Issue: July 1999

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Special Focus

Overview of Cantarell field development program offshore Mexico

What Pemex plans for major nitrogen injection, facility extensions and drilling to offset production decreases in this 1-million-bopd field

Solving problems with overboard water handling systems

Unocal describes specific steps taken to diagnose and correct offshore water treating problems. Three case studies are presented

Technical advances improve offshore, deepwater operations

Mono-hull TLP for smaller projects * Gyrfalcon development with 15,000-psi tree * Modular crane advantages * Database for facility buying/selling * Internal tidal wave analysis model

Features

Cement surface casing after drilling without returns

How a three-stage method was used in Western Canada to cut time and cost of fighting lost circulation to cement casing to surface

Drill fluid stored in semi ballast tanks controls shallow water flow

How limitations for storing/ handling large volumes of special mud for shallow-hole problems were solved for a deepwater well

Eliminating twist-offs as a cause of drillstring failure

Newly revised technical specs can maintain the serviceability of drillstring components subject to extreme downhole conditions, tension and torsion

How in situ expansion affects casing and tubing properties

Running smaller casing and expanding it downhole with a lubricated cone provides completion advantages and compatible metal property changes

Seismic tomography applied to complex, faulted formation

Data from the Vienna basin shows that reflection tomography provides good pre-stack depth migration model for defining geologic formations

Ultrasonic measurements monitor casing offset damage

Examples of monitoring casing damage caused by relative movement of formation layers are shown for the U.S. Gulf and California

Special Report

Casing table updates

Surveys update 1997 Casing Reference Tables for three companies' connections and show organizational corrections for five companies

Departments

New equipment

New literature

Columns

Editorial Comment

Two independent studies support what industry has been "preaching"

International

SEC data shows interesting top-executive pay trends for major companies

Oil and gas in Washington

U.S. Court of Appeals action slaps EPA's hands for "making" regulations

What's happening in drilling

GRI study on rig efficiency; New thermal drilling waste cleanup system

What's happening in exploration

Landmark legal battle between Texaco and 30,000 Amazonians continues

What's happening in production

Reserve-increase study; Joint Venezuela/ Cuba venture; $10 gas at the Hub?

What's happening offshore

New fields in the U.S. Gulf/ North Sea; Exploration drilling innovation

News & Resources

Companies in the news

July 1999 Vol. 220 No. 7 Company News BP Amoco signed a production sharing agreement (PSA) with Angolan state oil company Sonangol for deepwater Block 31 in the Lower Congo basin

Industry at a glance

July 1999 Vol. 220 No. 7 Industry Stats International Geophysical Activity Table

Looking ahead

July 1999 Vol. 220 No. 7 Looking Ahead West Coast drilling could start back up this year. There are 40 offshore leases along Californias coast belonging to eager oil companies waiting

Oil country hot line

July 1999 Vol. 220 No. 7 Hot Line Iraq renews oil-for-food deal The Iraqi government has renewed the oil-for-food deal with the UN that allows Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil on the condi

People in industry

July 1999 Vol. 220 No. 7 People Rett Fisher joined American Shoreline Inc. as a computer geoscientist. Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association elected officers for 1999&#150

Industry At A Glance