E&P Magazine - January 2008
As I See It
Bonga manages intervention tasks
Intervention philosophy and innovation deliver significant savings in cost and time to a major Nigerian project.
Make operations, maintenance hum
High oil prices don't simplify oil and gas operations complexity.
Manage Gulf of Mexico decommissioning
Decommissioning focus adds profits.
Manage the oil and gas marketplace
Risks, relationships and resources hold the key to successful operations.
Open innovation expands technology
New contacts in new industries spark better applications of technology in the oil field.
Simulation improves decisions
Integrated simulation programs enhance strategic decision-making.
What, me worry?
There seems to be a lot to worry about these days, particularly in the energy department.
Cover Story
Exploration Technologies
The missing link
New visualization software unravels more of the seismic interpretation puzzle.
Drilling Technologies
CPD shrinks NPT
Controlled-pressure drilling encompasses managed-pressure and underbalanced techniques to mitigate hazards that cause non-productive time.
CPD shrinks NPT
Controlled-pressure drilling encompasses managed-pressure and underbalanced techniques to mitigate hazards that cause non-productive time.
Swiss army knife goes downhole
A small tool does several things well.
The cost of doing business
Service company prices are higher today for number of good reasons. And one that's not so good.
Completions and Production
A matter of perspective
The way you see things depends on where you’re standing.
Cable-free nodes: Destination land
Self-contained, autonomous nodal systems are on the fast track to become the seismic data acquisition method of choice.
Special Report
Changing the integration game
The E&P industry has spent the last 20 years striving for data integration. Its quest may soon be nearing completion.
Platelet technology heals leaks
New sealing technology works like the human body's leak-sealing mechanism to deliver discrete particles to a pipeline leak site.
Water-based fluid performs like oil-based mud
New HPWBM improves drilling and environmental performance in low salinity environments.
Digital Solutions
Efficiently manage scattered and diverse
A single system using unique software allows operators to run their oilfields like a store, managing all aspects efficiently and cost-effectively.
Features
1,500 Tcf of natural gas is yet to be produced
The greatest challenge is to develop stranded gas at a cost low enough to justify the investment in the face of market risk.
A visual change to desktop integration
Many of the biggest players in the oil and gas industry have adopted the latest visualization tools for virtual collaboration, analysis and decision-making. These technologies are not only linking people with data but linking experts with experts for the ultimate in team-based analysis.
Big loop matches history, simulation
As mature reservoirs create more difficult challenges, accurate simulations grow more vital.
Brenda developed with limited resources
Integrated interpretation and modeling improved Oilexco’s reservoir model and reserves estimates for project development.
Compensation shoots higher
Energy industry compensation plans outpace overall industry.
Fluid meets Bu-Hasa field challenge
Special drilling fluid solution stops excessive mud losses and maintains wellbore integrity in a vuggy limestone formation with substantial natural fracturing.
Fluids solve sand screen plugging
Wells flow freely after fluid dissolves blockage in screens.
Industry conditions ripe for CNG
New technology expands stranded gas development options.
Kurdistan sparks high interest
Large reserves lure international exploration companies to northern Iraq.
Learn a trade at Company U
Shell employees gear up for careers at the operator’s college.
Mozambique mobilizes resources
With little production and lots of potential, this African country wants investments.
Overcome severe torque and drag
Lubricant helps to overcome torque and drag, minimize stick and slip concerns and allow drilling a longer section than initially planned.
Prices trigger enhanced recovery
Management of partially depleted fields offers opportunities for profit.
Securing a scarce resource
With the buzz concerning recruiting experienced workers to replenish an aging workforce, it is important to find ways to keep the ones you have.
Sri Lanka seeks energy base
Offshore licensing aims at domestic production.
Technique adds to reservoir understanding
Advanced technologies such as crosswell imaging are being used more often to provide a level of ultra-high resolution information that can reliably support drilling, production and EOR operations.
Technique trims non-productive time
Weighted fluid helps operator lower time of transition from mud to completion fluid.
Using stranded gas to revive production
Energy generated from waste gas restores marginal fields.
Wellbore program reduces mud losses
Tailored solution saves money for operator in sensitive well bore.
Women in the offshore industry
Although historically dominated by men, the offshore industry is learning to integrate women into its roster.
Tech Watch
A matter of perspective
The way you see things depends on where you're standing.
Pay a virtual visit to Energyville
Do you think you can figure out the ideal energy mix for a modern city? Try it.
Take a look at the price tag
Mega-projects are determining mega-supplies of oil and gas for the future.
Tech Trends
Collaborate to implement digital oil field
Reaping the technical and financial benefits delivered by the digital oil field requires successful implementation. And that requires a well-designed collaboration plan among three key players inside the company.
Efficiently manage scattered and diverse assets
A single system using unique software allows operators to run their oilfields like a store, managing all aspects efficiently and cost-effectively.
