Issue: December 2022
Special Focus: Well Control & Intervention
Analyzing the evolution of relief wells, from an option of last resort to a first line solution, reveals how the increases in accuracy and dependability allow these high-precision wells to be used as a tool that can reduce operational risk.
With the oil industry’s changing of the guard, a new generation of oilfield workers is entering the workforce. To accommodate the influx, well control educators must learn how to engage the next generation with a dynamic, hybrid approach.
Operational, safety and environmental benefits of new light well intervention processes and procedures are opening up potential uses in wells worldwide. This article explores recent technology advances that are maximizing efficiency, safety, and recovery. It discusses the world’s first successful nitrogen (N2) unloading of a subsea well.
INDUSTRY LEADERS’ OUTLOOK 2023
We are now two years down the road from the ultimate pandemic year, 2020, and while the global upstream industry has achieved some notable growth during 2022, the recovery continues to have its limits.
It was an age of foolish governmental policy and over-regulation; it was an age of improved capital discipline; it was an epoch of a pandemic; it was an epoch of entrepreneurial grit; it was a season of activists compelling companies to adopt social goals; it was a season to seize opportunities in decarbonization; it was the winter of despair in attracting new talent from universities; it was the spring of hope to develop and grow employee training and professional growth. Everything before us seemed to be against fossil fuels, yet collaboration and technology offered hope for the best of times to come.
The year 2022 has been a turbulent one for the oil and gas sector worldwide. The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is no exception to this. Oil and natural gas prices rose dramatically following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are resulting in increased CO2 and methane concentrations in the atmosphere and oceans and contributing to climate change in a material way. Unabated, increasingly severe impacts on human life can be expected over the course of the next few decades and throughout this century.
As 2022 stumbles to a close, we should consider again that the oil & gas industry remains in the crosshairs of a political chess game to relegate it to the ash heap of history.
After one of the most anticipated and talked about mid-term elections, one thing is clear, Republicans underperformed while Democrats overperformed.
Industry’s emphasis to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions became stronger this year, as a new line in the sand was drawn by the U.S. federal government with the release of the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”
Oil and gas (O&G) have been good for America and the world. Petroleum engineers, stand up, be counted, and do a shout-out! I believe growing all forms of energy is important for raising global standards of living and that there is also a role for reducing CO2 emissions, from all sources.
Features
The mid-term elections did not provide enough difference to form the basis for a change in U.S. energy policy status quo. The GOP House majority will curb the worst of White House policy threats, but some blunders may get through.
A new business program manages all aspects of well tie-back operations through well startup. The program reduces costs for operators by combining project management, engineering and offshore execution as a turnkey service, utilizing a single team for up-front planning, risk assessments and action close out.
This last article of a three-part series completes the full life cycle operations assessment, comparing a subsea (wet tree) hub-and-spoke scheme against a phased (two-step) approach using a dry tree concept to develop a complex reservoir in ultra-deep waters. This final article adds analyses of field appraisal and abandonment while reflecting on the ALARP and AHARP concepts.
A tiger’s tale
Gas-thirsty Europe helps drive repeated production highs
Production industries rely on automation. These facilities contain programmable logic controllers that continually monitor sensors and provide information about process variables. The use of this data varies depending on the specifics of a given facility. However, the general requirements common to all relate to safety monitoring, process control and data acquisition for facility-specific reporting and calculations.
Hydrogen molecules are the smallest molecules in the universe—one of many factors that present containment challenges for maintaining the integrity of underground H2 storage capabilities. Researchers at NETL, a division of the U.S. DOE, are conducting scientific analysis to understand how best to safely store H2 in cement-sealed underground geologic formations.
Liquified natural gas (LNG) has become a critical resource in the energy sector, driving industry sustainability efforts as a key transitional fuel. As the demand for this alternative energy solution grows, Honeywell offers a portfolio of process solutions to ramp up LNG production and make operations safer and more efficient.
Columns
Technical innovation maintains its momentum
Help for and help from hydrogen
Upstream in South America: To strengthen output, producers need more investment
“May you live in interesting times”
The digitization of mineral rights
Better future for U.S. energy industry
Resources
Crude prices fell in tandem with broader market, as apprehension that higher interest rates, intended to fight inflation, will trigger a global economic recession. WTI fell 3.6%, to average $84.37/bbl in November, with Brent trading at $91.42/bbl, down 2% compared to October.
