Richards

Well, here we are again; doesn’t time pass quickly?  We now have the third issue of our new online-only journal: SPE Projects, Facilities & Construction!  This issue comes to you from Aberdeen, Scotland, where I am based.  As I write in early September, it is pouring rain outside (being a Brit, I could talk for ages about the weather—but perhaps I had better not).  For those of you who do not know, the British climate is notoriously unstable, so it provides a constant source of discussion. 

I hope that you all enjoyed reading the last edition of the journal.  We are slowly improving the number of papers in each issue as we build up a head of steam.  This quarter we have five papers—that is a 25% increase from the last edition.  I do appreciate your patience while we increase our paper count.

As all other SPE journals, SPEPFC relies on the contribution of papers from its readers for its publication. We are constantly looking for suitable papers to publish, and we welcome and encourage your submissions.  If you recently have written any relevant papers or have ideas for topics of papers, please go to www.spe.org for information on how to submit a paper. Once a paper is submitted for publication consideration, it will go through the peer-review process.  This discriminating process is one of the things SPE excels at, and because of which, we are able to produce top-quality publications.  But remember, the checks and balances involved in the peer-review process do take time, so submit your paper now to be considered for publication sooner.

For your information, the topics that this journal covers are technical developments, case histories, and field reports for all aspects of surface-facilities design, project management, operations, and abandonment including onshore, offshore (subsea, platform-based, and floating-based systems), and pipelines for oil and gas developments.  It also covers topics such as liquid natural gas, compressed natural gas, and gas-to-liquid plants, terminals, and transportation concepts.  We are also interested in relevant topics that do not fit the above topics or the more established SPE journals.

From this fairly wide remit, we have selected the following papers for publication this quarter.  I cannot attempt to summarize each paper, but here is a brief flavor of each one.

Pipe/Soil Interaction Behavior During Lateral Buckling describes the work done by a joint industry project (JIP) for deepwater-pipeline-stability issues.  While much has been published on this topic, there is little information as to how these pipe/soil interactions can be modeled at the design stage.  The results of this JIP will, therefore, be welcomed by the deepwater-pipelines community.

Improved Mechanical IGF Technology for FPSO Application—First Installation Theory and Practice describes a novel adaptation of the induced gas-flotation process for cleaning up produced water from offshore installations.  The paper contains theoretical work and compares that to the actual results of the offshore trial on a deepwater Gulf of Mexico platform.

Creating a Culture To Deliver Sustainable HSE Performance describes a model for how to improve the culture or “way of working” in an E&P company that is aimed at a reduction in the number of incidents relating to health, safety, and the environment (HSE).  There are many books and papers on the creation and assessment of an HSE culture. This paper provides a generic model, which may be useful to adopt.

Comprehensive Risk-Evaluation Approaches for International E&P Operations is all about allowing risks to be quantified in a simple yet robust and defensible manner. Three case studies are presented that cover some scenarios that an E&P company may recognize.

The last paper, Case Study: Modeling of a Large-Scale Tight-Gas-Gathering System, describes a nodal analysis of a gas-gathering system in western Colorado.  While this normally might not cause you to raise your eyebrows, this system does not operate in “steady state,” and the flow rates in any part of it vary minute by minute.  The model employs statistical analysis to determine the dynamic response of the system under various scenarios.

I hope you enjoy this edition of SPEPFC. Please post your thoughts regarding these papers to the appropriate discussion board by way of the View/Submit Discussion link found below each title on the Table of Contents page.  If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at Simon.Richards@petro-canada.com.