Issue: April 2014

Special Focus

Technology improvements slash drilling times in Horn River basin

A drilling team applies new technologies, such as a walking rig, rotary steerable system and performance benchmarking, to achieve a three-fold reduction in drilling times.
    

Distributed automation streamlines operations on multi-well pads

Reduced drilling costs, combined with a smaller environmental footprint, have driven the burgeoning growth of multi-well pads.   

Integrated 3D geomechanics and reservoir simulation optimize performance, avoid fault reactivation

Fault reactivation is a significant deepwater hazard offshore Brazil.

Features

OTC 2014 to delve into mega-projects, talent resources and the impact of unconventionals

This year, the OTC will celebrate a major milestone, marking four-and-a-half decades of existence, and coming off of its second-largest attendance in show history in 2013, when more than 104,000 people flocked to Reliant Park.

Ensuring CLOV project reliability through integrated class and equipment certification

CLOV is the fourth major project, which Total and its partners have developed in the prolific Block 17 in deepwater Angola.

Computational tool enables cost-effective offshore floater design

Offshore floating platforms are complex engineering systems, with numerous design challenges for the engineer, from the perspective of safety, reliability and longevity.    

Long-term, solid-scale inhibitor shows promise in deep water

A new, chemical-infused, proppant-sized solid inhibitor is being used in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to provide long-term inhibition for barium sulfate scale.

Need for seafloor production systems drives subsea technology development

Future development of subsea technology will be driven by the concept of the subsea factory.

Regional Report: Gulf of Mexico

Leasing, exploration and drilling activity in the world’s leading offshore basin has surpassed pre-Macondo levels.

ShaleTech: Barnett shale

Production peaking for now, but potential remains strong

New drilling technology increases speed, accuracy of reservoir assessments

A proper, timely assessment of a reservoir can make a substantial difference in a field development’s economic life.

Columns

First oil

Let’s all be refiners

What's new in exploration

Statoil has an exploration game plan

 

Drilling advances

Some federal “fixes” are anything but that

What's new in production

Outside of North America, is there hope for tight oil?

Offshore in depth

Operators set sights on frontier areas

 

Oil and gas in the capitals

The Crimea crisis, Russian gas and Norway

Executive viewpoint

Changing times call for new leadership in oil and gas

Innovative thinkers

Oxane: Down to the nitty-gritty

The last barrel

Federal mandate results in unintended GOM “dead zone”
News & Resources

World of oil and gas

World of oil and gas

People in the industry

People in the industry

Companies in the news

Companies in the news

New products and services

New products and services

Meeting and events

Meeting and events

Industry at a glance

Industry at a glance
Port Fourchon

Creating the foremost deepwater service hub

As we begin the second quarter of 2014, the forecast for the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is extraordinary, with all the barometers pointing to a healthy period of sustained growth in drilling and production activity.

Port Fourchon is place to be, as deepwater demand soars

Activity continues to build back and expand in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and service/supply providers are boosting operations to satisfy the market.

Safer, more resilient port is aim of award-winning system

When your docks play a key role in delivering more than 18% of the nation’s energy requirements, maintaining the utmost security and keeping track of increasingly congested waterways are paramount.

Outdated lease terms, production rule top GEST hit list

With Gulf of Mexico operators forced to jump through increasingly onerous regulations, just to get a permit to drill wells that likewise have become more complex and time-intensive, the current federal leasing model is totally out of sync with the new-world realities.

 

OCS royalties are latest prospect for LA-1 funding

The concerted 17-year effort to acquire financing, and complete the elevated replacement of the critical, but often-impassable, Louisiana Highway 1 corridor in Lafourche Parish, has set its sights on offshore production funds.

Weatherford takes the hands out of pipe handling

Anyone with an affinity for the old-generation, joystick-controlled video games would feel right at home at Weatherford’s fully automated tubular bucking facility in Port Fourchon, which is designed to handle everything from 28-in. casing to 41/2-in. production tubing with minimal personnel.

DRILCO dockside facility readies for incoming rigs

The DRILCO storage yard, at its dockside tubular support facility in Port Fourchon’s C-Port II, speaks volumes on the impending level of business with the new rigs entering the Gulf of Mexico.

