Koch

I would like to welcome our subscribers to the April 2012 issue of SPE Economics & Management. SPE E&M 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 five peer reviewed papers that represent the broad range of topics covered by SPE E&M :

• i-field^TM Programs Enable Operational Excellence in a Challenging Environment--Pushing the Limits of Large Data Transfer for Real-Time Monitoring and Surveillance Operations in the San Joaquin Valley by Andrei Popa, Steve Cassidy and Mark Barrett describes Chevron's implementation of their i-field^TM program in the San Joaquin Valley to manage and optimize operations and enhanced recovery. The paper describes how program has significantly reduced the time and effort required to execute workflows, which led to a more time efficient operation, and data being better utilized to make informed and timely decisions.
• Proactive Indicators To Control Risks in Operations of Oil and Gas Fields by Stig Johnsen, Eivind Okstad, Andreas L. Aas, and Torbjørn Skramstad looks at another aspect of the implementation of "field of the future" integrated operations. The paper considers the impact these practices may have on health, safety and environment and recommends a set of proactive indicators to ensure that risks are controlled when IO is implemented and operated.
• Intelligent Exploration and Appraisal Program for a Multiprospect Development by Pierre Delfiner describes a methodology to evaluate the potential of a block to lead to a multi-prospect development, and to optimize appraisal. The approach is illustrated by a real deepwater case study including five discoveries and four prospects.
• Regulated Self-Regulation or External Control? Effects of Different Legislative Approaches in the Petroleum Sector in Norway and Brazil by Celma Regina Hellebust and Gier Sverre Braut compares Norway's and Brazil's regulatory approaches to managing occupational health and safety in the petroleum sector. The authors found that despite having very similar legal systems and legislative traditions each country has developed very different regulatory approaches which appear to be strongly based on societal expectations and corporate culture.
• Using the SPE/WPC/AAPG/SPEE/SEG PRMS To Evaluate Unconventional Resources by Phillip Chan, John R. Etherington and Roberto Aguilera focuses on the estimation and evaluation of shale gas reserves using the PRMS. They demonstrate how the use of the system can provide a consistent approach to assessing these resources.

We have also included a technical note:

• A Note on Sources of CO₂ Supply for Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Operations by Phil DiPietro, Peter Balash, and Matt Wallace provides a useful compilation of CO₂ sources in the U.S. In our January issue we published a series of papers on CO₂ management and this note is a valuable resource to go along with those papers.

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 we believe deserves renewed attention from our readers. 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 have selected Evaluation of Devonian Shale Gas Reservoirs  by Charles R. Vanorsdale (SPE-14446-PA). This paper was suggested by Gary Citron, one of the SPE E&M Associate Editors, who commented that this is one of the first papers to question the appropriateness of the Arps equation in application to shale reservoirs. Shale gas is a growing component of our resource base and we thought that this paper is worth a second look.

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 & Associates), James Crompton (Chevron), John Howell (Portfolio Decisions Incorporated), Dr. Wumi Iledare (Louisiana State University), and Dr. Chris Jablonowski (Shell).

I am happy to hear your comments and suggestions about SPE E&M, please feel free to contact me at frank@kochdecisions.com. – Frank Koch