June 2012

• Downhole systems & tools revolutionize incrementally

  The spectrum is wide for advanced downhole systems. More than created ‘as new,’ drilling technology has improved in small steps.

• Minister on a mission

  The UK's Minister of State for Trade and Investment is under no illusion about the need for his nation's energy industry to expand its global upstream activities while also ensuring new investment is attracted into Britain's maturing offshore sector to keep its home fires burning.

• The cost of 20K by 2020 – a price worth paying

  The task of developing the equipment and capability to safely produce oil and gas at 20,000 psi in deep water, with greater pressures and higher temperatures, is a challenge that BP is up for.

• Cost effectiveness requires science and execution excellence

  A statistical approach has been successful in shale plays. As the gas surplus continues, combining upfront integrated analysis and execution management is essential.

• Social, environmental issues can play havoc with shale plays

  Transparency goes a long way to answering stakeholder concerns. Failure to address any one of these aspects could cause unforeseen difficulties that can lead to a costly learning experience.

• Mississippi Lime moves into mainstream oil production in two years

  Operators, including majors, are beginning to move into the Mississippi Lime play in Kansas, while an emerging horizontal Woodford play in Oklahoma is adding to the attraction.

• Pacific potential exists offshore Colombia

  Colombia's hydrocarbons agency is looking to establish a new frontier in a previously little-explored area off its west coast in the country's latest licensing round.

• Mirroring opportunities across the Atlantic

  A glance through any article on South America's upstream activity in recent times will almost certainly throw up the usual suspects – Brazil,Venezuela, and Colombia. But the continent's northeast margin also is being viewed by an increasing number of oil companies as the next 'big thing.'

• Escape from the unconventional treadmill

  A contrarian strategy of investing in conventional assets has its advantages.

• Integrated petrophysical uncertainty evaluation impacts reservoir models

  Propagating uncertainty from well logs to production forecasts enables quantification of its effect on other subsurface measurements.

• Hybrid system takes drilling in new direction

  Technology blends features of RSS and mud motors to optimize drilling in low buildup-rate wells.

• Greater intelligence requires greater integration

  For all the commentary on intelligent oil fields and 'smart' well-based operations, operators are still struggling to access all the information they need on their subsea operations and subsea well performance.

• Alternative conveyance techniques optimize logging in unconventionals

  Openhole logging is a well-established means by which E&P companies better understand reservoirs and determine where and how to complete their wells.

• New-generation hole-enlargement tools improve drilling efficiency

  Proper reamer selection proves to bolster drilling efficiency in directional applications.

• An uplifting experience: Buoyancy advances for ultra-deep water

  With drilling companies soon to be exploring in 3,500 m water depth and far beyond within the next five years, the challenge of dealing with the deployment of increasingly heavy weights for risers and moorings – often in high currents – has demanded radical advances in terms of product design and materials technology for the offshore industry.

• Protecting today's SCADA systems with a 'defense-in-depth' strategy

  With increasing cyberattacks on production facilities and pipelines, operators must be proactive in defending SCADA systems.

• Finger on the pulse

  Being able to directly monitor the tensions being experienced by mooring lines in situ and in real time on a floating production unit or mobile offshore drilling unit gives vessel operators the full picture when it comes to how their fleets are performing on location.

• The offshore industry is booming

• There's more to system security than just security

  Integrating 'health factor' analysis and measurement into the development cycle ensures that quality and security can be built into software.

• Oman increases oil production with wireless solution

  Advanced wireless network equipment increases production while maintaining security and cutting infrastructure costs.

• Methane hydrate test successful

  DOE project probes the fossil fuel industry's "final frontier."

• These aren't your grandfather's tools

  From the drill bit to the top drive, tool strings are more advanced than ever.

• Managing change requires an integrated platform

  The proliferation of innovations within and outside the industry has been dizzying. It is easier to keep up when companies have flexible options.

• International Highlights

• On The Move

• Spar platforms designed for North Atlantic deepwater field

  Although a spar platform is used for offloading in the Brent field, this will be the first deepwater spar production platform in the Norwegian Sea.

• Tech Trends

• SPI gels improve mobility control in COenhanced recovery

  A new SPI gel system offers a promising solution to the conformance problem with COfloods.