Increase reservoir modeling accuracy
Software allows major operator to dynamically grow the size of its grid by harvesting unused CPU cycles as needed from any of the 185 user workstations across the division that might not be running at full capacity.
Tech Trend briefs
January tech trends.
Using satellite imagery at Shell
Oil and gas E&P activities are now supported using imagery from a range of active and passive satellite-based sensors and have raised expectations across the industry.
Activity Highlights
On The Move
On the move
Who's going where in the upstream industry.
Last Word
A historical reflection on reflections
Seismic data acquisition and processing has come a long way from its roots. This article focuses on its origins and its likeness to THE modern version.
Logging celebrates 80th anniversary
A three-man crew in the Alsace region of France rewrote the oil-finding textbook.
Remembering the Centennial stamp
In 1959 the industry was recognized for its 100th anniversary by a special commemorative stamp. It looks like the 150th anniversary will not be so notably honored.
Words to live by
The 10 commandments of effective field management.
Activity Spotlight
Acceleware launches seismic product offering
Successful field trials confirm accelerated seismic migration processing.
CGGVeritas opens new Asia-Pacific headquarters
New state-of-the-art facility underpins regional commitment and supports CGGVeritas business throughout the growing Asia-Pacific market.
Kuwait Oil Company selects Paradigm Geolog software for petrophysical data interpretation and analysis
Multiyear contract provides industry-leading software licenses for companywide petrophysical E&P operations.
Mozambique mobilizes resources
With little production and lots of potential, this African country wants investments.
OPEC’s role in today’s world
In an exclusive interview, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla S. El-Badri discusses the evolution of OPEC and the issues facing the organization. This is the first of a series of E&P interviews with leaders from across the industry.
Another Perspective
Advanced drillstring modeling reduces failures
Improved drillstring design, fatigue monitoring and risk analysis extend drillstring life.
Analysis optimizes well results
Well evaluation finds ideal number of laterals for Bakken production.
Brownfields benefit from integrated models
The integrated asset model approach results in increased production and lower operating costs, adding US $35 million per year for Pemex.
CO2 research promises oil gains
World concern over warming has focused on oil production for economic sequestration.
Collect accurate HP/HT reservoir samples
Pipe-deployed sampling system designed for cased-hole applications with extended HP/HT exposure is an ideal sampling option where wire in the hole is problematic or unacceptable.
Combine sand control and liner drilling
Drill-in sand screen liner system can traverse collapsed hole sections without an inner circulation string.
Complete many zones in one trip
New sand control and stimulation technology is reducing completion cycle time by 25 to 60% on multizone deepwater wells.
Consider shifting energy sources
In 1874, science fiction writer Jules Verne predicted a world where water replaces coal as the fuel of the future. He’d be happy to know the era of hydrocarbons may be declining. We are approaching the hydrogen age.
Coupled geomechanics predicts well failures
By integrating geomechanics information into the dynamic reservoir model, geoscientists and engineers are able to forecast production life risks with greater accuracy.
Examine the structural model
Field optimization should begin with an accurate picture of the reservoir and traps.
New plug designs save time, costs
A functional combination of composite plugs results in significant economic gains by eliminating added interventions and drill-outs, thus accelerating the production readiness of a well.
Quick analysis answers Heidrun questions
A new methodology provides faster core analysis results.
Research opens production potential
Timing, experience and hard work turn a nice profit in the right circumstances.
Rock properties and wellbore breakout
The relationship between breakout width and depth is lithologically controlled by a few simple parameters.
Seismic amplitudes from gas hydrates
A real seismic-stack profile from an offshore hydrate reservoir is matched with a synthetic gather produced on a simplified earth model to determine hydrate presence.
Separation goes supersonic
Efficient separation from multiphase wells offers economic and environmental advantages.
Swellable packers reduce well completion costs
Downhole swellable elastomer technology has moved from the lab to the zonal isolation mainstream and offers new options for cost-effective completion design.
Technical geosteering finds the sweet spot
Technical geosteering is a numerical tool that augments other data sources to help the operator interpret where the well bore is stratigraphically located.
The future of exploration
A government study outlines further technology needs in this high-tech industry.
The right stuff
Advances in materials promise to have a large impact on how drilling and completion equipment is engineered and applied.
International Spotlight
Management Report
Make operations, maintenance hum
High oil prices don’t simplify oil and gas operations complexity.
Open innovation expands technology
New contacts in new industries spark better applications of technology in the oil field.
News & Analysis
News and Analysis
January news and analysis.
Oilfield History
Remembering the Centennial stamp
In 1959 the industry was recognized for its 100th anniversary by a special commemorative stamp. It looks like the 150th anniversary will not be so notably honored
World Map
Bringing up baby
An old pamphlet offers care and feeding tips for budding scientists and engineers.
The joystick revolution
If a Sony PlayStation can process seismic data, we may have already solved the looming personnel crunch.
The missing link
New visualization software unravels more of the seismic interpretation puzzle.