September 2009

• Malaysia moves into deepwater spotlight

  In an exclusive interview, Wee Yiaw Hin, managing director of Shell Malaysia Exploration & Production, discusses the company’s presence in Malaysia and the groundwork being laid for the future.

• Digital rock physics bridges scales of measurement

  New sampling techniques bring field-size tests into the laboratory.

• Data integration aids in shale plays

  Combining standard petrophysical measurements with new rock physics observations can help characterize unconventional reservoirs.

• Rock physics unlocks reservoir characterization, monitoring

  Interpreting the changes in seismic signature for time-lapse monitoring requires a rock physics model that can handle stress changes.

• Best practices emerging for ERD wells

  Once again, experience proves to be the best teacher as operators find success at the end of a long string.

• Multilateral wells come from Russia, with love

  Multilateral technology is undergoing a renaissance as operators and service companies learn how to use it to improve production while saving money.

• Multilaterals lower development costs in challenging gas plays

  Multilateral completions have strong economic potential in unconventional gas developments.

• ‘Breaking new ground’ in an unconventional play

  A new study is combining the benefits of multistage fracturing with the additional data gained from time-lapse seismic.

• New approach maximizes horizontal fracturing investment

  Multizone completion technology and best stimulation practices minimize economic and environmental impacts, especially in horizontal wells.

• Decommissioning and Abandonment: Coordination ensures decommissioning success

  Precise planning, careful project and contract management, and a positive working environment enable successful well abandonment in the North Sea.

• Integrated services aid in platform decommissioning

  Despite some rather inclement weather, a platform is successfully removed from the GoM.

• Unconventional approach unlocks unconventional gas play

  The Haynesville shale play has become the focal point for North American gas production, given the relatively sustained activity when compared to other regions and the Gulf Mexico. As a result, the service sector has focused on developing performance and knowledge of this unconventional shale.

• New shale play takes flight

  A fresh Cretaceous shale play in South Texas has slipped into the industry’s future.

• Wood Group awarded 11.2 million contract by Pemex

• Survey to map Brazil’s presalt

  New multiclient surveys are imaging the next major discoveries.

• Adapting to change ensures survival

  For those of us who are older than 40, the Web is a tool we use to do our jobs. It is not, however, the lifeline for us that it is for the under-35 crowd.

• Make better decisions through virtualization

  Having multiple petro-technical applications on a single workstation, even when they run on different operating systems, can ease the collaborative burden in today’s upstream space.

• Downhole headlights

  A new seismic-while-drilling system is the first to provide real-time data.

• In search of the oily grail

  Formation fluid sampling may finally have hit the mark.

• Is it time to look for career options?

  Changing jobs is about more than money.

• On the Move

• The famous valve myth lives on

  Extreme oversimplification continues to infect the minds of otherwise intelligent people — who controls production?

• Petroleum systems modeling in exploration

  Modeling aids in predicting petroleum occurrence, volumes, and composition and helping to quantify exploration risk.

• CT technology holds key to UCG

  Underground coal gasification extends coal reserves.

• Tech Trends

  A look at September tech trends

• Stop the war on the poor

  If the Waxman-Markey bill is passed into law, it will have devastating effects on working Americans.