E&P Magazine - July 2013

Enabling the work force

Demand for skilled workers keeps captains of industry up at night. But there is hope on the horizon.

Fueling the energy mix

Global production frontiers are ever-shifting, but fossil fuels are here to stay.

Landing gear

New technology helped one operator adjust its landing points, resulting in much better wells.

Light at the end of the fiber-optics tunnel

From vertical seismic profiling to monitoring cement setting, the applications for fiber optics downhole are rapidly increasing.

ESP for ESPs?

One independent seeks to use big data prescriptive analytics to predict and improve the future performance of ESPs in the field.

A social license to operate

Buzzwords crop up aplenty in this business. But there was one that kept on buzzing at one of the year’s biggest meetings for explorationists.

Chemical EOR research unlocks production possibilities

New studies indicate the tremendous potential of polymer flooding for recovery of viscous oil.

Going the final mile in field automation

Automation allows companies to maximize the performance, productivity, accuracy, and compliance of their field-based assets.

Manufacturing intelligence streamlines operations

EMI meets the need for improved data integration, analysis, visibility, and intelligence.

Azimuthal gamma ray optimizes shale development

New tool overcomes conventional gamma ray deficiencies.

Chemical tracers measure production from stimulated wells

The use of hydrocarbon-soluble chemical tracers to measure production provides operators with a new well design tool.

Complex wells demand greater collaboration across all disciplines

Collaboration allows a better focus on technology and R&D so the industry can achieve a level of success that would not otherwise be available.

Don’t forget mature fields

The best place to look for oil is in an oil field, and field economics make these provinces increasingly attractive.

Focusing on Canada’s light, tight oil plays

Advances in completions techniques and technology lead to increased production in the Bakken, Cardium, Exshaw, and Viking formations.

Formation testing enables comprehensive characterization

New system provides cleaner samples in less time.

Integrated approach to well and production testing

A successful testing strategy should use a dynamic loop-based process and an integrated technology framework for improved production results.

Natural gas developers swarm to East Africa

With more than 170 Tcf of gas in place already discovered offshore Mozambique and Tanzania, natural gas companies are jostling for position in exploration and LNG projects.

New 3-D test tool delivers big benefits

Versatile formation fluid sampler and pressure tester succeeds where others have failed and conquers previously untestable formations.

Norway continues to shine

New acreage, new discoveries, and new technology keep this energy pioneer at the top of its game.

Pinnacle carbonate drilling challenges Petronas engineers

Implementation of PMCD technique enables safe drilling in high-loss carbonates offshore Sarawak.

Process safety: a view from the field

The offshore industry has a demographic issue on the horizon that will result in a loss of experienced ‘system integrating’ process safety engineers.

Project complexity driving riser design innovation

As offshore projects become increasingly large and complex, it is both new solutions and the enhancement of existing ones that will help contractors meet the challenge.

Rising to the challenge

The industry’s need to rapidly advance riser technologies to deal with extreme water depth, temperature, and pressure is driving a series of innovative studies.

Solids-free combination proves successful in carbonate development

The MPD system provided the basis for a new technique for drilling high-pressure Malaysian carbonate reservoirs.

Workforce training pays big dividends

What if you train your people and they leave? What if you do not train them and they stay?

‘Skills gap’ of prime concern

Panelists at a recent discussion addressed a survey outlining training issues in the industry.

Analysis aids evaluation of unconventional plays

Advanced mud gas and rock fluid studies provide valuable and otherwise unobtainable information.

Tech Trends

International Highlights

On the Move

Multizone completions system can decrease NPT and costs

Technology allows frac-packing in a single trip across multiple production intervals.

EVM keeps projects on track

EVM metrics tell where a project or program is headed and the direct impact its performance has on operations and the bottom line.