs in 34 deep HPHT gas fields (see website for list)
• Drill-in - 35
• Completions - 130
- as a brine and in LSOBM formulations (98 pcf)
- outstanding as HPHT perforating kill pill (Visund, Braemar, Judy, Rhum)
• Workovers and miscellaneous – 88
Includes diverse uses:
- Long-term well suspension
- Well testing
- Stuck-pipe release pill (OBM drilling)
- Melting hydrate plugs

14. Cesium formate brine was first used in the world’s
largest HPHT gas field development – Elgin/Franklin
Also the deepest HPHT gas field in North Sea
B
Cesium formate brine used by TOTAL in
34 well construction operations in 8
deep gas fields in period 1999-2010

15. Use of cesium formate by TOTAL in the
Elgin/Franklin field November 1999 - present
18.2 ppg/136 pcf completion fluid in 8 wells
• UK North Sea
• World’s largest HPHT field
• Gas condensate reservoir
• 16,000 psi @ 20,000ft
• BHST 400oF
• 140,000 bbl/day of condensate
• 13 million m3 gas /day
• Brine left in wells for up to 24 months (well suspension)

16. Cost of renting 136 pcf Cs formate brine in
Elgin workovers
Elgin well
Total brine costs*
($, ’000)
G3 913
G4 830
G5 602
G6 879
G7 807
* Includes all brine rental, losses and reconditioning charges

17. Huldra field, HP/HT gas condensate
-BHST: 297oF
-TVD : 3,900 metres/12,795 ft
- Fluid density: 15.75 ppg/118 pcf
- 6 wells – 600 ft reservoir sections 5-7/8” at 45-55o
- 1–2,000 mD sandstone
-Open hole, wire wrapped screens
Justification for using formate
- Improve well control !
- Lower ECD
- Run completion in same fluid
- Low risk of screen plugging
- Shale stabilisation
- Lubricating
- Safe for crews
- Environmentally benign
2001 - Cesium formate brine first used by Statoil to drill
and complete 6 deep HPHT gas wells, offshore Norway
Operator had experienced kicks when using barite-weighted fluids

18. Economic benefits from the use of cesium formate
brine in deep gas field developments
“ a remarkable record of zero well control incidents in all 15
HPHT drilling operations and 20 HPHT completion operations”
Speed and safety
Better/safer drilling environment saves rig-time costs
- Stable hole: see LWD vs. WL calipers in shale
- Elimination of well control and stuck pipe incidents
- Good hydraulics, low ECD
- Good ROP in hard abrasive rocks

19. Economic benefits from use of cesium formate brine in
deep gas field developments
Speed and simplicity
Allowing faster and easier movements of tubulars and fluids
- Pipe and casing running speeds are faster
- Mud conditioning and flow-check times shorter
- Displacements simplified, and sometimes eliminated
(i.e. formate drilling fluid = formate completion fluid)
Quote by operator : “ Improved well economics by increasing trip speed”

20. Economic benefits from use of cesium formate brine in
deep gas field developments
Speed and simplicity. Getting it right first time
Faster completions
- Drill-in and completing with cesium
formate allows open hole completion
with screens
- Clean well bores mean no tool/seal
failures or blocked screens
- Completion time 50% lower than wells
drilled with OBM
Quote by operator : “ fastest HPHT completion operation ever performed in North Sea (12.7 days)”

21. Maximises well production - providing efficient delivery
of gas reserves (revenues)
Tune and Huldra fields – drilled and completed with formate brines
90% recovery of gas reserves (16-18 billion m3) produced in 7 to 8 years
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15
RecoveryofGasReserves(%)
Time since start-up (years)
Huldra
Tune
Source : Norwegian Petroleum Directorate- Fact Pages - November 2009

