E&P Magazine - December 2006
As I See It
Arctic offers chilly welcome
The great north has substantial reserves, but it needs high prices for adequate returns.
Cover Story
What's in a name?
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," said Mr. Shakespeare. "Brown fields by any other name stink," says the oil and gas industry. And it appears, much to my consternation, that they are both right.
Drilling Technologies
Operators list drilling needs
Complex projects increase demand for engineering innovation.
Completions and Production
CPC resists acid corrosion
Prospects for widespread application of geological sequestration (underground storage) to dispose of CO2 could expand greatly the requirement for long-term sealing to casings and annuli. To succeed, the destructive effects of carbonic acid must be eliminated.
Under the Sea
Researchers hope a seafloor laboratory will unlock some of the secrets of gas hydrate accumulations.
Special Report
Fiber-optic system runs with no intervention
PGS has been developing fiber-optic sensor and telemetry technology since 1997. A major application will be to permanently install reservoir monitoring.
Inflatable retrievable packer/bridge plug system introduced
Inflatable retrievable packer/bridge plug system introduced
Large outside diameter tong system delivered
Large outside diameter tong system delivered
System solves old seabed acquisition problems
System solves old seabed acquisition problems
Features
Gabon works for independent
The West African nation may lie below the cutoff for majors, but it offers plenty of opportunity.
Tech Watch
Get smart on existing fields
Experts tackle toughest problems in existing assets.
Tech Trends
Connecting the dots
In the Intelligent Oil Field, applications need to interact with each other and use the same data. Users need a standard set of tools and a "single version of the truth" regardless of the applications that rely upon the data.
Activity Highlights
Change of address
Shakespeare with Internet access might have asked instead, "What's in a URL?" In the case of E&P's new one, it's a lot. Let's face it, our old Web site address, www.eandpnet.com, was never the easiest to remember or repeat. So we are replacing it with a shiny new one: www.eandp.info.
Last Word
Torpedo tales
In the earliest days of the oil field, the big bang wasn't a theory.
Activity Spotlight
'Microhole' drilling rig successfully demonstrated
'Microhole' drilling rig successfully demonstrated
ANP limits Brazil bidding
ANP attempts to encourage competition to make sure one company doesn't monopolize any production area.
Arctic role diminished in world oil supply
The US can no longer consider the Arctic as a long-term stra
Baker Oil Tools Successfully Installs First Two Intelligent Well Systems in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Baker Oil Tools recently installed the first two Intelligent
BP temporarily stops Shah Deniz production
Central Asia
Brazil seeks more gas
Petrobras uses new assessments to estimate Brazil's gas reserves.
Census verifies significant rig fleet growth, record number of newbuilds
High oil and gas prices have brought increases in most rig fleet categories and regions.
Chevron announces $19.6 Billion capital and exploratory budget for 2007
Chevron announces $19.6 Billion capital and exploratory budget for 2007
Chevron find thick pay off Australia
Chevron Corp. brough in a significant natural gas discovery
China raises energy goals
In its campaign to reduce energy imports, China will spend US $100 million in the next 10 years on hydrate research.
CNOOC opens new Bohai Bay play
CNOOC Ltd.'s Jinzhou (JZ) 31-6-1 wildcat drilled in Bo
ConocoPhillips Announces Success with Barossa -1 Well
ConocoPhillips Announces Success with Barossa -1 Well
Convert engineers to subsea petroleum engineers
To tackle the skills shortage in the subsea sector of the oi
Court negates Total claim to east Siberian oil field
An international arbitration court in Brussels has rejected
Des sells Mars units
The Multiple Application Re-injection Systems unit mounts on subsea trees and allows an operator to intervene without divers.
Dominion plans E&P sell-off
Dominion will
pursue the sale of most of its oil and natura
ExxonMobil enters into farm-in agreement to explore deepwater potential off Philippine Islands
ExxonMobil enters into farm-in agreement to explore deepwater potential off Philippine Islands
FMC to supply subsea system for Petrobras' Mexilhão Field
FMC Technologies, Inc. has been chosen to supply the subsea
Gazprom spurns partners in Shtokman development
Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom said will develop the
Gazprom, Shell sign Sakhalin II deal
Russia Sakhalin
Halliburton pledges $350,000 to Montana Tech
Halliburton pledges $350,000 to Montana Tech
Hub planned West of Shetland
North Sea
Indonesea terminates Natuna Sea contract
has terminated a contract with U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil
Inflatable retrievable packer/bridge plug system introduced
TAM International's new SlikPak Plus inflatable retrievable
Landmark optimizing seismic volume visualization with Nvidia Quadro
Plex 1000 NVIDIA graphics help increase accuracy and efficiency of drilling operations.
