Steel catenary risers (SCRs) have been an attractive choice for recent deepwater field developments. However, design standard SCRs for large motion vessels face two major challenges. SCRs are an attractive... more

Shell technicians investigate the effect of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) on cylinders and discover some benefits along the way. Don Allen and Dean Henning were working at the US Navy's Surface... more

An in-depth analysis gave Anadarko the confidence it needed to acquire acreage in the eastern Gulf of Mexico basin. An understanding of the regional geological framework of the Eastern Gulf of... more

Combining data such as gravity, magnetics and satellite imagery with seismic, well and reservoir information can aid in exploration and development activities. Hydrocarbon exploration is entering a new phase in its... more

Several North Sea fields anticipate extended treatment life and reduced oil deferments. Three subsea oil production giants are trying to unlock the full potential of the reservoir. Over the past 5... more

Field automation means fewer failures, less downtime and more efficient use of personnel. XTO Energy is a domestic producer with a history of acquiring properties where technology can be used to... more

Understanding what centrifuges really do with drilling fluids and solids can prevent common mistakes and improve mud quality. Having been involved with drilling fluid technology for more than 40 years, I... more

Best described as a cross between foam and micelles, aphron-based drilling fluids can control fluid loss in mature reservoirs, enabling operators to reach total depth in productive zones beneath them. A... more

The Caspian Sea is going through rapid and sometimes painful growth as nations attempt to balance costs with ambitious plans. The Caspian Sea region, including the marine area and the... more

E-business solutions and operations control centers make it easy for customers to collaborate with experts at Baker Hughes. BakerHughesDirect is the interactive and secure portion of the Baker Hughes Web site... more

Shell is taking four-column semisubmersible platform designs to opposite ends of the earth to exploit deep and extreme harsh environments. Shell has picked another semisubmersible to see off its Nakika development... more

NORTH AMERICA EnCana Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, sold its 10% share of the Syncrude project to Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. for approximately US $750.5 million (Cdn $1.07 billion). EnCana... more

An off-the-shelf design system is seeking to streamline the process of designing and building offshore production units. Verification and certification agency Det Norske Veritas and Intergraph Corp. (the US process, power... more

Opportunities tempered by boundary disputes and infrastructure requirements. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Caspian basin has been viewed as an increasingly attractive option for Western investors... more

1. Oxy Resources California LLC, Tupman, Calif., completed its 1 Jackson et al new field discovery in San Joaquin County, Calif., for 1.2 MMcf/d of gas from perforations between 6,384... more

1. Shell has enough confidence in its Great White deepwater discovery in Alaminos Canyon 813 that it plans a standalone development and potentially a hub-class development. The Great White structure... more

1. EnCana UK spudded a new exploration well on the Squirrel prospect near its Buzzard oil development with the Sedco 714 semisubmersible. EnCana and partners began drilling on the 20/7a-D well... more

1. ChevronTexaco, through its Colombian Texas Petroleum Co. subsidiary, signed an agreement with Colombia's Ecopetrol that continues a market for Colombian natural gas through the Catalina project through 2016. The... more

1. First Calgary Petroleum drilled one potential success and one dry hole in Algeria. On Block 405b, the company is production testing the MLE-2 gas well and said it is... more

1. A consortium led by Japan's Japex has hit success on a second well in the Caspian Sea offshore Azerbaijan. The Japanese Azerbaijan Oil Co., which includes Itochu and Inpex,... more

1. Occidental recently extended the deadline for the submission of bids to build gas processing facilities for its Block 9 concession onshore Oman. The US $60 million engineering, procurement and... more

1. ExxonMobil started production from the Bintang gas field offshore Terengganu, Malaysia. The field is expected to produce around 1 Tcf of gas at a peak rate of 355 MMcf/d... more

Research and regulations are vying for supremacy as noise pollution in the Gulf of Mexico is debated. What must those poor whales be thinking? After being tagged and studied in recent... more

Shaving off unnecessary features was an idea proposed by William Occam in the 15th century. Today, Occam's razor can still generate benefits. Everybody should cut unnecessary costs. That much is... more

Production optimization is the holy grail. Only problem is, no one knows what a grail looks like. Ask many of the exhibitors lining the aisles of the 2003 Offshore Technology Conference... more

Fifty-one years ago, American Exploration Co.'s Mark Edwin Andrews wrote in his A Wildcatter's Handbook: To some men, sport is golf, to some fishing, yachting, horse racing or hunting. To each... more

Catalog search capability helps oil and gas companies make sense of the mass of legacy and new information in their files. Restricted data availability, difficult access and uncertain quality mean additional... more

A good relationship with your boss is usually required to be promoted and even just to remain employed. Unfortunately, there are many ways to get cross-threaded. I contacted people to... more