Oil and gas companies are making it work and making it work well. In spite of—and because of—oil prices mired in the $50/bbl range, domestic crude production is reaching levels not seen since 2015, while offshore Gulf of Mexico production reached an all-time high in July, with 1.7 MMbbl/d, according to the Energy Information Administration. Effi ciency gains in their operations are encouraging oil companies to produce near-record amounts of oil in a pricing environment in which conventional thinking might dictate production cuts.

This month’s cover feature focuses on the systems, tools and trends that are convincing operators to snub that logic. Those systems and tools continue to drive down breakeven costs, push the envelope of cutting-edge technology and help solve the challenges that often result in lost productivity.

Featured in this month’s cover story focusing on production technologies and trends is a new alloy used in sucker rod couplings that helps reduce tubing wear. Stories also cover a well management control system that helps optimize artifi cial lift operations, while an alternative scavenger chemistry works to enhance production. Other features detail a line of progressive cavity pumps designed to provide greater effi ciency and rod pumping solutions aimed at solving challenges such as gas lock issues.

Read E&P's December cover stories: