The Relative Geologic Time (RGT, or Age) Volume has the potential to provide a significant step increase in the amount and detail of useful stratigraphic and structural information extracted from... more

When visualization centers were touted as the new interpretation tool late in the 1990s, big curved screens driven by supercomputers allowed asset teams to meet and view 3-D and related... more

Recently, one large oil company estimated that reliance on spreadsheets and lack of integration among engineering tools consumed as much as 70% of its production engineers' time on routine data... more

Armed, as most of us are, with perfect 20/20 hindsight, how many times have we looked at a situation and thought, "If only we had done things differently..." Unfortunately this... more

A uniquely engineered invert emulsion reservoir drill-in fluid is credited with helping increase production rates as high as three-fold in the Alpine field of the Alaskan North Slope. Earlier wells drilled... more

The challenge of developing a water-based mud as a viable alternative for oil- or synthetic-based emulsion mud has presented itself to the drilling fluids industry for decades. Baker Hughes Drilling... more

A company that drills wells and tries to beat its previous performance in terms of cost, drilling speed and success in reaching its objective will improve its operations. It uses... more

Oil and gas companies continually look to improve well construction performance, maximize production levels, and maintain or improve safety and environmental standards, while at the same time striving to decrease... more

As a major offshore subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) contractor Stolt Offshore has interests in all types of offshore riser systems. It has acquired unique knowledge and experience in... more

As water depth increases, current forces, external pressure and longer riser system lengths require thicker, heavier components to limit the stress. In addition, larger spacing between the risers is critical... more

The PS3 tool is used for non-intrusive seismic sensing on high flowrate (greater than 30,000 b/d) wells. The tool is tubing conveyed and designed for strong coupling to the formation... more

A new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) wireline logging tool eliminates the need for multiple passes through zones of interest as required by conventional NMR systems. Called the MRX, for Magnetic... more

Equal partners Wintershall and RWE-DEA are planning to install a new export pipeline capable of carrying 1 million tonnes of oil a year from the Mittelplate field - Germany's biggest... more

NORTH AMERICA Orion Energy Partners LLC has been formed by former Tom Brown Inc. executives including Jim Lightner, Tom Dyk, Dan Blanchard, Doug Harris and Rod Mellott. SPS International appointed... more

Cleaning specialist Total Reclaim Systems (TRS) in Aberdeen is introducing new technology that avoids the need to put personnel into the pits to do this dirty work. If application of... more

1. The US Minerals Management Service published its notice for Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 194. The sale is scheduled for March 16, 2005 in New Orleans, La., and... more

1. Cimarex Energy Co., Denver, Colo., continues its ties with California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger with yet another wildcat named after one of his movies. In this case, the 1-3 Kindergarten... more

1. Total launched development plans for its 3/15a-9 Forvie North gas condensate discovery drilled in 2002 and the nearby Jura accumulations with up to six wells. Total's environmental impact assessment... more

1. Sonatrach has been awarded a package of three licenses covering six blocks on and offshore Algeria, an official told Ogilvie's Africa Oil & Gas. The permits involve six blocks... more

1. State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) plans to increase production from its Tomoporo field in Trujillo state in western Venezuela by 16,000 b/d of oil by drilling... more

1. Toreador Resources Corp. of Dallas, Texas, plans to drill the Calgan-1 exploratory well on its onshore Calgan prospect in southern Turkey. The company said the 4,000-ft (1,220-m), US $900,000... more

1. Australia's Woodside Energy has signed a memorandum of co-operation with Iraq's Oil Ministry covering the evaluation of potential oil and gas projects and human resource development in Kurdistan. Under... more

1. Smedvig has been awarded a letter of intent by Malaysia's state-owned Petronas Carigali for production drilling offshore Malaysia with the self-erecting tender rig Teknik Berkat. The contract has a... more

The primary aim of the digital oil field is to optimize the production of existing wells in the context of an overall reservoir performance plan that is tied to business... more

The Falkland Islands have been relatively quiet since the sparring between the United Kingdom and Argentina 22 years ago. But that's about to change. "It is just coming to a head... more

Everyone picks on the drilling operation. It's too expensive. It takes too long. It's the most expensive part of the well system, and the boss wants me to cut costs. Well... more

The traditional Achilles heel of the world gas business has been aligning supplies with markets. This month, in honor of our special supplement on the Russian petroleum industry, I asked... more

Inwell has recently drilled three-directional wells for a client in the Four Corners area of New Mexico from a small drilling pad located in the southwest corner of the lease,... more

I have often complained in these pages about the emerging personnel crisis in our industry. I have also urged that companies begin addressing the situation. Well, one, at least, has.... more

Our industry wished for better times, more demand, higher oil and gas prices, and guess what, we got it. For awhile most didn't believe these prices could be sustained, but... more

The other day I came across a photo of my granddad, Louis Pearce Sr., my predecessor as president and chief executive officer of TIW. In the picture he is gazing... more