Production and Operations

Subsea Processing in general requires maintenance free reliable high-end instrumentation. In a subsea multi-phase separator, the operators control the process by monitoring the oil and water interface levels as well as the emulsion layer and sedimentation of sand using a nucleonic density profiler. In addition to having the monitoring features, subsea instrumentation needs to go through comprehensive qualification tests in order to run continuously and without maintenance. The design life is 20 years.

The annual SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference took place 4–6 February 2013, in The Woodlands, Texas, USA. Over 1900 attendees took part in the conference that presented 52 papers on topics ranging from fracture diagnostics to microseismic to fracture conductivity.

A virtual place where you can meet, collaborate, and discuss specific technical challenges and resolutions, SPE Connect is now your link to SPE members in the reservoir discipline worldwide.

SPE Connect's online communities enable you to share your experience and knowledge, or draw from the combined talent and expertise of SPE's membership base.

Have you seen a lecture on an exciting topic relevant to Production and Operations? Was the speaker a leader in his or her field of expertise and an outstanding public speaker? If so, nominate them for the SPE Distinguished Lecturer Program—deadline 15 March.

SPE has a distinguished tradition of recognizing individuals who make significant technical and professional contributions to the worldwide E&P industry. We rely on your nominations to help us celebrate those who have made these contributions.

Learn more and nominate a colleague by 15 February »

Hazim H. Abass, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
For his pioneering work on coning-based completion, oriented perforation, non-planar hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells, acid vs. proppant fracturing in carbonate formation, sanding tendency, and directed fracturing, Hazim Abass has earned regional & international SPE awards, company awards,10 patents, more than 45 papers, contribution to 3 industrial books, and more than 500 citations.

John C. Patterson, ConocoPhillips, Houston, Texas, USA
John Patterson has made tremendous contributions to the Oil & Gas industry and in particular in the fields of production optimization, artificial lift and gas separation resulting in new industry and academic standards as well as effective tools for operating companies.

Please join SPE in congratulating the 2012 SPE International Award recipients. The SPE Board of Directors approved the 2012 International Award recipients at their recent meeting. Seventeen international award committees recommended these winners to the board because of their outstanding and significant technical, professional, and service contributions to SPE and the petroleum industry. The winners were chosen from a pool of first rate candidates. SPE President Ganesh Thakur will present the awards to the winners at ATCE in San Antonio Texas.

You are invited to join us for a reception to launch the NEW SPE Technical Section whose aim is to foster the application of data-driven modeling, data mining and predictive analytics in the upstream oil and gas industry, and it's all at ATCE in San Antonio, Texas, USA. RSVP by 1 October.

John D. Rogers, SPE, Vice President of Operations, Fusion Reservoir Engineering Services

Last year in this focus on CO₂ applications, I (as others have) connected enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as an enabling business foundation and a possible way forward to accomplish carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a business investment.