Richards

Well, here we are again—the end of summer (at least for me). Since my last report, my workload has tripled, and life seems to be running away. Still, I manage to find time at the end of my working day to jot a few lines for your perusal.

Everything seems to slow down around the time of summer vacation, and this journal is no exception. We have five papers for you in the September issue, and these are:

Minimum-Cost Platform Designs—Cook Inlet, Alaska—This paper is useful because it describes a facilities concept that is practical in both remote and Arctic regions. There have been many self-installing concepts proposed over the years, but most of them have been designed for shallow water in benign regions; few have been installed. This concept pushes the boundary in terms of these structures and is welcomed.

Experimental Research on Treatment of Produced Water From a Polymer-Flooding Process Using a Double-Cone Air-Sparged Hydrocyclone—Polymer flooding is usually considered for water injection into heavy-oil reservoirs to overcome the difference in mobility between the oil and water. The method presented in this paper for treating the produced water is a promising technology that could make polymer flooding more widely acceptable.

The Cost of Carbon Capture and Storage in the Perth Region—This topic is very interesting for me at the moment. Those of you in touch with European affairs will be familiar with the drive to develop a commercial concept for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). I understand the European Union (EU) has suggested that CCS will be required post-2020. From now to 2012, there is an emissions trading scheme operating in the EU that places a value on greenhouse gas emissions. I hope you enjoy this paper and find the information useful.

Flexible Treatment Program for Controlling H2S in FPSO Produced-Water Tanks—This paper suggests a new way to deal with the challenge of hydrogen sulfide forming in storage tanks on and offshore FPSO. The technology could perhaps be applied to other oilfield facilities such as tank farms and produced-water settling facilities.

Offshore LNG Technology: A Comparative Study of Conventional and Futuristic Salt-Cavern-Based LNG Receiving Terminals—The challenge of increasing gas-storage capacity is one that most net consumer countries face. This is an intriguing solution that is applicable to specific geological features. Necessity is the mother of invention.

I hope you enjoy this edition of SPEPFC as much as I enjoy writing these paragraphs. Please post your thoughts regarding these papers to the appropriate discussion board by way of the 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@ep-consult.com.