April 2010

• Good fences make good seismic surveys

  Apache didn’t let a little thing like an international border get in the way of its data acquisition.

• Wood Group's Kieran Kavanagh tackles ultra-deepwater production challenges

  Moving into ultra-deepwater brings significant production challenges. Kieran Kavanagh is addressing some of those challenges through JIP work developing technology and industry standards and through his technology leadership role in Wood Group’s subsea engineering and integrity management companies.

• New tool allows better displacements prior to riser disconnect

  A newly developed means of displacing fluids in the riser allows for simplified disconnects that save time and money.

• The canary is in the riser

  Early miners in England took caged canaries into mines to warn of the presence of toxic gases. A 21st century version of this practice extends marine riser field life.

• Technology redefines integrity verification, monitoring of low-pressure isolation

  A customized isolation solution smoothes the way for the safe repair of a damaged riser in the UK sector of the North Sea.

• Petrovietnam looks for international opportunities

  While state-owned Petrovietnam is interested in developing reserves within Vietnam, the company is looking far beyond its borders for opportunities to add reserves. Dr. Do Van Hau, vice president, Petrovietnam, talks about his company’s history, its rapid growth, and its plans for expansion.

• Fractured reservoirs come alive with offset vector tile technology

  A new processing algorithm indicates fracture orientation.

• Cable-less seismic offers real-world advantages

  A new seismic acquisition system earns its spurs on the global stage. Three operators report their experiences.

• Increasing the relevance of surface seismic data in unconventional plays

  A new imaging system uniformly illuminates the subsurface.

• Elegant solution addresses deepwater dilemma

  DISCover a new acquisition and signal processing technique solves one of the most vexing problems of deepwater exploration — imaging both shallow and deepwater events with clarity.

• Optimal well placement improves heavy oil production

  In Colombia’s Girasol field, bed boundary mapping enables operators to accurately position horizontal wells on the first attempt, avoiding the need for sidetracks and reducing overall development costs.

• Building a sound and sustainable US energy policy

  The recent US energy crisis underscores the need for an energy policy. Though the conversation has shifted focus toward carbon legislation and carbon monetization, the need for a sound energy policy has not disappeared.

• Pressures, temperatures, erosion, logistics increase requirements for offshore stimulation

  For reliable stimulation in deepwater wells, downhole tools, surface equipment, and fluids must operate with maximum efficiency.

• US Demand For RC Proppants Promotes New Business

  Shale completions require increasing volumes of resin-coated sands, which has become a driver for new manufacturing facilities.

• Colombia comes courting

  The South American country is opening up massive areas for licensing.

• IM corrals critical data

  An SMi-sponsored conference, “E&P Information & Data Management 2010,” held in London in early February, served as a forum for discussing IM challenges. 

• EPA proposes to expand the mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting rule--PRODUCTION

• Polarcus Arctic 3D Seismic vessel ready--OFFSHORE

• Ensco plc sells jackup rig--OFFSHORE

• Challenges and solutions to well rate and performance visualization

  A monitoring tool enables operators to understand field performance without multiphase flow metering.

• Btw, the energy industry is all a-Twitter

  Social networking is not just for teens anymore. Companies and organizations are finding Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, YouTube, etc., to be useful marketing tools.

• Get those creative juices flowing!

  It’s hard to find oil in the minds of men when those minds are tired, pessimistic, and overworked.

• Inertial, north-seeking, continuous gyro improves drilling precision

  Gyro compassing tools are not affected by magnetic disturbances, yield repeatable results.

• Operators want a rig with a view

  Cameras on rigs provide drillers and investors with wellsite info and reduce site visits.

• Operations in Asia Pacific expand to take on deep water

  In an exclusive interview, Dave Hutchinson, president of Aker Solutions’ subsea business in Asia Pacific, talks about the company’s investments, major projects, and the strategic direction for the business in APAC.

• On the Move

  Who's going where in the upstream sector.

• Catalyst or Cassandra?

  The rhetoric is heating up as government officials continue to fuel energy fantasies.

• Reducing asset evaluation cycle times

  SMT, JewelSuite, CMG team up to provide a seismic-to-simulation workflow.

• Tech Trends

  April Tech Trends.

• Safe riser operations require real-time monitoring

  Riser reliability is critical to keeping deepwater operations safe and profitable. With information that provides pinpoint accuracy, the ‘best guess’ is no longer an acceptable method of assessing riser integrity.