Companies in the news
MAY
Western Well Tool set a record for the longest distance travelled in an open-hole section during an acid stimulation and Production Logging Tool (PLT) run. The operator’s objective was to utilize coiled tubing instead of a drilling rig to perform the stimulation and PLT run in a 28,203-ft-MD extended-reach water-injector well with 5,986 ft of horizontal 61/8-in. open hole. A window at 22,217 ft was used to exit the 7-in. casing and create the sidetrack. Simulations indicated that lock-up of the coiled tubing would occur before reaching the window. The company used its hydraulically powered IT470 tractor to aid in stimulating the lateral from total depth back to the casing window. While running in hole, lockup occurred at 21,980 ft inside the casing. The tractor was activated and the CT was run in hole. The BHA continued until reaching TD, at which point the circulation sub was activated. Acid stimulation of the open hole section began in stages while pulling out of hole. During downhole operations, the IT-470 tractor set a new horizontal open hole record for CT work.
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At its Perdido Development, Shell Oil Co. completed installation of the drilling and production platform atop a 555-ft cylindrical spar floating in 8,000 ft of water 200 mi from Houston in an isolated sector of the Gulf of Mexico. It is the deepest such facility in the world. The project, which Shell operates on behalf of partners BP and Chevron, began with a lease sale in 1996, but numerous technologies and operational innovations had to be developed before commercial development was launched in 2006. Due to intense demand, Shell had to lease one of only two vessels in the world capable of lifting the 9,500-ton topsides onto the spar. Over the next several months, 270 personnel living on the platform and on a flotel alongside will complete the commissioning and hookup required to produce first oil. The facility is capable of handling 130,000 bbl of oil equivalent per day. The development has already set a world water-depth record in drilling and completing a subsea well 9,356 ft below the surface. Nine polyester mooring lines averaging over two miles long hold the 50,000-ton floating structure in place.
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Kayne Anderson Energy Funds, Kathy Hogenson and Bill Hogenson have formed a new venture, named Zone Energy, LLC, to acquire and develop US onshore oil and gas properties. Zone’s offices are located in Houston. With over $2 billion of capital under management, Kayne Anderson Energy Funds manages a series of investment ventures dedicated to private equity financings for high-growth exploration and production, midstream and oilfield service companies.
GE Oil & Gas has moved into its new office building in Houston. The new building is the first site to house all GE Oil & Gas businesses at one location, since the acquisition of PII Pipeline Solutions in 2002, VetcoGray in 2007 and Hydril Pressure Control in 2008. Almost 500 employees have relocated to the new office building, which will support all segments of the oil and gas industry—from drilling and completion to production, LNG, pipeline, refining and petrochemicals. The 10-story structure incorporates green building standards based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Green Building Rating System.
Houston-based Enventure Global Technology, a provider of solid expandible tubing systems, announced that its subsidiary Enventure Global Technology Trading (Beijing) Co. Ltd., has opened its first office in Beijing, China. Located in the Chao Yang District, the new office will house 12 personnel.
CGGVeritas has expanded its processing and imaging hub in Cairo, Egypt. With a powerful computer facility and high-speed link to the company’s EAME computer hub in the UK, the expanded regional hub can process all types of seismic data. Located in the Free Zone of Nasr City, the hub employs 70 professionals from 14 nationalities, including over 40 geophysicists.
Spectraseis, a provider of low-frequency passive seismic geophysical solutions, has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Saudi Makamin Co., the Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia-based oilfield services group. Under the agreement, Spectraseis and Makamin are forming a joint venture based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to market and deliver low frequency geophysical solutions in the Middle East. Makamin has become an owner of Spectraseis, alongside Warburg Pincus and StatoilHydro Ventures.
Houston-based Logan Oil Tools, a manufacturer of fishing tools and related products, has acquired Diamant Drilling Services (DDS), based in Gosselies, Belgium. DDS focuses on the design, manufacture and application of fixed-cutter diamond drillbits.
Noble Denton is funding a three-year research program at the University of Cambridge, to consider effective modelling for ultra-deepwater mooring and riser developments in the oil and gas industry. Increasing water depths, often greater than 1,500 m, creates significant difficulties for integrated modelling of the floater, moorings and risers, requiring complex computational models and excessive computation times. The project seeks the development of efficient truncated computer models. BP is providing industry expertise and guidance to the program.
HM Capital Partners LLC, a Dallas-based private equity firm, has acquired SunTerra Resources LLC, a newly formed E&P company that will utilize underbalanced drilling techniques, particularly underbalanced horizontal drilling, in acreage with proven reserves. Since 2004, HM Capital has invested in several energy platforms, including BlackBrush Oil & Gas, TriDimension Energy, Regency Energy Partners and TexStar Field Services.
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