E&P Magazine - March 2006
As I See It
Avoid costly oilpatch lawsuits
Imagine the oil and gas industry with no confrontations, disagreements or outright shouting matches - just everyone harmoniously engaged in exploration and production to the mutual benefit of all.
Avoid costly oilpatch lawsuits
Imagine the oil and gas industry with no confrontations, disagreements or outright shouting matches - just everyone harmoniously engaged in exploration and production to the mutual benefit of all.
Avoid costly oilpatch lawsuits
Imagine the oil and gas industry with no confrontations, disagreements or outright shouting matches - just everyone harmoniously engaged in exploration and production to the mutual benefit of all.
High costs smother price gains
High oil and gas prices induce change. National oil companies increase their activities. Governments increase their stake in production, and service and supply costs climb.
High costs smother price gains
High oil and gas prices induce change. National oil companies increase their activities. Governments increase their stake in production, and service and supply costs climb.
High costs smother price gains
High oil and gas prices induce change. National oil companies increase their activities. Governments increase their stake in production, and service and supply costs climb.
Cover Story
Find your new leaders
One of the greatest challenges management faces is selecting and grooming the next generation of management.
Drilling Technologies
Show us the data
Edward Tufte knows some things about the visual display of quantitative information.
Completions and Production
Fuzzy patterns offer opportunities
In the first part of this series we discussed the Intelligent Iterative Integration (i3) analysis, which integrates the three production data analysis techniques...
Special Report
Drillstrings get wired
Drillstrings get wired
Parallel graphics power on desktop
Parallel graphics power on desktop
Patented jackup workover rig
Patented jackup workover rig
Potential fields software makes a difference
Potential fields software makes a difference
Technology suite spans seismic continuum
WesternGeco recently launched its Omega (ΕΎ) Suite of seismic processing and reservoir definition technologies...
Features
Suriname opens block licensing
The nation of Suriname, armed with more information than ever before and more operators doing active work, is looking for bidders to help find some of the estimated 15 billion boe in place, consisting of 8.3 billion bbl of oil and 23 Tcf of gas.
Tech Watch
Focusing on the bottom line
It's been said that all producers have one thing in common, their top three priorities are cost control, cost control and, finally, cost control.
Tech Trends
Crude oil adorns Mabel's eyelashes
This is the story of how the stubborn goop that accumulates around a sucker-rod first made its way to the eyelashes of millions of American women and then to the world.
Integration raises performanc
The main opportunity for the exploration and production industry to radically improve oilfield performance is in the adoption of digital-age technologies.
Oilpatch roots stretch 100 years
A little more than 5 years after the Spindletop gusher blew out near Beaumont, Texas, on Jan. 10, 1901, and turned oil into big business, a predecessor of present-day Vetco Gray started operations.
Utility computing can cut costs
Over the years technology has evolved and today utility computing has become a strategic part of oil and gas companies' information technology solutions.
Utility computing can cut costs
Over the years technology has evolved and today utility computing has become a strategic part of oil and gas companies' information technology solutions.
Utility computing can cut costs
Over the years technology has evolved and today utility computing has become a strategic part of oil and gas companies' information technology solutions.
Activity Highlights
Malthus redux
I have refrained from addressing the debate on Peak Oil, primarily because the idea is self evident.
Malthus redux
I have refrained from addressing the debate on Peak Oil, primarily because the idea is self evident.
Malthus redux
I have refrained from addressing the debate on Peak Oil, primarily because the idea is self evident.
Activity Spotlight
News and Analysis
Veritas DGC Ltd., via its joint venture company Veritas Caspian LLP, has concluded an exclusive agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan for the acquisition of non-exclusive seismic data over the entire open acreage of the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea.
News and Analysis
Veritas DGC Ltd., via its joint venture company Veritas Caspian LLP, has concluded an exclusive agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan for the acquisition of non-exclusive seismic data over the entire open acreage of the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea.
News and Analysis
Veritas DGC Ltd., via its joint venture company Veritas Caspian LLP, has concluded an exclusive agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan for the acquisition of non-exclusive seismic data over the entire open acreage of the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea.
Another Perspective
All in good time
Building on the tools of 3-D seismic imaging, Shell geoscientists are working on a fourth dimension, production time, to study how reservoirs change as they produce oil and gas.
Brown fields need special treatment
Approximately 60% of the world's oil production is delivered from brown fields - mature fields in a state of decline.
Deepwater India partnerships thrive
The need for energy as a prime vehicle for growth in the global economy is stimulating large investments by transnational corporations. India is a fast-growing oil consumer in the Asia-Pacific region.
Efficient long-stroke pump cuts costs
The DynaPump is a proprietary, computerized crude oil pumping system.
Innovations spur lift effectiveness
Even the most mature technologies are benefiting from the increased emphasis on production optimization.
Keeping the rig floor safe
The trend toward mechanized drilling systems began almost 2 decades ago, and new technologies are continuously being developed.
Micro-seismic monitoring: the other 4-D
Speaking recently in Kolkata, India, Ian Jack, lately retired from BP and still a leading figure in the development of 4-D seismic, told an enthusiastic audience that the "time has come" for 4-D seismic.
Neptune passes modification test
Kerr-McGee pioneered Gulf of Mexico spar technology with the installation of its Neptune facility in 1996.
New pump engine saves dollars
Oil prices have climbed rapidly, but along with them, the cost of power to run sucker rod pumps has climbed, unless an operator can use field fuel.
New technologies for rotary steerables
A system under development from Validus International to record near-bit directional surveys and transmit them to surface uses two new technologies that promise a substantial improvement in directional drilling operations.
PDC bits begin to dominate
It comes as no surprise that polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit use continues to expand at a rapid pace.
Point the bit to penetrate hard streaks
Rotary steerable technology has produced impressive results since its introduction.
Remote support leverages assets
Business drivers continue to provide reasons to find better ways to drill wells.
Reservoirs share their secrets
Historically, subsurface exploration specialists have strived to predict lithology and fluid content from seismic data prior to drilling, but many times Mother Nature has fooled them with a dry hole when the drill bit finally penetrates the target level.
Time-lapse seismic technology - Past, Present and Future
For many of us, the principal business driver today is to derive the maximum economic return from oil and gas fields.
World Map
Go find some oil!
What are you doing sitting around reading magazines? You should be out exploring for hydrocarbons!