Issue: September 2015

Special Focus

How wide-azimuth, long-offset seismic reduces field development costs in the Bakken

Land seismic innovations, such as the affordable acquisition of wide-azimuth, long-offset data, coupled with offset and azimuthally friendly processing, provide rich insights into the Bakken formation.

A new look at vintage data reinvigorates Cote d’Ivoire’s exploration potential

Newly reprocessed vintage seismic data, covering an area rich with discoveries, offers operators the chance to capitalize on an under-explored area offshore West Africa.
Features

Operators achieve photorealistic borehole imaging in oil-based drilling fluids

An operator in Australia wanted to assess the potential of a well while drilling with oil-based mud. Conventional coring was cost-prohibitive, and existing imaging tools were not suitable for the large borehole size. A new, specially designed imager was used to achieve impressive results.

Drilling falters while production and reserves register further increases

Low oil prices are constricting drilling activity worldwide with a couple of exceptions. Meanwhile, production and reserve levels have gained, spurred by last year’s stout drilling effort.

Iran’s return to world oil markets

What does it mean for production, markets, and investment opportunities?

In the digital oil field, “no wires” is a no-brainer

Wireless networks are changing the way that producers look at wellsite optimization. And in the Bakken shale, where operating conditions are among the most difficult in the world, a pilot test conducted by WPX Energy showed how wireless is increasingly becoming a preferred method.

2015 Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition

One of the larger petroleum industry conferences and exhibitions in the U.S., the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (LAGCOE) will celebrate 60 years during Oct. 27-29. Once again, the three-day biennial event will take place at the Cajundome & Convention Center in Lafayette, La. It drew more than 17,000 attendees in 2013. Once again, admission to the 2015 show is free, but limited to industry personnel.

Regional report: Permian Basin

Memo to bulls-in-waiting: If your recovery models are built around operators in the Permian basin choking down the spigot, now would be a good time to recalibrate.

Petroamazonas cuts downtime, expenses with system upgrade, virtualization

FactoryTalk software, virtual servers replace aging human-machine interface infrastructure as part of multi-facility upgrade, which saved the operator considerable expense.
Columns

First oil

The tragedy of us vs. them

Energy issues

They come out at night

What's new in exploration

So, what to do now?

Drilling advances

New takes on rig floor PPE

What's new in production

Can you give me a lift?

Offshore in depth

Signs of the times

Oil and gas in the capitals

Russia: Time of choices

Executive viewpoint

Slow uptake of new technologies: Is the criticism justified?

Innovative thinkers

Wallace E. Pratt: In the minds of men

The last barrel

Additions to U.S. oil reserves from Shale Revolution remain impressive
News & Resources

World of oil and gas

World of oil and gas

Industry at a glance

Industry at a glance

People in the industry

People in the industry

New products and services

New products and services

Companies in the news

Companies in the news
ShaleTech Report

Yankee ingenuity at work

How do you maintain profitability when the crude oil price drops by 60%? For some highly leveraged shale oil and gas operators, the end is near.

Flow-channel fracturing raises production in the Eagle Ford

Studies in the Eagle Ford shale show that flow-channel fracturing delivers gains in oil and gas production and recovery while reducing water and proppant usage.

Re-fracturing simulations: Pressure-dependent SRV and shear dilation of natural fractures

Pressure-dependent SRV regions take shape during water injection in the fracturing process and reduce in size during production. Pressure depletion shows that there is a significant amount of oil saturation left between the fractures. This provides the rationale for refracturing between existing fractures.

Solid expandable technology improves refracture diversion

Solid expandable liners provide positive mechanical isolation of old perforations and enable the fracturing of new reservoir rock. These liners have robust mechanical ratings that often exceed the casing that they are being expanded into, and provide maximum ID to permit continuation of planned completion activities.

ShaleTech news

ShaleTech news
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