October 2009
Volume 61 Number 10
Features
Guest Editorial – The Myth of the Oil Crisis
Robin Mills, petroleum economics manager for Emirates National Oil Company, says "peak oil" theorists are changing their tune. The high prices of 2008 seemed to give credibility to the idea that the industry had reached the physical limits of production. But now that prices have fallen, peak oil advocates raise a new alarm-that decline will be hastened by a lack of investment.
Regional Focus: Vietnam
Though it may not contain the known reserve base or production rates of neighboring Indonesia or Malaysia, Vietnam nonetheless has emerged as a "bright star" in Southeast Asia.
Management – Common Sense Economics for E&P Projects – Rodney Schulz, Founder, Schulz Consulting
Traditional economic calculations used by petroleum engineers to evaluate and rank projects often do not give the complete picture. One way to align project analysis and prioritization with daily, monthly, and annual objectives is to consider new metrics.
Distinguished Author Series – Sand-Control Aspects for Long-Horizontal-Section Wells in Unconsolidated Heavy-Oil Reservoirs – Andre Leibsohn Martins and Agostinho Calderon, Petrobras
Horizontal wells have become the main wellbore architecture for
offshore development in unconsolidated oil reservoirs along the
Brazilian coast. Most drilling challenges, especially concerning
wellbore stability and cuttings transport, were overcome with
experience. The major completion issue deals with sand control:
openhole-gravel-packing techniques have been developed
especially for Campos Basin applications.
SPE Technical and Professional Award Winners
The winners of SPE's annual Technical and Professional Awards, including the Anthony F. Lucas Technical Leadership Gold Medal, John Franklin Carll Distinguished Professional Award, Distinguished Service Award, and others.
SPE Regional Award Winners
The SPE Regional Awards program recognizes regional achievements in eight technical disciplines.
Society Spotlight
A profile of Engineers Australia.
Discussion/Reply
Field Development Projects
Mauricio P. Rebelo, SPE, Technical Services Manager, Petrobras America
Santos Basin Presalt-Reservoirs Development
This article, written by Assistant Technology
Editor Karen Bybee, contains
highlights of paper OTC 19953, "Santos
Basin's Pre-Salt Reservoirs Development”
The Way Ahead, by J.M.F.
Filho, SPE, A.C.C. Pinto, SPE, and A.S. de Almeida, SPE, Petrobras, originally
prepared for the 2009 Offshore
Technology Conference, Houston, 4–7
May. The paper has not been peer
reviewed.
Sakhalin-1: Technology Development for Frontier Arctic Projects
This article, written by Assistant Technology
Editor Karen Bybee, contains
highlights of paper OTC 20208,
Sakhalin-1: Technology Development
for Frontier Arctic Projects, by J.M.
Hamilton, ExxonMobil Upstream Research, and J.E. Jones, ExxonMobil
Development Company, originally prepared
for the 2009 Offshore Technology
Conference, Houston, 4–7 May. The
paper has not been peer reviewed.
Agbami Project: People and Partnerships Deliver a World-Scale Field Development
This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper OTC 20249, “Agbami Project: People and Partnerships Delivering a World-Scale Field Development, by C.D. Bloomer, Chevron Project Resources Company, originally prepared for the 2009 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 4- May. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Field-Development Expansion By Use of Artificial Islands as Drilling and Production Centers
This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper SPE 118379, "Field Development Expansion of a Giant Oil Field in Abu Dhabi Using Artificial Islands as Drilling and Production Centers," by A. Modavi, SPE, Zakum Development Company/ExxonMobil, and W.W. Martin, SPE, A.H. Muflehi, J.V. Walters, and G. Ismail, SPE, Zakum Development Company, originally prepared for the 2008 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 3-6 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Tight Reservoirs
Gregory Kubala, SPE, Chemistry Metier Manager, Schlumberger
Multiple Transverse Fracturing in Open Hole Enables Development of a Low-Permeability Reservoir
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 119140, "Multiple Transverse Fracturing in Open Hole Allows Development of a Low-Permeability Reservoir in the Foukanda Field, Offshore Congo," by Alberto Casero, SPE, Loris Tealdi, SPE, Roberto Luis Ceccarelli, SPE, Antonio Ciuca, SPE, Giamberardino Pace, SPE, Eni; Brad Malone, SPE, Schlumberger; and Jim Athans, SPE, Packers Plus Energy Services, prepared for the 2009 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference, The Woodlands, Texas, 19-21 January. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Characterization of Hydraulically Induced Fracture Network in a Tight Gas Formation Using Treatment and Microseismic Data
This article, written by Senior Technology
Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights
of paper SPE 125237, "Characterization
of Hydraulically Induced Fracture Network
Using Treatment and Microseismic Data
in a Tight Gas Formation: A Geomechanical
Approach," by Wenyue Xu, Joël Le
Calvez, and Marc Thiercelin, Schlumberger,
prepared for the 2009 SPE Tight
Gas Completions Conference, San
Antonio, Texas, 15-17 June. The paper
has not been peer reviewed.
Effect of Salinity on Wettability Alteration of Porous Media From Liquid-Wetting to Intermediate Gas-Wetting
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 121724,"Effect of Salinity on Wettability Alteration of Porous Media From Liquid-Wetting to Intermediate Gas-Wetting," by Stanley Wu, SPE, and Abbas Firoozabadi, SPE, Reservoir Engineering Research Institute, prepared for the 2009 SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, The Woodlands, Texas, 20-22 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Knowledge Management and Training
Ivor Ellul, SPE, Principal Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Knowledge Reservoir
Anomaly-Driven Engineering Empowered by a Central Surveillance Center
This article, written by Senior Technology
Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights
of paper SPE 123147, "Anomaly-Driven
Engineering Empowered by a Central
Surveillance Center," by J.M. Brutz, SPE,
Shell, prepared for the 2009 SPE Digital
Energy Conference and Exhibition,
Houston, 7-8 April. The paper has not
been peer reviewed.
Implementation of a Drilling-and-Completions Advanced Collaborative Environment - Taking Advantage of Change
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 123801, "The Implementation of a Drilling-and-Completions Advanced Collaborative Environment: Taking Advantage of Change," by S.J. Sawaryn, SPE, S. Goodwin, A. Deady, SPE, C. Critchley, and B. Swanson, SPE, BP plc, prepared for the 2009 SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Aberdeen, 8–11 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
The Judgment-Elicitation Process for Multicriteria Decision Making
This article, written by Assistant Technology
Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights
of paper IPTC 12502, "Judgment
Elicitation Process for Multi-Criteria
Decision-Making in Oil and Gas Industry,"
by Lev Virine, SPE, Schlumberger, originally
prepared for the 2008 International
Petroleum Technology Conference, Kuala
Lumpur, 3–5 December. The paper has
not been peer reviewed.
