Issue: December 2015
Special Focus
Not since 1986 has the global upstream industry seen such a 12-month period of oil price erosion, punctuated by rapid-fire reductions in operator, vendor and contractor activity.
Features
In good times and bad, three fundamentals have yielded significant returns for the drilling business: safety, efficiency and capability. These fundamentals have long served as hallmarks for the advancement of rig technology. World Oil’s annual Drilling Rig Advances report takes a broad look at these basics, in the context of key technologies entering today’s market.
With the precipitous decline in oil and natural gas prices, advances in drill bit technologies are critical to reducing drilling days and lowering cost per foot.
Simulation methods are expected to add value to the industry, as they can be applied to complex problems involving non-linear structures and complicated subsea equipment.
Die-hards say upsized completions, refracs boost margins
Every refracturing operation is unique, and economic success depends on integrating rigorous workflows for candidate selection, stimulation modeling, treatment execution and post-refracture treatment evaluation.
As part of the Quad 204 project, Technip UK has been tasked to support BP with the recovery and replacement of Schiehallion field’s subsea system, and hook-up to the new, purpose-built FPSO, Glen Lyon. The development will require 21 risers, the most extensive subsea system on the UKCS.
As the largest oil importer and fifth-largest producer, China’s energy strategy
impacts the global E&P industry.
ONGC has been engaged during the last 15 years in enhancing production from mature fields by placing big investments in redevelopment and rolling-redevelopments. Through a sustained effort, ONGC’s Western Offshore fields increased their production volume 14.6% during FY 2015, as compared to FY 2014.
Transforming offshore cementing into a living, real-time risk and process assurance service enables proactive risk management and active risk mitigation. Also, integrated technical and operational data create opportunities for continuous improvement and compliance programs.
Advances in marine crew logistics have been supported by operators taking a more strategic approach to their crew supply operations. Focusing on designing out risk, increasing risk awareness and disseminating best practices has enabled marine crew transfer to become a viable alternative to helicopters.
Proactive culture prevents injuries by designing and manufacturing intrinsically safe technologies.
Columns
Can we all get along?
BSEE seeks input
Thinking small is a big mistake
Duking it out with the North Sea
There’s an app for that
Reason for optimism in the Eastern Mediterranean
Disarray rules the day in Norway
Digital labor can revolutionize the oil & gas industry
Dr. Lev Ring: Always pushing forward
Western technical innovation forced to overcome OPEC’s attitude
News & Resources
World of oil and gas
Industry at a glance
People in the industry
New products and services
Companies in the news
Industry leaders outlook 2016
In the latter part of 2015, my weekly meetings included a threat assessment for the Gulf of Mexico, a BSEE BAST assessment conference and a Drilling Engineering Committee meeting, focused on “extreme drilling,” which included much discussion of safety issues in extreme environments. In other words, all that week’s events were HSE-focused. That’s unusual, but it may not be going forward.
The year 2015 has been challenging for stakeholders on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The continuation of low oil prices has ensured that the industry will end up with a substantial, negative cash flow. Cash flow-negative situations also occurred in 2014 and 2013, when oil prices were, on average, much higher.
As a kid, I watched TV ads featuring the “Godfather of Fitness,” Jack LaLanne. In 1936, Mr. LaLanne opened one of our nation’s first fitness gyms in Oakland, Calif., with the goal of helping people build muscle and become healthy and fit.
Hydrocarbons have never been easy to find or produce. Now, in addition, we must contend with low prices. But, to the more-than 7 billion people on our planet, whose quality-of-life depends on safe, affordable energy, the price of oil and gas does not matter.
The oil and gas industry is in rough waters. Especially across the service/supply community, the downturn has been, and will continue to be, rocky and, in many cases, painful.
(Second in the Energy Trilogy during the reign of King Amabo, Ruler of the ASU)
In my December 2013 editorial, I issued a call to action, imploring my industry colleagues to proactively educate the public on our actions regarding responsible development.
As 2015 winds down, the U.S. and the world are awash in oil and natural gas. What a difference a few years make.
The oil and gas industry faces yet another crisis. Employees fear losing their jobs, the future is insecure, and we struggle to keep up morale.
We seem to be stuck in a scenario that is oddly similar to a scene in the movie, Groundhog Day.
In our business, the levers are price, volume and expenses. Over the past 15 years, price has been very kind, rising to average $92/bbl in 2014.
I can remember attending my first SPE Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Conference many years ago.
Process safety is distinct from personal safety. It is concerned with the management of hazards that can give rise to major accidents involving release of potentially dangerous materials; release of energy, such as fire or explosion; or both.
