E&P Magazine - August 2003
As I See It
Company school needs an upgrade
Expect free agency of Gen Xers to replace the traditional employment model.
Cover Story
Look beyond the dirty word
Discrimination, per se, is not illegal, and is a mainstay of successful management.
Drilling Technologies
Harnessing Dental Drills
Ultra high rpm drilling offers faster penetration rates and reduced environmental footprint.
Features
Challenging times ahead
This year is proving to be another crucial year for the North Sea with an acknowledgement that production targets in the United Kingdom will be harder to achieve.
Corrib climaxes in calamity
A three level consultation is underway between Shell and Irish authorities over the future of Ireland's offshore Corrib gas project after a related onshore gas terminal was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála - the Irish planning board.
North Sea space-savers
North Sea developments in recent years have featured a couple of minimal facility designs, Sea Harvester and Trident.
Tech Watch
Hail to mothers everywhere!
A practical field example proves a point - good ideas are rarely conceived in a vacuum.
Activity Highlights
Overdue recognition
There have been a few times I was glad someone invented the blowout preventer (BOP).
Another Perspective
A new marginal field approach
European operator Perenco and its partners have successfully completed installation of a new platform concept for the D1B development off West Africa.
Conquering the composite challenge
It was only about 2 years ago that the first composite riser saw service in an offshore application.
Downtime minimization is achievable
Systematic data gathering with statistical symptom recognition allows operators to anticipate and prevent problems before they occur.
Drill pipe materials defy H2S
Working in hydrogen sulfide environments requires specifically designed metal compounds.
Drilling in the freezer
A specially-designed drilling facility could become a game-changing technology for harsh environment land drilling after being used for the first time on Alaska's Arctic tundra in a scientific quest to prove up theories about energy potential in gas hydrates.
First float over deck-mating
For the first time a topside deck has been installed onto a pre-installed jacket by using a semisubmersible heavy transport vessel.
Fracs tracked using microseismic images
Frac imaging shows the need for improved frac diagnostics and control, and the means for achieving it.
Hi-powered motors take the field
Short but tough, a new series of powerful workover motors delivers several advantages.
Innovation aids oilpatch operations
Alloys and new applications of existing hard goods make better work possible.
MV Vestfonn logs pumping milestone
Optimizing production with hydraulic propped fracturing technology is the goal of North Sea workhorse.
New life for old in the UK sector
One of the North Sea's current projects - due to produce first oil soon - uses a combination of strategies with key contractors and suppliers in a novel way to bring back production from a field which produced the first oil on the UKCS.
Romancing the stone
Getting the reservoir to give up its treasure involves careful design, technical innovation and no small amount of luck.
World Map
The beginning of the beginning
Geophysical contractors are starting to take tentative steps in a variety of new business directions.