K&B turns 40 with “more accurate” name, new home

The family-owned premium threader, once known as K&B Machine of Houma, La., is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with a soon-to-be new home and a corporate identity that “more accurately reflects our range of services.”

Montco expands its decommissioning-dedicated lift boat fleet

Government-mandated decommissioning of non-producing platforms may represent dead weight on an operator’s books, but it means big business for companies with the technologies capable of removing structures and disabling wells on the outermost end of the production cycle.

Harvey Gulf building LNG fueling station in Port Fourchon

Harvey Gulf International Marine is constructing a $25-million liquefied natural gas (LNG) refueling facility in Port Fourchon to serve, what it says, is the growth of LNG as a marine fuel. No completion date for the LNG bunkering facility has been provided.

Danos builds to meet expanding staff, portfolio

Privately held Danos of Larose, La., is in full-fledged construction mode after completing what it described as “an incredible year.”

First class set to arrive at new Fletcher IPT school

The oil and gas industry, especially offshore, will increasingly experience a serious gap of skilled technicians, as large numbers of older and more experienced employees reach retirement age.

Baker Hughes introduces next-generation stimulation vessel

As the growing fleet of oversized deepwater support vessels grabs most of the ink of late, Baker Hughes has expanded its Gulf of Mexico presence with the introduction of the 255-ft new-generation StimFORCE stimulation vessel.

Supreme debuts low-radioactive sub

Supreme Service & Specialty Co. of Houma, La., has introduced a natural gamma (N/G) sub that, it says, is a viable and more cost-effective option to tightly regulated radioactive-tagged (R/A) subs.

Technology from Europe

MEG reclaiming technology: From mobile usage to the world’s largest unit

The formation of hydrates in deepwater natural gas tie-back lines historically was inhibited by injecting triethylene glycol (TEG) or methanol at the subsea manifold.

Changing currents in the North Sea: The view from the UK

A government-commissioned review of the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry by Sir Ian Wood has proposed a radical blueprint for measures to get the best out of maturing North Sea fields.

NPD: Making collaboration a priority

The Norwegian offshore sector is at a crossroads, needing to adopt new techniques and approaches to boost output from mature fields, and stimulate fresh E&P activity.

Dutch firms making impact in frontier areas

The Netherlands’ longstanding connection with the sea is reflected in the global reach of its companies in the oil and gas sector.

Croatia opens offshore to expand resources

Croatian E&P has a long history of moderate production, although it has suffered in recent years from falling output and a lack of outside investment.

Is wellhead design set for a revolution?

Ben van Bilderbeek believes the friction-grip technology developed by his UK-based company, Plexus Ocean Systems, is a major step forward in wellhead design, which can reduce the potential for blowouts, such as that which sparked the Macondo well disaster in 2010.

Directional CTD advances enable drilling of low-margin wells with minimal environmental impact

Operators are always looking for an economical and environmentally sensitive way to access mature oil fields.

Meeting well integrity challenges in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico

As operators continue the push to extract hydrocarbons from ever-deeper waters, well integrity remains a key concern that needs to be addressed.

Adapting cavity pumps to meet new, unconventional challenges

Global demand for crude oil and natural gas continues, unabated.

New option for cost-effective, rig-less well abandonment

Oil and gas well intervention operations, particularly subsea interventions, are expensive and can take rigs away from more productive exploration and development work.

Fundamental plant design for acid gas compression in cold climates

Increased production of sour crude is forcing producers to seek cost-effective acid gas disposal methods that are both environmentally responsible and safe.
Industry at a glance

International Offshore Rigs

International Offshore Rigs

International Rotary Drilling Rigs

International Rotary Drilling Rigs Graph

International Rotary Rig Count

International Rotary Rig Count

Selected World Oil Prices

Selected World Oil Prices Graph

Rotary Rigs Running in US

Rotary Rigs Running in US

US Gas Prices ($/MCF) & Production (BCFD)

Monthly US Gas Prices and Trends ($/Mcf)

U.S. Oil Production

U.S. Oil Production

U.S. Onshore Well Count

U.S. Onshore Well Count

U.S. Rotary Drilling Rigs Graph

U.S. Rotary Drilling Rigs Graph

Workover Rig Count

Workover Rig Count

World Oil and NGL Production

World Oil and NGL Production Table
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