April 2008

• Redefining subsea architecture

  An innovative, multipurpose subsea boosting system becomes a powerful tool in the development of subsea tiebacks. The flexible design is adaptable to the operator’s other assets.

• Optimize subsea system design

  Employing an integrated engineering approach will allow the full impact of each solution proposed to be understood and enable optimization of the most feasible solution.

• A breakthrough in subsea multiphase pumping

  Multiple subsea production records were set with the King field development in the US Gulf of Mexico. Now, the industry has new potential to increase oil production from deepwater fields.

• Dredging up new methods of subsea excavation

  Traditional modes of subsea excavation — sleds, plows or crews of divers — are used to install pipelines or to decommission storm-damaged production facilities. They can be cumbersome and time-consuming. A new method of excavation provides similar results 10 times as fast.

• First FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico

  Will FPSOs be useful in the ultra-deep water of the US Gulf of Mexico? One operator intends to answer this question first-hand.

• Run control lines safely and reduce NPT

  An innovative method of running control lines in deep water can improve safety and reduce NPT.

• They’re at it again

  Can geophysical contractors conduct massive non-exclusive surveys without repeating past mistakes?

• Is Jack worth a WAZ investment?

  Chevron has undertaken a wide-azimuth seismic survey at the subsalt Jack asset in the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s the value case.

• Logistics meeting behind-the-scenes challenges

  Worldwide competition for equipment to extract, produce and transport energy is intense. Easily accessible fields are being exhausted, and high energy prices are making developments in remote locations more viable.

• Catastrophe brings opportunity

  Rebuilding service facilities on the US Gulf Coast following hurricanes Rita and Katrina presented enormous challenges and, at the same time, opened the door for improvement.

• Building for speed

  The crewboat and supply boat sector of the offshore industry is as constrained as the mobile offshore drilling unit segment. Demand is high, availability is scarce and there is a global need for additional vessels.

• Pioneering integrated services in India

  After three years of “integrated services” experience with six mobile offshore drilling rigs, a Transocean Inc. subsidiary has achieved successes in operational efficiency and improved safety offshore India.

• Full wave seismic analyzes reservoir

  Multicomponent seismic techniques characterize lithology and fracture patterns in a tight gas reservoir in China.

• Integrated workflows solve Chinese puzzle

  Violent volcanic eruption in the Pacific ring of fire has created some of the most complex geology on earth. The best efforts of petrophysicists and engineers are required to evaluate the hydrocarbon reservoirs in the region.

• Gas spurs Douala Basin exploration

  Independents chase gas in a revival of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea activity.

• North Sea breeds innovation

  As output from the North Sea region’s largest producers has slowed in recent years, an erroneous notion has developed that the North Sea is in irreversible decline. Nothing could be further from the truth.

• The view from inside

  An “insider” look at this or that is one of the oldest dodges in the magazine business. It’s usually a promise of only-we-know information obtained from only-we-can-reach-them sources.

• Addressing the challenges of subsea fiber optics

  A new organization responds to the need for rapid and cohesive development of a crucial enabling technology.

• Integrated operations expands collaboration

  Integrated operations (IO) could be the key to meeting many challenges facing the oil and gas industry, including the search for new reserves, the need to produce reservoirs more efficiently and safely, and the struggle to recruit and retain personnel.

• Before Gloria Steinem

  An old article reminds us how far we’ve come.

• The light at the beginning of the tunnel

  Fiber laser technology is coming to the oil field, initially through special-purpose applications.

• Coordinate FPSO project contracts

  The complex contracting and logistics chain requires careful integration.

• Moving from investment to operational mode

  Sophisticated financial accounting software reaches down to the small and mid-sized operator.

• News and Analysis

  April news and analysis.

• There are no red carpets to the rig floor

  You’ve never seen the likes of James Dean, Bruce Willis or Daniel Day-Lewis working on a rig floor, but Hollywood does rely on drillers and roughnecks to provide interesting characters for cinematic storytelling.

• On the Move

  Who's going where in the upstream sector.

• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

  Cooperation and collaboration enabled by technology are changing the face of the industry.

• Integrated geomechanics

  Hess, WesternGeco and Schlumberger apply a multidisciplinary technique to resolve complex challenges affecting future reservoir development in the Danish North Sea.

• Tech Trend briefs

  April tech trends.

• Self delusion

  The newspapers lately have been full of doom and gloom.