Koch

As I sit down to write this issue's executive summary, I have just returned from the 2010 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Firenze (Florence), Italy. The meeting was excellent, with a great international diversity of speakers and attendees. There were several excellent sessions on economics and management. I can also attest that there is no such thing as a bad pizza in Firenze; I think I gained as much weight as I did knowledge. I would like to welcome those new subscribers who have recently joined. SPE Economics & Management covers a wide range of topics of interest to petroleum engineers, managers, and others involved in the energy business, including resource and reserve evaluation, portfolio and asset management, project valuation, strategic decision making and processes, uncertainty/risk assessment and mitigation, systems modeling and forecasting, benchmarking and performance indicators, information and knowledge management, digital energy, and petroleum economics. In this issue, we have seven very diverse and interesting papers. We have six new peer-reviewed papers:

Antipatterns: A Tool for Continuous Improvement by David R. Feineman addresses how digital oilfield projects can be improved by watching out for and avoiding antipatterns. Maybe you have fallen victim to some of the antipatterns listed in Feineman's rogue gallery: "Golden Hammer," "Throw it over the Wall," and "Who’s your Daddy" are some of my favorites. These antipatterns can be well-intentioned process models, "best practices" gone bad. Intrigued? Download the paper and learn about antipatterns.

Realizing Value From Real-Time Well Monitoring in Greenfield Assets also by David R. Feineman presents two case studies describing the challenges of implementing real-time well-monitoring systems in remote new developments. The paper focuses on organizational factors and culture and language differences that need to be understood and managed to successfully create value.

Simulations of Field-Development Planning Help Improve Economics of Heavy-Oil Project by Dwight Teotico, Luke Schauerte, James Griffith, Gary Schottle, and Ralph Mehl describes how visualization technology, planning processes, and analysis improved the economics of ultra heavy oil development. Field development planning incorporated subsurface, surface, and environmental constraints to optimize the required number of pads.

An Update on the Use of Reservoir Analogs for the Estimation of Oil and Gas Reserves by R.E. Sidle, and W.J. Lee discusses the use of analogs consistent with the updated US Securities and Exchange Commission regulations for reporting reserves. Several examples are given to illustrate the use of analogs.

Gas Reserves Estimation in Resource Plays by W.J. Lee compares and critiques six methods of forecasting production and estimating reserves in poorly understood resource plays. The paper also considers incentives to use uncertainty analysis to better characterize future production and reserves.

Oil, Natural Gas, and NGL Endowment in North, Central, and South America by Roberto F. Aguilera, and Roberto Aguilera describes the use of a variable shape distribution model to estimate the hydrocarbon endowment of the Americas. They compare their results to the USGS 2000 assessment.

In addition to our peer-reviewed papers, we are continuing our feature called "Worth a Second Look." In each issue, we include a significant paper that SPE has published in the past that we believe deserves renewed attention. Many of our current members may not be aware of these papers, or may not have read them in a long time. Although our thinking in economics, decision making, and management has evolved over the years, many of these articles have true relevance today. For this issue, we take a second look at Jim Murtha's paper Monte Carlo Simulation: Its Status and Future originally published in JPT in 1997. As a special bonus, Jim agreed to write an introduction reflecting on the years since his paper was written. Be sure to read it and find out if the future turned out as he expected.

I am also pleased to announce that in 2011 we are planning to expand SPE Economics & Management to a quarterly publication. One of the 2011 issues will be a special issue dedicated to management issues related to CO₂. The focus will be on the current state of play with respect to regulation, legal, tools for economic analysis and other management challenges. Sean McCoy of Carnegie Mellon University has agreed to serve as the editor of this special volume. We will have a call for papers soon.

As always, I would like to thank and acknowledge our editorial review committee for their continuing hard work. This group is made up of a distinguished group of seven associate editors: Dr. Steve Begg (University of Adelaide), Dr. Reidar Bratvold (University of Stavanger), Gary Citron (Rose & Assoc.), James Crompton (Chevron), John Howell (Portfolio Decisions Inc), Dr. Wumi Iledare (LSU), and Dr. Chris Jablonowski (UT-Austin).

I am happy to hear your comments and suggestions about SPE Economics & Management, please feel free to contact me at fgko@chevron.com. – Frank Koch