E&P Magazine - April 2008
As I See It
A changing landscape improves drilling
Companies that provide drilling services are now in a more collaborative environment.
Plan technology for Arctic operations
Arctic oil and gas development requires specialized techniques for production and people.
The view from inside
An “insider” look at this or that is one of the oldest dodges in the magazine business. It’s usually a promise of only-we-know information obtained from only-we-can-reach-them sources.
Cover Story
A lesson learned
My old friend John Westwood of Douglas Westwood Limited in the United Kingdom recently released a white paper discussing the upcoming US presidential election, energy and the global economy.
Exploration Technologies
Before Gloria Steinem
An old article reminds us how far we’ve come.
Drilling Technologies
Drilling efficiency increases - not!
The relentless flow of new tools and techniques to improve drilling efficiency is not having the desired effect, according to one operator.
The light at the beginning of the tunnel
Fiber laser technology is coming to the oil field, initially through special-purpose applications.
Completions and Production
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Cooperation and collaboration enabled by technology are changing the face of the industry.
Digital Solutions
Addressing the challenges of subsea fiber optics
A new organization responds to the need for rapid and cohesive development of a crucial enabling technology.
Integrated operations expands collaboration
Integrated operations (IO) could be the key to meeting many challenges facing the oil and gas industry, including the search for new reserves, the need to produce reservoirs more efficiently and safely, and the struggle to recruit and retain personnel.
Features
A breakthrough in subsea multiphase pumping
Multiple subsea production records were set with the King field development in the US Gulf of Mexico. Now, the industry has new potential to increase oil production from deepwater fields.
Building for speed
The crewboat and supply boat sector of the offshore industry is as constrained as the mobile offshore drilling unit segment. Demand is high, availability is scarce and there is a global need for additional vessels.
Catastrophe brings opportunity
Rebuilding service facilities on the US Gulf Coast following hurricanes Rita and Katrina presented enormous challenges and, at the same time, opened the door for improvement.
Dredging up new methods of subsea excavation
Traditional modes of subsea excavation — sleds, plows or crews of divers — are used to install pipelines or to decommission storm-damaged production facilities. They can be cumbersome and time-consuming. A new method of excavation provides similar results 10 times as fast.
First FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico
Will FPSOs be useful in the ultra-deep water of the US Gulf of Mexico? One operator intends to answer this question first-hand.
Full wave seismic analyzes reservoir
Multicomponent seismic techniques characterize lithology and fracture patterns in a tight gas reservoir in China.
Integrated workflows solve Chinese puzzle
Violent volcanic eruption in the Pacific ring of fire has created some of the most complex geology on earth. The best efforts of petrophysicists and engineers are required to evaluate the hydrocarbon reservoirs in the region.
Is Jack worth a WAZ investment?
Chevron has undertaken a wide-azimuth seismic survey at the subsalt Jack asset in the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s the value case.
Logistics meeting behind-the-scenes challenges
Worldwide competition for equipment to extract, produce and transport energy is intense. Easily accessible fields are being exhausted, and high energy prices are making developments in remote locations more viable.
New Zealand opens new bidding round
After a decade of declining reserves, onshore exploration may supplement
offshore gains.
Optimize subsea system design
Employing an integrated engineering approach will allow the full impact of each solution proposed to be understood and enable optimization of the most feasible solution.
Pioneering integrated services in India
After three years of “integrated services” experience with six mobile offshore drilling rigs, a Transocean Inc. subsidiary has achieved successes in operational efficiency and improved safety offshore India.
Redefining subsea architecture
An innovative, multipurpose subsea boosting system becomes a powerful tool in the development of subsea tiebacks. The flexible design is adaptable to the operator’s other assets.
Run control lines safely and reduce NPT
An innovative method of running control lines in deep water can improve safety and reduce NPT.
They’re at it again
Can geophysical contractors conduct massive non-exclusive surveys without repeating past mistakes?
Tech Watch
The world is getting smaller
Not long ago, the national oil companies (NOCs) of the world looked little further than their own borders for investment opportunities. Today, many NOCs are as international as the international oil companies (IOCs), and some of them carry a lot of clout.
Tech Trends
Application hosting is an effective option
Moving E&P software and data to high-performing computers and storage devices in a centralized location offers important benefits.
