New pressure-activated sealants help operators stop pesky leakage in subsea wellbore and control systems. Despite dramatic advances in subsea engineering capabilities, the pressures and temperatures in increased water depths create... more

A new coiled-tubing-activated straddle acidizing packer system tackles water problems around the world. Production from hydrocarbon-bearing zones invariably leads to associated water production that increases as the field matures. In fact,... more

A new fishing service tackles the junk problem in wellbores, helping to avoid sidetracks and workovers. A new through-tubing system helps clear difficult junk- and sand-blocked wellbores that until now have... more

Intelligent wells aren't routine yet, but industry acceptance is growing. So often the oil industry comes up with a great new idea - often with a great name to match... more

A major company took its time to select the most appropriate intelligent completion system for the job. Well economics put more pressure than ever on decision-making during well design. Intelligent... more

Completion engineers are controlling production without leaving the office. Talked to your reservoir lately? Using satellites and fiber-optic cables to communicate with multiple pay zones, Petrobras' Well Automation Group (WAG) has... more

Large offshore reservoirs continue to attract floating production units, but gas will push into this oil-dominated territory. Mild operating environments, remote locations and deepwater fields make floating production, storage and offloading... more

New, large offshore discoveries open the way for floating production units throughout the world. Most of the near future floating projects focus on West Africa or Brazil, where great water depth... more

It will be some time before floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels find a home in the Gulf of Mexico. Regulatory barriers to the deployment of FPSOs in the Gulf... more

NORTH AMERICA Hornbeck-Leevac Marine Services Inc.'s first-quarter revenues increased 118% to US $22.7 million, compared to $10.4 million for the same quarter in 2001. The company attributed its revenue growth... more

Internet job search sites are faster and cheaper than the want ads. But this medium can do more. Think of it as human supply-chain management. The Internet is an important... more

The Single Line Offset Riser (SLOR) concept soon will debut through an ExxonMobil project off West Africa. Riser design specialists 2H Offshore, based in London, England, and Houston, Texas, soon will... more

NORTH AMERICA EnCana Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, officially grew out of the merger of PanCanadian Energy Corp. and Alberta Energy Co. The company gets a kick start on its new... more

As gas becomes a bigger part of the energy mix, companies are planning more major pipelines to form bigger energy bridges. From Florida to the North Sea, new pipelines are... more

NORTH AMERICA Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco named the following members of the management team that will take office after completion of their proposed merger: Philip L. Fredrickson, executive vice... more

1. Calgary junior Tartan Energy Inc. plans a 170-well development drilling program targeting shallow Pliocene Etchegoin formations between 200 ft (61 m) and 2,200 ft (671 m) in Lost Hills... more

1. Cheniere Energy Inc. sold reserves in West Cameron Block 49 for US $2.35 million. The company made the two discoveries in 1999. According to the company, production had declined... more

1. Amerada Hess completed drilling with the Glomar Arctic IV on the Barbara prospect. The 23/16c-8 well was spudded in April. Upon completion, the rig went off contract, and the... more

1. BHP Billiton, as operator with BG Group, Talisman Energy and TotalFinaElf, landed a production-sharing contract with Trinidad and Tobago for offshore Block 3(a), some 25 miles (40 km) off... more

1. Nigeria is enjoying yet another deepwater oil discovery. The Scarabeo 7 semisubmersible drilled TotalFinaElf's Usan-1 well in OPL 222 in 1,805-ft (550-m) waters. The well was drilled north of the... more

1. Amity Oil Co. and TPAO of Turkey plan a third-quarter well to test a new onshore prospect with the potential to produce 30 Bcf of gas from the Thrace... more

1. Iraq and Indonesia will jointly explore and develop Iraq's Western Desert Block 3, 120 miles (193 km) northwest of Baghdad. "We signed an exploration contract for Block 3 in... more

1. Matrix Oil faces expensive work on its floating production, storage and offloading development on the Langsa technical assistance contract area in Indonesia's Malacca Strait. Downhole problems continue, but the... more

Sometimes it makes you wonder why we can't all just get along. Service companies and consultants are taking tentative steps in that direction. Throughout my years at Hart, I periodically have... more

Drilling fluid companies have developed a variety of formulations for different drilling situations. For every well there is a reason, and a fluid for every purpose under heaven, or rather,... more

Stripper production is increasingly dependent on new technology. Reacting to the energy bill debate in US Congress and the conflicts in the Middle East, a flurry of mainstream news reports on... more

The lights went out the other night at my house. The rapid plunge into near-total darkness - a shock in today's era of stray-light illuminated nights - was preceded by... more

This is part three of a three-part series examining perceptions of the challenges and opportunities women face in forging a career in the oil patch. The information was collected through... more

Substantial discoveries draw explorers to Vietnam. BP, Conoco, Unocal and Talisman have discovered treasures offshore Vietnam that will help provide energy to a hungry Southeast Asia. BP has staked its claim on... more

We are awake! The last thing we need is a lawyer telling us what our duties and obligations are toward human civilization ("A geoscience wakeup call," May 2002, p. 112).... more