Interesting new technology was everywhere you chose to look as the industry reacted to sunny weather in the oil patch.

Aberdeen in autumn can be lovely - or not. Fortunately, visitors to Offshore Europe 2003 were treated to some of the nicest weather seen in years. In fact, 2003 will be remembered as the summer the Sun God smiled on Scotland. As a result, the venerable oil show had to compete with lots of distractions, posed by the many fine golf courses dotting Aberdeenshire. But, more importantly, there was no lack of companies with exciting new technology to introduce. I say more importantly because the old oil patch has been toiling mightily to take advantage of high demand for oil and gas, with its accompanying high prices. This translates into high demand for more efficient ways to drill for and produce hydrocarbons. As usual, the service and supply sector is rising to the occasion.

Innovations and innovative ideas were to be found everywhere. We learned of exciting new technology at the show and at company bases around town. Among those we found particularly interesting were those of The Expro Group, Baker Oil Tools (BOT) and M-I SWACO. Aberdeen's Expro Group, and their team members Tronic and QuantX (a joint-venture with Baker Hughes), are positioning themselves as "The Intervention Company." Besides their North Sea and Gulf of Mexico powerbases, the company is expanding into Trinidad, Iran, China and Oman. Key growth technologies include rigless intervention, optical subsea connections, deepwater landing strings, as well as Brownfield services including well cleaning and slickline. In China the company is using their TCP technology on 60 wells in Bohai Bay with locally-built gun carriers and charges manufactured to US specifications in Singapore. The lion is roaring.
Near the Convention Center at their Murcar facility, BOT put on an impressive display of sand control services featuring their expandable screen technology. They also exhibited their multilateral junction technology, and inflatable service tools. BOT expandables feature top-down swage-type expansion, and also an expandable packer that shuts off annular flow around the screen. The expandable screen/packer combination centers the completion in the wellbore to eliminate the high-side annulus that allows erosional flow across the outer surface of the screen. On the multilateral side, the company's Hook Hanger system provides mechanical support for TAML Level 3, 4 and 5 completions. It is extremely versatile with applications in simple cemented junctions as well as smart well completions, stackable lateral branches and dual string completions.

New solids control equipment too large for the exhibition hall was demonstrated nearby at SWACO's Murcar base. The new equipment functions as a system to substitute for the costly and somewhat risky "skip and ship" technique. With SWACO's system, solids are captured at the shakers, treated and pumped directly to batteries of hopper tanks on the rig or on a workboat. The material can be shuttled to a shore-based treatment and disposal facility without ever seeing the light of day.

Some truly outstanding technology could be seen at the exhibition. The new Real-Time Zone was a popular focal point, and provided an opportunity to experience the value of real-time translation of millions of bytes of data into actionable information. Dominated by Halliburton's decisionarium display, where visitors could imagine actual workflow processes in a realistic environment, the zone contained about a dozen software and communications company exhibits that complemented the area's theme.
Schlumberger exhibited a large number of innovations targeted for the North Sea. Their new slim hole rotary steerable systems (RSS) offer great promise for Brownfield development. In fact, one of the more interesting papers described how the ability to steer wellbores through multiple targets has made many previously uneconomical prospects viable. During the show, an agreement was signed between BP, Shell UK and Schlumberger to jointly develop a 31/8-in RSS over the next two years, giving us something to look forward to for Offshore Europe 2005.

Varco put on their usual impressive display of rig automation and safety equipment. One of the company's newest acquisitions, Aberdeen's own Elmar, displayed a new wireline winch and its associated high-pressure grease tube unit.

After spending many Septembers at Offshore Europe, it must be said that there have been several notable improvements. One of the most beneficial was the efficient pre-registration system, where anyone who wanted one could get a badge in advance, avoiding the long queues of the past. There was a greater number of fast food outlets with a wider variety of choices than ever before, and no doubt helped by the perfect weather, they did a brisk business. A well-run new Press Centre, sponsored by The Press and Journal was more centrally located and provided a good program of scheduled press conferences.
The new conference center provided a very good venue for some excellent papers and topical panel discussions, which is at least 50% of the reason people come to technical conventions-that, and to get out of the blazing sun!