Large OD tong system delivered
Lafayette-based Frank's Casing Crews and Rental Tools, Inc.
Mechdyne introduces immersive visualization solution for Petrel Software
ConduitT software enables virtual reality display and interaction capabilities using industry leading oil/gas exploration and production applications.
Metal-to-metal expandable seal replaces elastomers
A new, high-expansion sealing device uses expanding metal in
National Oilwell Varco acquires Rolligon
National Oilwell Varco, Inc. has acquired all of the operati
Neuralog adds integrated online well log access to NeuraSection and NeuraWellTool
Neuralog Inc. has built in application access to A2D Technologies' online well log database into the most recent release of two of their industry-favored geologic applications, significantly improving the user's workflow for importing well log data into new or existing projects.
New Pakistan policy will attract exploration and production
Pakistani Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resourc
New, 85-ton power swivel introduced
A new, hydraulic motor-driven 85-ton power swivel from Logan
North Sea rich with farm-in opportunities
Hannon Westwood study reveals that only half of the planned wells are fully funded.
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate selects emgs for frontier prospectivity survey
Electromagnetic Geoservices (emgs) has been awarded a contra
Plectrum and Gold Oil receive Perúpetro approval for exploration contract offshore Peru
Plectrum and Gold Oil receive Perúpetro approval for exploration contract offshore Peru
POSC becomes Energistics
The Petrotechnical Open Standards Consortium (POSC) has re-b
Reservoir Imaging develops QC system for Statoil's 4-D seismic projects
Statoil is working with UK company Reservoir Imaging Ltd (RI
Russian PSAs worth billions
A top Russian government official said oil and gas projects
RXT charter new seismic vessel
The seismic company Reservoir Exploration Technology ASA (RXT) has entered into a long term charter for a second purpose built vessel which will be delivered in the first quarter 2009.
Saudis plan Moneefa debut
Saudi Aramco and Foster Wheeler sign FEED deal.
Schlumberger expands in Singapore
Schlumberger recently celebrated the official opening of the Schlumberger Singapore Artificial Lift Product Center at Benoi Crescent in Jurong.
Seaver elected Hydril chairman
The Board of Directors of Hydril (elected Christopher T. Se
SIGEOL rolls out geological mapping in GIS for better data interpretation
Surface geology plays an important role in building and understanding geological models made from data and research on underground structures.
SPE seeks reserves definition feedback
The proposed 2007 Petroleum Reserves and Resources Classific
Spending climbs
Operating companies plan to spend US $2.4 billion in exploration and development work in the UK North Sea over the next 2 years.
Spending climbs in China
US-based companies have spent US $5 billion on Chinese oil and gas exploration and production projects.
Statoil will acquire Anadarko deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets
Anadarko Reaches Agreement with Statoil on Gulf of Mexico As
Talisman opens new Alberta Foothills Cambrian play
Talisman Energy Inc. has introduced an emerging exploration
Total finds gas offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Total announces a new gas discovery between the Tunu and Pec
Turkmenistan hatches ambitious oil and gas plan
Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niazov has announced a dev
UK helps innovation
Web site to join test facilities together with companies trying to introduce new products is launched.
UK helps innovation
Web site to join test facilities together with companies trying to introduce new products is launched.
Varel International opens new office
Varel International opens new office in Louisiana to expand sales and service in Louisiana and Gulf of Mexico.
Veritas DGC Inc. announces receipt of Internal Revenue Service private letter ruling
Veritas DGC Inc. announces receipt of Internal Revenue Service private letter ruling
Washington Group International opens full-service engineering office in Doha, Qatar
Washington Group International opens full-service engineering office in Doha, Qatar
Weatherford performs first EM-LWD operation in Saudi Arabia
Weatherford International Ltd. successfully ran the first ev
International Spotlight
Bolivia takeover could backfire
Facing political turmoil and a growing sentiment of nationalism, President Evo Morales shocked the energy world in May 2006 by announcing that the Bolivian government was seizing control of the nation's massive natural gas reserves. Bolivia's natural gas reserves rival Venezuela's immense natural gas fields and represent one of country's primary sources of revenue. By nationalizing the energy industry, President Morales forced private energy interests in the country to renegotiate their energy concessions with the government or forfeit their holdings.
World Map
Reservoir characterization by the numbers
A new company is getting large amounts of information from very small samples.