E&P Magazine - September 2014
Digital
Advances in production technology are impacting the bottom line for operators.
As I See It
Cover Story
Improving recovery
Advances in production technology are impacting the bottom line for operators.
Exploration Technologies
New methods for efficient acquisition
Combining compressive sensing with an optimal sampling loop shows promise in marine surveys.
Drilling Technologies
Walking the walk
The latest versions of land drilling rigs that are designed for pad drilling, automation and 360-degree movement are picking up momentum in replacing older rigs.
Completions and Production
Your data already know what you don’t
The marriage of two ‘natural resources’—hydrocarbons and data—will transform unconventional oil development as we know it.
Offshore Advances
Practice, practice, practice
When installation is completed in 2015, a new simulation platform will help one company train its crane operators in heavy-lift operations for the offshore.
Digital Solutions
The science behind geoscience decisions
New search tools enable faster workflows.
Features
Advances in modeling methods support moorings and risers
New numerical and physical modeling methods help ensure reliability in design of ultradeepwater moorings and risers.
Brazil bets on presalt
Presalt production appears promising, but development remains in its infancy and challenges remain both above and below the seabed.
Coming to terms with subsalt
CSEM has a role to play in subsalt characterization.
Drillpipe grades, industry standards meet increasing H2S challenges
A new grade of drillpipe has been fully qualified to provide higher safety margins from sulfide stress cracking.
Enhanced completions
Industry embraces closer stage spacing, increased proppant volume.
Finding the sweet spots in West Africa
A data- and technology-driven strategy enabled one independent to discover the region’s presalt play.
Go with the flow
Employees are most productive when they can work without distractions. The right technology can help.
Identifying, mitigating CT risk in GoM
Roderic K. Stanley, co-chair of the API Resource Group for Coiled Tubulars, speaks with Thomas Angell, director, Offshore Network.
Leading the way in oil spill detection
A new three-pronged approach using infrared, radar and algorithms leads to earlier detection of oil spills.
Lowering friction takes CT to TD in extended-reach laterals
A fluid hammer tool in CT operations creates vibrations that overcome static friction between the CT and wellbore to allow the CT to advance more easily.
Meeting safety standards in hazardous environments
New regulations will require more attention to detail in telematics instruments.
Mooring line monitoring reduces risk of line failure
New system offers FPS operators a way to monitor mooring line integrity from the comfort of the vessel’s control room.
MPD can be used to drill carbonates in deepwater on DP drillship
Fractured carbonate formations can be safely and efficiently drilled and evaluated from a DP drillship with CBHP and PMCD techniques.
New interventionless fracturing technique rescues stranded assets
Diversion technology helps increase lengths of lateral and number of clusters effectively fracture-stimulated.
Reliable connectivity key to offshore communications
The offshore communications challenge is solved for one flotel operator in the North Sea.
Upgrades to CT equipment push limits on deep, long wells
New CT packages deployed in various shale fields in the U.S. in 2013 demonstrated an average 50% reduction in rigup times.
Using aluminum alloy drillpipe for tophole drilling lightens drillstring
The more flexible aluminum pipe gave the spudder rig an additional 25,000 lb of pullback capacity due to reduced side force loads, allowing the air-drilling rig to reach a deeper KOP.
Utica gas production expected to grow
The Utica play kicks into second gear as operators begin expanding into other counties.
What’s old is new again
One company has transformed a double-digit condensate producer into a quadruple-digit oil bonanza.
Tech Watch
Mobility control for CO2 EOR using SPI gels
New gels thicken when exposed to CO2.
Tech Trends
Activity Highlights
On The Move
Last Word
The technology bridge
Software can unify the reservoir life cycle.
Management Report
TRLs serve as metric in gauging progress
The process can be practically used to shorten the time before new technology can be commercialized in the oil and gas industry. First of a two-part series.