What’s new in production

Awards accompany every human endeavor, and it’s no less so in this business. Unlike, say, sports, where the best record is easy for even a casual observer to determine, things are tricky here. The breadth and depth (often literally) of places where great accomplishments occur can make award-worthy candidates difficult to identify and easy to overlook. There’s also the problem of categories.

The world’s deepest concert. Some notable efforts don’t fit into established categories (thanks to Equinor for bringing this one to our attention). “Sometimes the strangest things happen on platforms out in the ocean,” Equinor notes, and the company should know. Katie Melua, singing “Nine Million Bicycles” on a stage 288.5 m below the sea, certainly qualifies. Melua called it “…the closest thing to crazy.” Katie and her band underwent rigorous safety training while 22 tonnes of equipment were transported by 16 helicopters and three supply ships to the rig—and then it all had to be moved to the bottom of the sea.

It was the world’s deepest concert ever, Equinor says. It was held at the bottom of the platform shaft of Equinor’s Troll A platform in 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of gas production beginning from the Troll field. Katie performed a repertoire of songs and guitar music, and was accompanied on the piano for one of the songs by Jan Hauge, at the time Equinor’s Troll A platform manager. The audience included Craig Glenday, editor of the Guinness Book of Records, who was there to confirm and verify that the record had really been broken.

The world’s longest producing oil well. In the typical rhythm of annual awards, the problem with the category of something like the world’s longest producing oil well is the infrequency of the event. In Titusville, Pennsylvania, one of the landmarks in U.S. oil history, the McClintock Well No. 1, was drilled in August 1861, and is still (barely) producing today. At its peak, it produced 50 bbl/day. Now it’s operated by the Drake Oil Museum and is pumped two or three times a year to be kept alive, with an annual output of a mere 30 to 40 bbl—three quarters of which is saltwater.

By the way. ExplorePAhistory.com describes how the famous well is tied to one of the region’s most interesting characters: John W. Steele, who lived near the well and enjoyed its spoils. Because his wealth had derived from petroleum, the press referred to Steele as Coal Oil Johnny. Steele was the adopted son of Culbertson McClintock and his wife. McClintock died before the oil rush began and it fell to his wife to open the land for speculation after Edwin Drake had struck oil nearby. She leased a portion of the farm for drilling, and No. 1 and other producing wells soon became the news of the Oil Creek valley.

By 1862, McClintockville became the center of the oil region, located 12 mi from Titusville. Observers described the area as similar to gold rush settlements in California. Hundreds of rough-board shanties were quickly erected, and carpenters constantly worked to build more. Widow McClintock rapidly accumulated a fortune. Upon her death in 1864, Steele inherited the farm and $200,000. His income from the well was estimated at $2,000 per day. Steele traveled extensively and squandered his inherited fortune. The tale of foolishly spent wealth became a typical archetype for oilmen.

The suggestion box. On a more serious note, awards will continue to be awarded, and this begs the question: for what? In some cases, technology has eclipsed the meaningfulness of some longtime award categories; drillbit records come to mind. However, technical achievements in numerous, established categories remain award-worthy. Beyond that, what other categories of achievement would be the most meaningful? It’s difficult to comprehensively survey the entire catalog of current award grantors—there are many—but perhaps they’re overlooking something important.

For example, some years ago, in one corner of the industry, a company installed, connected and tested seven new saltwater disposal flowlines, totaling 15,520 ft, in less than three days. That seems remarkable, and deserving of an award (as far as we know, it never got one), but what category would it fit? What accomplishments do you think are most deserving of an award? To stimulate thinking, here’s a suggestion proposed by one observer: an award for the most linear feet of reservoir exposed to a single wellbore.

We immodestly assert that the publication you’re reading right now has made a highly appropriate contribution, with its “Best Digital Transformation Award.” But, beyond that large subject, what metrics produced by digital technologies are most meaningful to you? Some things seem inevitable: a truly meaningful award in this industry will have CO₂ reduction as at least a component of whatever is the candidate’s primary function. Digital technology and robotics will also be central to the most dramatic advances.

A future category. Finally, who knows—maybe the most important future category will be “Best New Business Model.” Some see the industry as ripe for one. “I have an industry that’s built for way more work than we are currently doing, or that we think will be done in the foreseeable future—or at least the next three or four years,” said industry consultant Richard Spears recently. It’s a model that “…definitely needs to be changed,” said analyst Luke Lemoine. “It’s just been capital destruction for 20 years.”

“Most radically transformed oil and gas organization” will be a worthy future category, as well. In service of agility and dynamism, Forward-thinkers like Equinor are already making eyebrow-raising changes.

The envelope, please…