International oil companies have re-ignited their interest in Russian oil attracted by the prospects of continued high production growth, massive reserves and high oil prices. Despite the risks and challenges, Russia... more

One of the latest pieces of subsea hardware to come out of Norway is Atlantis, a prototype drilling and intervention buoy that allows equipment not rated for deepwater to be... more

Billed by its originator as "A novel system design enabling ultra-deepwater field developments," the NuDeep concept is about moving the game forward for subsea technology. ABB has been talking about the... more

Collaboration between Norwegian and Italian companies could see the installation of the world's first subsea gas compressor towards the end of the decade. Last August Norway's Aker Kværner and Italy's... more

Breaking new boundaries is essential to stay ahead in the subsea equipment business and a pioneering project in the US Gulf is doing just that by notching up a number... more

A new, downlink drilling control system changes conventional drilling operations. Halliburton's Sperry Sun product service line has developed the Geo-Pilot rotary steerable system and the Geo-Span downlink drilling control system,... more

The anatomy of a step-change: A new perforating technique improves productivity by factors of three to six in several North Sea horizontal completions. Using a methodical, scientific approach Statoil has... more

Intelligent Well Systems (IWS) are growing in popularity and application. Here's one company's take on where the market is, and where it's going. In preparation for this article, we reviewed current... more

Situational concerns drive development of well-by-well engineered solutions, but the reward is worth the effort. Today we have the capability to place wellbores exactly where we want them, accessing multiple reservoirs,... more

A new design enables West Texas operators to use a more cost-effective approach in deep Devonian completions. Many reservoirs that could benefit from the implementation of multilateral technology are limited because... more

Successful operations in hostile well environments demand special instrumentation in combination with extensive expertise. Operators and service companies both face similar challenges - detailed conceptual planning and design must evolve... more

Now that Mustang has landed a contract to design the first compliant tower for use in deepwater offshore West Africa, it's interesting to note its taken over two decades for... more

The Displaceable PDC Casing DrillShoe tool from Weatherford is designed to drill in almost any PDC drillable application. Its uniqueness comes from the fact that it can be used in... more

The Tubing-Retrievable Flow Controller - Hydraulic (TRFC-H) from Schlumberger optimizes reservoir production by adjusting the flow rate between the reservoir and the tubing by creating a pressure drop through a... more

New seismic information can create potential value for those discoveries where significant reservoir uncertainties impede appraisal and development decisions. When companies can better define the productive area and estimated reserves, they... more

NORTH AMERICA Long-time OIPA leader ad political activist Mike Cantrell, Ada, led the list of association honorees during the recent Annual Meeting in Shangri-La. Cantrell, former OIPA president and co-founder... more

Indonesia, the only Asian member of OPEC, has seen slowly declining production since the late 1990s, while domestic consumption has slowly increased. Efforts to find new fields are centered in... more

1. Venoco Inc., Carpenteria, Calif., drilled a discovery with its 14-1 Bonaire in Section 14-18n-1w in Glenn County, Calif. The 5,860-ft (1,787-m) well tested at 1.4 MMcf/d of gas from... more

1. Woodside Energy plugged and abandoned its Samoa #1 exploratory well in Brazos A 10 after drilling to 18,258 ft (5,568 m), the well found minor gas shows but Woodside... more

1. DNO Heather has won approval with partners Challenger Minerals, a Global Santa Fe subsidiary, and Palace Exploration, to develop the newly-named UK Broom oil field as a subsea tieback... more

1. A funding agreement has been signed between Centurion Energy International and PetroCanada covering the Mellita Exploration Permit offshore Tunisia, with seismic underway and drilling planned by mid-2004. Under the terms... more

1. BP has pinpointed liquefied natural gas in Trinidad and Tobago as a prime area for future profits for the company. BP currently is the biggest gas producer in Trinidad... more

1. Omax Resources' said Amity Oil's Yesiltepe-1 well in western Turkey tested natural gas at rates as high as 3.2 MMcf/d from perforation between 3,796 ft and 3,816 ft (1,157... more

1. Kuwait extended two key deadlines for the submission of development proposals by three international consortia led by supermajors ExxonMobil, BP and ChevronTexaco seeking to upgrade oilfields along the border... more

1. Indonesia has awarded eight blocks from its 2003 licensing round, with the proposed work programs having a total exploration investment of US $170 million. Australia's Santos was awarded the Bali... more

As the first corporate recipient of a prestigious Dell Inc. award, a geophysical contractor shows that the upstream industry knows a thing or two about computers. When it comes to pushing... more

Whether you're setting foundations or constructing roads, good cementing practices are the key to structural integrity and controlling costs. Well construction is no exception. Getting a cement plug right, first time,... more

Interesting new technology was everywhere you chose to look as the industry reacted to sunny weather in the oil patch. Aberdeen in autumn can be lovely - or not. Fortunately, visitors... more

Look to increased subsea data acquisition and use to add options in deepwater plays. By designing deepwater subsea infrastructures that integrate advanced data acquisition and management technologies with the latest hardware,... more

Lately we have been engaged in more forward planning sessions here than is normal. In these, we build scenarios based on world situations, oil and gas prices and activity levels.... more

With thousands of strings of pipes to manage in multiple locations, operators need just-in-time solutions. In their quest to reduce total operating costs, oil and gas companies are demanding their suppliers... more

A series of new projects off the North West Shelf of Western Australia are preparing for world markets. A huge new supply of natural gas is making its way from the... more

Between the Hubbert-curve disciples, who predict the world is running out of oil, and the climate change contingent, which fears that if we don't stop burning hydrocarbons the world's ecosystems... more