What industry leaders expect for 2016

Kurt Abraham, World Oil

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.

Safety, efficiency and capability gain ground in receding market

Mike Slaton, Contributing Editor

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.

Economics challenge drill bit manufacturers to reduce drilling costs

Craig Fleming, World Oil

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.

Using simulation to assess the fatigue life of subsea jumpers

Sabine Goodwin, Alan Mueller, Alex Read, Oleg Voronkov, CD-adapco

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.

ShaleTech: Haynesville

Jim Redden, Contributing Editor

Die-hards say upsized completions, refracs boost margins

Systematic candidate selection improves Haynesville refracturing economics

William Hunter, Mark Turner, Jeff Villalobos, Encana; Dr. Alejandro Peña, Jason Baihly, Schlumberger

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.

Rising to the challenge: Delivering UKCS’ largest riser system for BP’s Schiehallion field

Brian Lynch, Cedric Mouchel, TechnipFMC; Tony Boyle, BP

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.

Regional Report: China

Ron Bitto, Contributing Editor

As the largest oil importer and fifth-largest producer, China’s energy strategy impacts the global E&P industry.

Reversing declining production in ONGC’s Western Offshore fields

T. K. Sengupta, ONGC

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.

Real-time operations improve process, safety and quality assurance in offshore cementing

Sunil Jose, Dan Daulton, Baker Hughes

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.

New approach provides safe, efficient marine crew transfer

Philip Strong, Robin Proctor, Reflex Marine

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.