E&P Magazine - June 2013

As I See It

Hart Energy dives deep with new acquisition

The addition of Subsea Engineering News broadens the company’s offshore offerings.

Cover Story

Companies focus R&D on improving downhole completion efficiency

Operators and producers are looking for ways to make sure that all of the clusters in a given well are producing in a way that maximizes both production and the life of the well.

Exploration Technologies

Trouble on the horizons?

Induced seismicity is starting to get the attention of the general public. Oil and gas companies cannot ignore the implications.

Drilling Technologies

Unconventional gas, FLNG highlight LNG 17

With about 5,000 delegates, the triennial LNG conference in Houston focused on the rapidly changing LNG business.

Completions and Production

Two-stepping horizontal well production

A new dual gas-lift system energizes well flow vertically and laterally.

Offshore Advances

Collaboration is key to the ultra-deep

Teamwork has always been the key to overcoming offshore challenges, and the latest insight from DeepStar shows an encouraging commitment to the cause.

Digital Solutions

Stock optimization: An efficient service partner for industry

Ensuring that warehousing acts as an effective service within a business is a key consideration for oil and gas operators, helping secure business continuity and safe operations.

Technology aids buying, selling properties

Virtual data rooms can speed transactions while providing security and easy access.

Features

China’s energy appetite still growing

China is hungry for energy, looking to sustain and grow its conventional oil and gas production, invigorate its unconventional sector, and kick-start the exploitation of its potentially huge shale gas reserves.

DAS aids in permanent field monitoring

New DAS system provides complete wellbore evaluation.

Deepwater advances depend on transition to closed-loop rigs

With the growth of a fleet of CLD-ready rigs, deepwater drilling operations are poised to benefit from advantages based on closed-loop systems.

Global warming: tilting at windmills

Data abound indicating that more CO2 in the atmosphere might actually be a desirable outcome.

Growing to go the distance

Seven years ago BHP Billiton Petroleum’s board of directors had an epiphany. Now their dreams are becoming reality.

Improving performance while reducing footprint using NADF

Advances in at-site treatment of NADF cuttings waste now enable the use of these fluids for best operational performance with the smallest drilling waste footprint possible.

Integrated high-density point-source, point-receiver land seismic

A case study from the UAE includes complex depth imaging.

Integration leads to optimization

Collaboration between the disciplines of geoscience, engineering, and real-time microseismic monitoring improves exploration success.

Making deep water pay by first drilling wells digitally

Today’s software platforms can be employed to optimize deepwater operations every step of the way – long before the rig arrives on location.

Making the case for advanced ceramic proppants

New proppant shows increase in oil, gas production volume and speed during field-testing.

New options in scale, bacteria management

New control chemistries help operators keep wells producing and prevent degradation of production value.

Proppant management can improve return on investment

Proper selection of proppants impacts the cost of well completion as well as production over the life of the well. Proper education and communication will ensure the right proppant is selected.

Reducing risk, delivering benefits for topsides inspection

An aerial ROV solution has given Centrica a vital ‘eye in the sky’ to help it carry out improved offshore inspection operations with lower risks.

Renewed challenges of 3-D seismic acquisition programs

Leaseholder issues can sidetrack the best land acquisition schemes.

Resurgence in the Permian basin

Technology opens new areas while unlocking additional potential in established Permian basin plays.

Seismic for unconventionals

Can seismic technology improve success rates in the E&P of oil and gas from shale and tight sand?

The promise of full waveform inversion

Though hugely compute-intensive, the FWI method holds promise in capturing waveform information in seismic data.

Winch system lightens load on Perdido

Having a facility more than 300 km (186 miles) offshore connected to ultra-deepwater subsea equipment that needs regular servicing means operators are looking for topsides solutions that can reduce cost.

Tech Watch

Technology gap widens between high-specification, legacy drilling rigs

Safety and inspection requirements in the US GoM post-Macondo have shifted the preference by operators to high-specification floaters.

Tech Trends

Activity Highlights

On The Move

Industry Impact

Azimuthal deep resistivity sensor maps formation layers

Geosteering tool guides horizontal wells through the reservoir.

Management Report

Managing oil and gas portfolios in uncertain markets

The need to rationalize and optimize portfolios has never been greater as emerging markets open up to foreign investment against a backdrop of uncertainty and constrained capital markets.