Richards

Hello again, readers, and welcome to the September issue of our journal. We’ve some exciting papers this quarter for you to read, which you will see listed below. Historically, some of the SPE journals have not been peer reviewing papers as quickly as we would like. Our target is to publish papers within 12 months of submittal. We recently have taken steps to improve this and I can report that the number of papers that are being peer reviewed for more than 12 months has been reduced to less than ¼ of the number from this time last year.

Please consider writing a paper for our journal. We may accept any technical paper for review on all aspects of onshore and offshore surface facilities design, project management, operations, and abandonment, including subsea, fixed and floating production systems; pipelines; midstream natural gas (LNG, CNG, GTL plants, terminals, and transportation); carbon capture and storage; project valuation; integrated asset modeling; remote monitoring and control; safety; risk; reliability; human factors; and environmental management. We are particularly interested in papers that report fundamental research and development, new approaches, applications, and insights to these subjects.

OTC 17945/SPE 120022--Pipeline Walking--Understanding the Field Layout Challenges and Analytical Solutions Developed for the Safebuck JIP. This is an interesting paper that explains the mechanism of pipeline walking which for future developments needs to be carefully considered so that pipeline failures caused by this mechanism can be avoided. It’s easy reading and rich with helpful information.

OTC 19493/SPE 120077—Interaction Model for Steel Compliant Riser on Soft Seabed. This paper proposes a model to understand the fatigue damage at the seafloor caused to SCRs hanging off a floater in deep water. It’s a satisfyingly complex paper, with plenty of equations to exercise the grey matter.

SPE 110116--Multiphase Flow Modeling Based on Experimental Testing: An Overview of Research Facilities Worldwide and the Need for Future Developments. This is an interesting paper that should help facilitate experimental multiphase research and increase the utilization of such facilities. I would encourage you to contact the authors if you know of any flow loops that are not included in this paper.

SPE-110211--Why It Is Difficult to Learn Lessons: Insights From Decision Theory and Cognitive Science. This paper confirms the human (at least my own) experience that one learns from one’s own mistakes. However, in the real world, mistakes can be costly, and the authors set out some key methods to help understand the learning process and how to facilitate learning from others’ mistakes, and not just one’s own.

SPE 111505--Performance Characteristics for an Interstitially Insulated Coaxial Pipe Using Wire-Screen Mesh for Deepwater Applications. It was a pleasure to read in this paper about a new concept for subsea pipeline insulation and the amazing results from the experimental work described. Hopefully we will see the technology deployed in the near future.

SPE 111672--The Use of QRA To Inform the Design of a High-Pressure Onshore Pipeline. The pipeline that is discussed in this paper is outside the scope of the applicable design codes, and so this paper described the QRA methodology and result that was used to demonstrate that the pipeline design was safe. It’s a longer paper, but well worth the read.

Well, that’s it for this issue. I hope that you enjoy reading the papers just as I do in reviewing them and writing this editorial. On behalf of the Editorial Review Committee, I would like to say a big thank you for subscribing. Good bye!