New Drilling Technology

Casing drilling proves successful in South TexasIn Conoco's Lobo field, the intermediate and producing sections of wells are often trouble-prone when drilled conventionally. Time may be required for hole conditioning to deal with lost circulation, sloughing formations, gas influxes, potential stuck pipe and running casing. Tesco and Conoco describe how the casing drilling system significantly reduced these problems, saving drilling time and cost.

Keeping the borehole clean Expert, practical advice on how to best clean out cuttings in highly deviated and horizontal wells¾a timely piece, given that an increasing number of wells fall into those categories. Authors from Newfield Exploration Co. and Baroid show what works and what doesn't. Includes field-proven examples.

Extended-range EM MWD in offshore underbalanced drilling This case history, by Computalog Drilling Services and Repsol-YPF-Maxus, describes the first use of this technology in an offshore well. This technology is sometimes the only way to get data in an MWD mode when using certain lightweight drilling fluids such as foam.

 Natural Gas Technology Report:
  Production/Stimulation

Applying unified fracture design to natural gas wells Hydraulic fracturing has become the completion of choice in the U.S. for more than 60% of oil wells and 85% of gas wells. This article by renowned expert Michael Economides and two co-authors examines the overriding commonality in fracture design that transcends the value of reservoir permeability. The authors suggest that this strong theoretical foundation, Unified Fracture Design, is relevant to all types of petroleum reservoirs.

 West Africa Focus

West African Oil and Gas: Can and will it deliver? While the potential for West African E&P has been known for some time, just a few major companies have spent serious time or money in fully exploring the possibilities. As pointed out by veteran oil writer Eamonn Gearon, this may all be about to change in the wake of last Sept. 11, as may the West's view of its more traditional, but perhaps less stable suppliers. Thus prompts the question: Is the West about to start a love affair with West African energy?

 Exploration

Exploration strategies in the 21st century Companies need to know what exploration strategies they are employing in their portfolios, and what the risks and rewards are for a particular strategy. Explorationist Dave A. Russum of Calgary gives a unique perspective of the risks and rewards of reservoir hunting by way of big-game hunting analogies and charts of exploration success. It should spark some discussion among exploration managers.