E&P Magazine - August 2008
As I See It
Subsea 7 awarded 100 million contract from StatoilHydro for North Sea project
The Troll B Gas Injection project will be developed with two separate subsea satellite wells, located respectively 3.5 km and 6.5 km south of the Troll B platform.
The best seat in the house
The primary attraction of this line of work is having an unobstructed view of the world’s most important industry at a pivotal time in its history.
Exploration Technologies
Starting over — again
After one marine acquisition start-up was bought out from under them, members of that management team are starting afresh.
Completions and Production
High costs, tight margins impact production
Enormous increases in exploration and development costs will continue to affect production levels.
Offshore Operations: Breaking the ice
With the growing focus on the Arctic, polar engineering gains ground.
Digital Solutions
Digital Oil Field: A new approach to WebGIS maps
Integrated WebGIS creates a repository to promote faster access to E&P documents and records in smaller companies.
Features
Artificial Lift: Double play in Ecuador
A dual concentric ESP completion saves money, boosts profits, and satisfies regulations in a single innovative package.
Artificial Lift: Giving liquid a little lift
For gas wells drowning under liquid loading, an economical, efficient artificial lift method is a lifeline to restoring steady production.
Artificial Lift: Stirling-cycle generators in production operations
Technology first developed in 1816 is employed as a highly effective solution for well-pumping and other power requirements in remote well locations.
Extended reach drilling from the platform
Compared side by side, drilling extended reach wells from a platform shows a dramatic cost savings against placing a traditional template on the seafloor. StatoilHydro’s Gulltopp well is proof.
Extended reach, multilateral drainage or both?
It is just a matter of time before ERD and multilateral drilling techniques converge and are then applied to more effectively develop those reservoirs that need it most.
Interview: StatoilHydro pursues success through partnering
In an exclusive interview with E&P, Helge Lund, president and chief executive officer of the newly formed StatoilHydro, discussed intelligent operations (IO) and the value of collaboration and partnerships in addressing the technical challenges facing the oil and gas industry.
Logging and Formation Evaluation: Advancements enable precise sampling
New formation testing technology tools overcome mixed-phase fluid challenges.
Logging and Formation Evaluation: Advice for carbonates
A new service combines a vast array of formation evaluation data into a seamless workflow.
Logging and Formation Evaluation: Production testing in difficult wells
Oman/Shell joint venture PDO overcomes access and production logging challenges in North Oman.
Logging and Formation Evaluation: Tools improve real-time wireline data delivery
A new data delivery system speeds up processing and interpretation time.
Mature Assets: Breathing new life into old fields
Mature fields may lack the sparkle of a new play, but can still yield enormous returns.
Mature Assets: Flexible technology improves offshore operations
Extending the life of mature assets is as important as bringing oil to market rapidly. Products that can facilitate both of these objectives are in short supply.
Mature Assets: Low-cost plant upgrades marginal gas fields
A new micro-scale, low-cost nitrogen rejection plant can now upgrade low-BTU gas and improve marginal fields.
Mature Assets: More data from mature offshore fields
New system uses spare subsea electrical circuitry or co-existent power supplies to convey increased well and reservoir data to topside data acquisition systems for analysis.
North Sea Operations: Automated safeguarding enters the drilling process
A new approach closes the loop between what is physically possible to do from a well tolerance perspective and the commands issued through drilling controls.
North Sea Operations:Finding the sweet spots
Well placement in mature reservoirs can be tricky, but the right logging-while-drilling tools makes it easier.
Tech Trends
Tech Trend shorts
A look at August tech trends.
Tech Trends
Solving vibration and stick-slip issues achieves record rate of penetration (ROP) in Pagoreni field, Peru.
On The Move
On the move
Who's going where in the upstream sector.
Activity Spotlight
Latest UK round draws record bids
Drilling activity on the UKCS should be heating up within the next couple of years.
Another Perspective
Uncommon ground
Energy companies are pushing to extract oil and gas resources wherever they can to fuel America’s economy.
Management Report
Tips for making effective presentations
We’ve all suffered through poorly executed talks. Here’s how to make sure yours isn’t one of them. This is the second of a two-part series.
News & Analysis
News and Analysis
August news and analysis.
Oilfield History
Oilfield History: An ancient history
An entertaining combination of erudition, humor, and colorful prose makes an unlikely appearance in an obscure early history of the petroleum industry.