Issue: July 2016
World Oil's 100-Year Anniversary
Since 1916, Gulf Publishing Company (GPC), and World Oil and its predecessors, have provided timely, valuable information and data on a wide range of technical and management subjects to upstream oil and gas professionals worldwide.
Most of you will not recognize my name or photo on this page, since they last appeared on a World Oil column in March 1999, 29¼ years after they first showed up here, and 41 years after I joined Gulf Publishing Company’s (GPC) World Oil as engineering editor.
Come December, it will be 59 years ago that I joined Gulf Publishing Company (GPC) as an editorial assistant on the staff of Pipe Line Industry magazine.
The last 100 years have witnessed economic progress that has lifted billions of people into the global middle class.
The American economy appeared robust on June 10, 1929, when President Herbert Hoover began a conference aimed at conserving America’s natural petroleum resources.
Although our industry continues to navigate the most severe downturn in decades, growing global demand for affordable energy will, at some point, require increased offshore production.
When OPEC was established in Baghdad in 1960, there were some who predicted that the organization would not last long.
A century of business serves as a testament to the lasting value of a company.
And so we come to the end of our seven months of coverage of the 100th anniversary of Gulf Publishing Company and World Oil.
Features
Oil markets have driven down activity but not the advance of technology. In tough times when every efficiency and operational advantage can make a difference, service and manufacturing companies are focused on offshore innovations that drive hard to the bottom line. We turned to five leading service and manufacturing companies, and asked them to highlight the advances that were at the top of their lists. Their answers reveal vigorous innovation across a broad scope of offshore technologies that include drilling data, subsea production chemicals, specialized drill bits, MPD-ready rigs, subsea safety valves and gravel packs.
The deepwater Gulf of Mexico debut also eliminated tie-backs, allowing for flexibility in the well design.
Using recent seismic data acquisition and other technologies, officials have been conducting large-scale geoscience programs offshore Canada’s two easternmost provinces, to identify exploration opportunities that went unnoticed 20 years ago.
Underground gas storage wells are an essential component of the natural gas supply chain. The flexibility and resiliency provided by these storage wells are the key to maintaining reliable and responsive gas delivery, especially as demand has increased in the last several years, while supply has become more volatile.
Despite state policies, tough economics stymie gas
E&P activity in the North Sea wanes amid dispiriting contract cancellations and idling rigs.
Industry leaders, specialists, politicians and executives from across the globe will meet in Stavanger, Norway, from Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, for ONS 2016.
Columns
100 years slip by
Of sand dunes and sinkholes
Leaving your comfort zone
The end game
Not without its challenges
Operators pursue new business models
Aramco privatization: The final nail in the coffin?
The industry’s future will be digital
Brian Skeels: A “scientific” fellow
It isn’t just about oil
News & Resources
World of oil and gas
Industry at a glance
People in the industry
Companies in the news
New products and services
