Issue: January 2013
Through a pilot project in the South China Sea, CTD has been proven as an effective, alternative re-development option to access bypassed reserves in mature fields. Early, detailed engineering planning was critical to the project’s success.
The 2006 discovery by Petrobras of Tupi field, Santos basin, Brazil, and subsequent related pre-salt discoveries, has increased interest in the pre-salt analogues of Angola’s conjugate Kwanza-Benguela and Namibe basins. Common origin and similar tectonic history suggest that a similar play should exist in Angola. The depth migration of a PGS dual-sensor survey across the Kwanza-Benguela and Namibe area will assist exploration.
The global oil and gas industry remains bullish on deepwater and ultra-deepwater development as a result of sustained, high oil prices. Activity levels remain high in the traditional development areas of West Africa, Gulf of Mexico, Australia and Brazil.
A stability model for fiber sweeps was developed and theoretically analyzed, which bracketed the selected ranges of base fluid properties suitable for fiber sweep applications. This model was applied to formulate a mechanistic hole-cleaning model. Flow loop test results showed the fiber sweep’s hole-cleaning performance under different conditions and validated the mechanistic model.
To produce linepipe suitable for deepwater applications, a UOE pipe mill must be able to manufacture high-t/D pipe with consistent mechanical and dimensional properties along the entire length. To do this, a mill can use modeling and validation, along with comprehensive data analysis, to ensure that the products being manufactured meet all of the necessary specifications.
A spud can penetration curve was developed for a 53-m-thick deposit of weak, under-consolidated soil underlain by an older, stronger soil as an aid to safely placing the jackup on location.
While the need for real-time LWD acoustic data has expanded frequency, use and types of measurements available with LWD acoustic tools, quality control improvements have lagged behind until now. A new standard in quality control for LWD data has emerged.
The author examines what is emerging as a critical issue in shale gas extraction, namely the treatment and disposal of wastewater and solids arising from hydraulic fracturing operations.
Since its inception five years ago as part of the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, a public-private research partnership has advanced the development of long-range HSE and resource recovery technologies for ultra-deepwater, unconventional and mature assets that companies otherwise would be unable to justify independently.
Heralded as the pioneering operator of the Bakken shale, Continental Resources is staking what may become a similar claim in the liquids-rich, southernmost portion of Oklahoma’s Woodford shale.
Picking the low-hanging fruit
Ranking our ecological performance
Dancing in the oil patch
Celestial seismic: 3D interpretation unlocks Martian mysteries
Renewable energy and Middle Eastern oil: Fool’s gold?
Feds fight industry over ocean noise and birds
A picture worth 2x1015 flops
British shale gas: More holes for Blackpool, Lancashire?
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World of Oil and Gas
