It is the act, process or methodology of making something as fully perfect, functional or effective as possible. From the 12 letters that form the word for it, more than 200 playable words can be formed. Predictably, 66 of those words have just three letters. Four-letter words come in a close second with 58 possibilities.

The word is “optimization,” and like players of the Scrabble board game searching for the highest scoring word, operators are looking for the perfect combination of pieces to increase the production of oil and gas from their wells.

In this report E&P examines how Marathon and Chevron used a complete systems approach to optimize production in fields offshore U.K. and Thailand. This report also looks into how continuous production optimization requires not just technology but the adoption of a new company culture that encourages it. The report finishes with a look at how the application of predictive analytics to data is enhancing production and how the application of an ultralow-invasion additive in drilling fl uid is effectively preventing damage to the reservoir. The combination of technologies like these and many others are enabling operators to raise the production bar.

Read each cover story:

A systems approach to production optimization by Expro

The culture of continuous production optimization by Hitachi Consulting

Enhancing production efficiency through model-based predictive analytics by Baker Hughes

Reservoir ‘shield’ counters absolute solubility contention by Impact Fluid Solutions