22. Maximises well production - providing efficient delivery
of condensate reserves (revenues)
Tune and Huldra fields – drilled and completed with formate brines
90% recovery of condensate reserves (3-5 million m3) produced in 4 to 6 years
Source : Norwegian Petroleum Directorate- Fact Pages - November 2009
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 5 10
RecoveryofCondensateReserves
(%)
Time since start-up (years)
Huldra
Tune

23. Economic benefits from the use of cesium formate
brine in deep gas field developments
“Using photoelectric factor and bulk density data, combined with resistivity measurements from both
the LWD drill pass and the ream pass, produces a very reliable and consistent net reservoir
definition.”
Good reservoir definition in cesium formate brine

24. Economic benefits from the use of cesium formate
brine in deep gas field developments
“Applying a conductive drilling fluid in all production wells drilled in a field also provides the possibility of running
high quality resistivity image logs (FMI). Extensive use of such logs provides the geo-modelers with detailed
information regarding structural dip, depositional environment, sedimentary features, facies, and geological
correlations.”
Good reservoir definition in cesium formate brine

25. Why oil companies like cesium formate brine
Cesium formate brine improves the profitability of HPHT
gas field developments
• Drill and complete faster and easier
• Improve well safety and reduce risk
• Maximise well performance
• Reduce the need for future well interventions
• Precise definition of reservoir and fractures

26. Key information about cesium formate brine in
one slide ......
• High-density clear brine – 98 to 143 pcf
• Advanced drilling,completion and workover fluid for
deep gas wells – available though all mud companies
• Improves economics of deep gas field developments
- Faster, simpler and safer well constructions
- Accelerated production of recoverable reserves
- Enhanced reservoir definition and imaging

27. BRINEWISE
A Tool for Pricing the Full Operational Costs,
Waste and HSE Risk of Completion Fluids
Formate presentation to LUKSAR – December 2009

28. BrineWise calculates the full cost of owning and using
high-density completion fluids
Prices the full operational costs, waste costs and the cost of “incidents”

29. How BrineWise compares the true cost of
completion fluid options
Cost of using fluid
(waste, time,
handover to
production etc.)
Fluid costs
(price per bbl)
+ =
Operational
Costs related
to fluid choice
Operational
Costs
+
HSE related
costs
=
Overall
fluid related
cost for well
HSE costs
Consent &
Transport +
Cost of HSE risk
(scenario based)
=
HSE related
costs related
to fluid
choice
Cost of using fluid
(waste, time,
handover to
production etc.)
Fluid costs
(price per bbl)
+ =
Operational
Costs related
to fluid choice
Cost of using fluid
(waste, time,
handover to
production etc.)
Fluid costs
(price per bbl)
+ =
Operational
Costs related
to fluid choice
Operational
Costs
+
HSE related
costs
=
Overall
fluid related
cost for well
HSE costs
Consent &
Transport +
Cost of HSE risk
(scenario based)
=
HSE related
costs related
to fluid
choice
HSE costs
Consent &
Transport +
Cost of HSE risk
(scenario based)
=
HSE related
costs related
to fluid
choice

30. COMPARATIVE
NORMAL
OPERATIONAL
COSTS COST OF HSE
RELATED RISK
COMPARATIVE
AVERAGE COST
PER WELL (taking
into account the
HSE risk)
COSTS AT RISK
FOR THE
ALTERNATIVES
COMPARATIVE
FLUID COSTS

31. BrineWise calculates four cost scenarios
0
1 000 000
2 000 000
3 000 000
4 000 000
5 000 000
6 000 000
Fluid costs only Normal operation
costs
Costs of an
incident w ith
small to average
consequences
Costs of an
incident w ith
larger than
average
consequences
US$
Cesium Formate Zinc Bromide

32. BrineWise – Key management benefits
BrineWise allows systematic cost comparison of the
consequences of using particular completion fluids
• Systematic fluid evaluation and costing incorporating :
- Fluid cost
- Operational costs
- HSE costs
- Incident-related costs
• Shows costs for all operational departments - including cost
consequences for production
 Best overall value (lowest cost) fluid option is clearly identified