November 2011
Volume 63 Number 11
Features
Guest Editorial • How Converging Technology Trends Will Drive the Next Great Step Change
To achieve a significant step change in safety, efficiency, reliability, and performance while addressing growing demand and reservoir complexity, the oil and gas industry will have to decide how best to use automation.
From Bacteria to Barrels: Microbiology Having an Impact on Oil Fields
Companies are using microbes to get more oil from old fields, turn coal into natural gas, and to manage sour gas problems aused by bacteria. The interest reflects advances in identifying bacteria and understanding what they do.
Interest Grows in Asia Pacific Offshore Projects
The vast horizon of the Asia Pacific offshore region, one of the world’s most active hydrocarbon provinces, will remain a major factor in the global petroleum industry for decades. Throughout the region, the need for technology innovation is increasing as the industry faces the challenges of deepwater projects, stranded gas monetization, drilling and development in high-pressure/high-temperature formations, and management of CO2 levels in producing reservoirs.
Industry Salaries Continue to Rise
Results of the annual salary survey of E&P professionals worldwide show that compensation in the petroleum industry in 2011 continues to follow the growth trend of recent years, with an overall increase in average base pay globally of 6.5%.
Quantifying the Invisible: Getting a Handle on Methane’s Climate Impact
Earlier this year, a Cornell University professor made quite a splash publishing a paper asserting that emissions from shale gas rivaled those from coal. Not so, say three separate recent reports whose issuers have impeccable credentials.
Offshore Europe Draws Record Attendance
Drawing record attendance, Offshore Europe 2011 focused on project complexity, innovative operating models, the evolution of national oil companies, the challenges of decommissioning, new technology, and the industry’s long-term future.
Technology Focus
Brent Estes, SPE, Drilling Fluids
Specialist, Chevron Energy Technology
Company
Drilling and Completion Fluids
Improving Compatibility of Drilling Fluid, Completion Fluid, and Other Well-Treatment Fluids for Deepwater Wells
This article, written by Senior Technol ogy Editor Dennis
Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 141513,
"Chemical Additives for Improving Compatibility of Drilling Fluid, Completion
Fluid, and Other Well-Treatment
Fluids for Deepwater Wells," by Xiaoping (Victoria)
Qiu, SPE, Lee Morgenthaler, SPE, Eddy
Martch,
SPE, Hiep Vu, SPE, Mootasem Chtay,
and Vanessa Farrell David, Shell International
E&P, prepared for the
2011 SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, The
Woodlands, Texas, 11–13 April. The paper has not been peer
reviewed.
Holistic Drilling-Fluid and Waste Management in the Fayetteville Shale
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 144036, "Holistic Drilling-Fluid and Waste Management in the Fayetteville Shale," by Mark Mabile, SPE, and David Richardson, Southwestern Energy, and Steven Garner, Barry Broussard, and Richard Smith, SPE, Performance Fluid Management, prepared for the 2011 SPE North American Unconventional Gas Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, 14–16 June. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Drilling With a Balanced-Activity Invert-Emulsion Fluid in Shale: Is It Sufficient for Maintaining or Enhancing Wellbore Stability?
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney,
contains highlights of paper SPE 145969, "Drilling With
a Balanced-Activity Invert-Emulsion Fluid in Shale: Is It Sufficient
for Maintaining or Enhancing Wellbore Stability?," by Terry
Hemphill, SPE, Halliburton, prepared for the 2011
SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 30 October–2 November. The
paper has not been peer reviewed.
Drilling Highly Depleted Formations With Engineered-Particle Nonaqueous Fluids: South China Sea
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 139932, "Drilling Highly Depleted Formations With Engineered- Particle Nonaqueous Fluids: South China Sea," by Michael R. Niznik, SPE, Adela Lawrence, SPE, and Sabine C. Zeilinger, SPE, ExxonMobil, prepared for the 2011 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 1–3 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Jon Ruszka, SPE, Field Career Development Manager, Baker Hughes Africa Region
Horizontal and Complex-Trajectory Wells
Overcoming Challenges of Drilling High-Dogleg-Severity Curves
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 139773, "Overcoming Challenges for Drilling High-Dogleg- Severity Curves," by S. Janwadkar, SPE, O. Hummes, SPE, A. Peter, M. Freeman, SPE, and S. Privott, SPE, Baker Hughes; D. Greene, SPE, SM Energy; and C. Loesel, SPE, Forest Oil, prepared for the 2011 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 1–3 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Successful Short-Radius Re-Entry Well in Deep-Gas Drilling in Saudi Arabia
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 139855, "The First Successful Short-Radius Re-Entry Well in Deep-Gas Drilling in Saudi Arabia," by Shaker Al-Khamees, SPE, and Hope Okwa, SPE, Saudi Aramco, and Jaywant Verma, SPE, and Sukesh Ganda, SPE, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2011 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 1–3 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Shallowest Horizontal Well Drilled in the Middle East: Challenges and Successes
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 142439, "Shallowest Horizontal Well Drilled in the Middle East: Challenges and Successes," by Abhijit Dutta and Bader M. Al Azmi, Kuwait Oil Company, and Hakim Al Abri, and Musab Ali, Halliburton, prepared for the 2011 SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 25–28 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Scott J. Wilson, SPE, Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott Company
Gas Production Technology
Flow-Assurance Challenges in Gas-Storage Schemes in Depleted Reservoirs
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney,
contains highlights of paper SPE 146239, "Flow-Assurance
Challenges in Gas-Storage Schemes in Depleted Reservoirs," by Alireza
Kazemi, SPE, and Bahman Tohidi, SPE,
Hydrafact Ltd., and Emile Bakala Nyounary,
Heriot-Watt University, prepared for the 2011 SPE Offshore
Europe Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Aberdeen, 6–8
September. The paper has
not been peer reviewed.
Achieving Solids-Free Gas-Production Target Rate From Highly-Unconsolidated-Sandstone
Formation Intervals
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 141878, "Achieving Target Solids-Free Gas Rate From Highly- Unconsolidated-Sandstone Formation Intervals," by Nahr Abulhamayel, J. Ricardo Solares, SPE, Walter Nunez, Ataur Malik, SPE, Mustafa Basri, SPE, and Andrew McWilliams, Saudi Aramco, and Oumer Tahir, SPE, and Mohammad Abduldayem, SPE, Weatherford, prepared for the 2011 SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 20–23 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Screening Method To Select Horizontal-Well Refracturing Candidates in Shale-Gas Reservoirs
This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney,
contains highlights of paper SPE 144032, "A Novel Screening
Method for Selection of Horizontal- Refracturing Candidates
in Shale-Gas Reservoirs," by Shekhar Sinha,
SPE, and Hariharan Ramakrishnan, SPE, Schlumberger,
prepared for the 2011 SPE North American Unconventional Gas
Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, 14–16 June.
The
paper has not been peer reviewed.