Integrated geomechanics
Hess, WesternGeco and Schlumberger apply a multidisciplinary technique to resolve complex challenges affecting future reservoir development in the Danish North Sea.
Tech Trend briefs
April tech trends.
Activity Highlights
What are you voting for?
Not who - what. Voting for change, you say? What if the United States became a theocracy or a giant agrarian commune? That would be a change. Not that kind of change? Then what did you have in mind? And how do you propose that this be accomplished?
On The Move
On the Move
Who's going where in the upstream sector.
Last Word
Self delusion
The newspapers lately have been full of doom and gloom.
Shell traveled bumpy highway
Potholes and detours littered the road leading to one of the top spots among world oil companies.
Activity Spotlight
Ascend Geo LLC, today announced its donation of the Ultra G5 System to the Exploration Geophysics Laboratory (EGL), a research group, at the University of Texas
Ascend Geo LLC, a provider of land-based, cable-free seismic recording equipment, today announced its donation of the Ultra G5 System to the Exploration Geophysics Laboratory (EGL), a research group at the Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas in Austin.
Baker Hughes acquires reservoir consulting firms
Dr. D. Nathan Meehan Named VP Reservoir Technology and Consulting
Gas spurs Douala Basin exploration
Independents chase gas in a revival of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea activity.
Spectrum demerger signals seismic expansion
Rowlands predicts bright future for Spectrum following spin-off.
Another Perspective
Abandon gravel pack zone with gel
Technique saved time and money in isolating a non-productive zone in an offshore well.
Automation enhances casing running operations
A tool initially developed to enable drilling with casing proves to be an effective method for automating casing running operations.
Balance technology for specific applications
Ranking the relative importance of key performance indices in specific applications enables optimal technologies to be applied to improve drilling performance.
Drilling system goes electronic
A proven pneumatic drilling system that could only be controlled locally becomes an electronic system that permits remote control.
Dynamically model the total drilling system
Sophisticated simulation process accurately models the total drilling system from individual cutter contact with the formation to the surface drive mechanism.
Eliminate turbulent flow problems
Roller cone drill bit platform design incorporates a new approach to engineered hydraulics.
Ensure consistent directional control
PDC directional bit technology enhances steering performance by balancing the bit's face and lateral aggressiveness with the application.
Generate micro-cores of formations while drilling
Low ROP and lack of quality cuttings are among the main drilling challenges in HP/HT environments.
Match drill bit designs to specific drilling systems
A bit should be designed to complement the unique qualities and capabilities of each individual drilling system.
Microseismics add value
Integrating microseismic monitoring technology into an E&P asset management process pays dividends for operators.
Multitasking supplements intervention
Light, multitasking vessels lower risks, costs for activities in existing offshore wells.
North Sea breeds innovation
As output from the North Sea region’s largest producers has slowed in recent years, an erroneous notion has developed that the North Sea is in irreversible decline. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Reservoir geophysics in difficult areas
Oman/Shell joint venture PDO uses seismic quantitative interpretation to maximize business impact in Oman.
Seismic-driven reservoir characterization
New tools allow the geoscientist to effectively and efficiently make use of multidimensional data in the search for new reservoirs or in the optimum depletion of existing ones.
The evolution of closed-loop drilling systems
Understanding of drilling dynamics, both through drilling dynamics models and validation of those models with downhole measurements, has progressed significantly.
What is all the buzz about?
BE is a novel technique for extending the usable bandwidth of seismic data.
Workover rigs meet high technology
Sophistication offers top efficiency and safety for operators.
International Spotlight
Change to get a change
With the massive numbers of new people entering the industry, it is very popular to talk about how the new generation looks very different from the previous demographic bulge. An implicit assumption is that the composition of the leadership will also change and will reflect the new population.
Management Report
Coordinate FPSO project contracts
The complex contracting and logistics chain requires careful integration.
Moving from investment to operational mode
Sophisticated financial accounting software reaches down to the small and mid-sized operator.
News & Analysis
News and Analysis
April news and analysis.
Oilfield History
There are no red carpets to the rig floor
You’ve never seen the likes of James Dean, Bruce Willis or Daniel Day-Lewis working on a rig floor, but Hollywood does rely on drillers and roughnecks to provide interesting characters for cinematic storytelling.
World Map
An old idea with a new twist
The concept of mentoring is not new. Just about everything else in SEG's new "Geo-Mentoring" initiative, however, is.