A confident approach to exploration and development has paved the way for the first of several barn-burning fields offshore Angola. Block 17 offshore Angola seems to be a classic overachiever. Operator... more

A recent oil discovery shifts the focus of exploration to Angola's southern deepwater shelf. The deepwater Kwanza Basin is set to become Angola's next exciting play area following the recent announcement... more

Two world records for completions have been achieved - one in a horizontal well, and one in an extended-reach well. Halliburton Energy Services recently set a world record with the successful... more

Rotary steerable tools have vastly improved drilling performance and hole quality in directional, extended-reach and designer profile wells. Recent advances in geosteering have made it possible to drill and complete... more

Independents are drilling deeper than the Austin Chalk to tap the Buda, Georgetown and Glen Rose formations, which have many similarities to the chalk formation. Independent oil companies are working hard... more

Though relatively simple, rod-actuated pumping systems are sensing some high-tech surges in control equipment. Automating beam-pumping systems across entire fields has been a somewhat elusive goal through the years, even... more

The ability to control well flow from anywhere signals another milestone in the evolution of total field and reservoir optimization. The petroleum industry is entering the era of intelligent well... more

Three case histories show that big IT projects do add to the bottom line. I had the opportunity to moderate a June session on supply chain integration at the eProCom conference... more

Subsea processing without the need for topsides is the Holy Grail for operators. For 6 months, a suite of hydraulic submersible multiphase pumps has been operating in Texaco's Captain field in... more

Australia's Greater Sunrise gas field could use Shell-tested floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology in the Timor Sea. Shell has proposed using a floating LNG plant to bring the Greater Sunrise... more

IntercontinentalExchange promoted Rafael Pirutinsky to senior vice president. Stephanie Trabia has been appointed vice president, oil products marketing. Joseph Adevai has been appointed vice president, natural gas products marketing. OFS... more

1. Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has started a 46-sq mile (120-sq km) exploration program seeking gas in eastern Mexico's Veracruz Basin. The contractor for the $11,000 (100,000-peso) project is Seismograph de... more

1. Vector Energy Corp. tested three recent wells at its Mustang Island Block 818-L production facility. The No. A-1 well tested 600 Mcf/d of gas, 30 b/d of condensate and... more

1. Drilling has begun on the western extension to the Heather field operated by DNO Heather. The area may contain between 60 million and 220 million additional barrels of oil... more

1. TotalFinaElf (TFE) will drill one more appraisal well on its deepwater Moho/Bilondo project off Congo Brazzaville before deciding whether to go ahead with a floating production, storage and offloading... more

1. Colombia's Ecopetrol will offer its first offshore licenses soon as it increases emphasis on gas exploration and production. Eight blocks are scheduled for production-sharing agreements. Reportedly, TotalFinaElf is close... more

1. Salyan Oil has tested oil at a rate of 949 b/d at Qarabagli field southwest of Baku onshore. The company drilled the well to 19,959 ft (3,950 m) at... more

1. A new oil field with potential reserves of 12.5 billion bbl of oil has been discovered in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates - the first oil discovery in... more

1. ExxonMobil has resumed operations in the Indonesian province of Aceh after a shutdown since March 9 caused by sabotage by the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that damaged pipelines... more

The roundtable discussion becomes virtual as petrophysicists and geophysicists continue to debate the need for interdisciplinary communication. In July I offered up a few tidbits of the roundtable discussion that ran... more

Tubular manufacturers are finding synergies in mergers and joint ventures. NKK and Kawasaki Steel have entered a memorandum of understanding with the intention of combining their steel-making operations, including oil country... more

Higher costs and more remote locations make "We're all in this together" a clarion call for future asset development. In the face of mounting financial pressures to reduce finding and producing... more

It is hard to know where to start. The World Trade Center is a mass of rubble, one side of the Pentagon is a smoldering wreck, and on the day... more

Crisis situations call for a readiness plan and emergency solutions. It is inevitable. Disaster does strike in the industry, and though no one wants to encounter potential tragedy, emergency situations call... more

Sometimes it's not enough to discover and produce gas. Sometimes a company has to create the market for it, too. That's what Noble Affiliates subsidiary EDC Ecuador had to do to... more

With its enormous energy resources, Russia should be a major center of foreign investment - but it is not. A cumbersome bureaucracy, an immature market and, in many regions, a... more