January 2020

Engineered nanoparticles mitigate frac hits: Reaching more in-place hydrocarbons increases production

Stephen Gornick, Yusra Khan Ahmad, John Southwell, Nissan Chemical America Corporation

An innovative treatment method uses pressure and surface-modified nanoparticles to mitigate frac hits and create a favorable fluid-flow environment.

An ounce of prevention: Proper training to stack pumps reduces costs

Ben Shuck, Weir Oil & Gas

In the new year, oil and gas operators are rethinking and potentially reconfiguring their sites to better manage expenses and cash flow to achieve sustainable profits in the current climate. To avoid inadvertently increasing costs while trying to curtail them, operators can follow these guidelines.

Regulatory Affairs

David Blackmon, Contributing Editor

A stark reality faces the U.S. oil and gas industry in the 2020 elections

Uniform fracture growth using engineered solid particulate diverters

Mohammed Omer, Jian Huang, Francisco E. Fragachan, Weatherford

To rectify uneven fluid and proppant partition into each placed cluster, numerical models were used to investigate the effectiveness of a particulate diverter system to optimize stimulation strategies under specific downhole conditions.

Regional report: Australia/Papua New Guinea

Kurt Abraham, Emily Querubin, World Oil

Considerable potential remains in this gas-prone region

Critical impact of water management in today’s shale fields

Fady Rizk, Exterran

Properly managing produced water is essential in U.S. shale fields. Customized solutions, optimized for long- and short-term applications, are increasing oil recovery and reducing disposal costs to maximize ROI.

Improving efficiency is driving a new generation of frac plugs

Eric Bruseth, Mark Shaffer, Packers Plus Energy Services

The evolution of frac plugs has helped producers go to new lengths, while reducing operational time and risk. Case studies, onshore and offshore, confirm that these advancements are saving operators money.

Editorial advisor's perspective

Richard R. Clark, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)

2020: An opportunity to demonstrate leadership

Offshore wind developments pushing purposeful innovations

Andries Hofman, GustoMSC

Developers of offshore wind installation jackups must ensure that they continue to incorporate innovations that will enable these vessels to handle the requirements of next-generation turbines.

Scoop/Stack shales

Jim Redden, Contributing Editor

Tough times fall on erstwhile 'Permian-lite'

Production 4.0 opens customized analytics and autonomous controls to anyone

Manoj Nimbalkar, Weatherford International

If only a tiny fraction of the world’s rod-lifted and gas-lifted wells benefitted from autonomous optimization, the industry could save billions in OPEX every year.