Offshore Report

The offshore arena remains relatively steadfast in terms if operator activity and continuing cost reduction via breakthough technology. Featured in the July issue are three articles from experts in the field that illustrate the uses of advanced drilling, completion and exploration technologies for offshore use.

Drilling: Petronius extended-reach well drilling. ChevronTexaco/ Marathon's deepwater Petronius project features the World's tallest freestanding structure – a compliant tower. This article describes an overview of the project, including the drilling of six extended-reach wells, valuable "what worked well" items based on CheveronTexaco's experience.

Completion: Downhole completions for Aconcagua and Camden Hills fields in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Authored by TotalFinaElf, Marathon, Well Dynamics and Schlumberger, this paper is a part of the Canyon Express 2003 OTC series. It details designs for high-rate deepwater gas producers.

Exploration: Improving seismic imaging near salt bodies. Drawing on earlier work from a scientist with Western, processing scientists from WesternGeco authored this interesting comparative study. In order to better image subsalt and salt-flank areas, they applied a finite-difference prestack-migration algorithm and compared it to Kirchhoff migration. Finite-difference produced better images in these areas.

 Oil Country Tubular Goods

Key tubular technologies. Authors from BP, Grant Pridco and GlobalSanteFe bring an overview of what operators need to know about current and evolving technologies in tubular goods. Topics include metallurgical and manufacturing advances that have enabled high-strength drill pipe, particularly for new landing-string designs, new technology for UT inspections and "smart drill pipe" developments.

The expanding universe of expandables. This article will detail the types of expandable well-construction technologies currently available and how they are being used, what's being developed, and what the long-range vision is for their future. Contributions will come from each of the major expandables- technology providers (Halliburton, Enventure, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Grant Prideco).

 Petroleum Technology Digest

World Oil's regular monthly feature is published in association with the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council. This month's case stude shows how horizontal drilling increased ultimate recovery in a reef formation. SOMOCO, Inc. and an engineering consultant describe how horizontal drilling, at an added cost of only $175,000, more than tripled production and increased ultimate recoverable reserves.

 FPSO Report

Recognizing the growing global market for LNG, Bluewater Energy Services has developed a concept for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore LNG transfer systems. There is a common design philosophy among the transfer configurations, which include tandem, side-to-side and single-point mooring (SPM). The article describes a near-shore LNG terminal, comprising a marine transfer system in combination with a regasification plant and a salt dome storage cavern. The systems described should advance the use of offshore terminals for LNG. Although the concept is new, all of the components used are proven in LNG terminals and offshore loading systems.