It's frustrating to be unable to reach the desired wellbore depth with a specific tool because it can't pass through a dogleg in the well bore. Ever experience a bad... more

Coiled tubing (CT) technology has been around for more than 45 years. Growing steadily from its inception, it has been deployed in some form around the globe - a truly... more

Numerous failures of high-pressure piping used to connect nitrogen supplies to coiled tubing (CT) units drove the development of a new approach to CT operations. Pipe and connections often aren't... more

In the Sabriyah oil field, one of the largest in northern Kuwait, water production has become an increasing problem for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). In some wells this problem has... more

A significant number of directional wells targeting deep gas in North America are low-inclination boreholes shaped in the form of the letters J or S. The J-shaped wells start with... more

A happy consequence of rising commodity prices and rig day rates is increased focus on improving drilling efficiency. Anything that improves drilling performance and safety can help reduce costs and... more

In the deep, high pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) wells of the Tuscaloosa Trend, even the latest drilling technologies quickly reach performance limits, and equipment failure is common. In addition to severe HP/HT... more

It seems like perfect supply and demand. On the supply side, 70% of the Earth's crust is composed of shale. On the demand side, power generation and industrial applications will... more

For the explorationist to fully understand the petroleum systems of any basin, an appreciation of the tectonic evolution in determining present-day characteristics is imperative. Palaeogeographic reconstructions, enhanced with reservoir and... more

The oil and gas exploration industry currently spends more than US $5 billion a year on gathering 3-D seismic data. Seismic can identify the geological structures that may contain hydrocarbons... more

Preparations are on track by Madagascar's national oil company, the Office des Mines Nationales et des Industries Strategiques (Omnis), for a late September bid round for deepwater acreage in the... more

MARS (Multiple Application Re-injection System) is a new wellhead-mounted artificial lift and injection technology that establishes the wellhead as the unit of production. It is being compared to the "USB... more

Strong storms smashed through the Gulf of Mexico during the past couple of years, and statistics say the offshore oil and gas industry will face more of the same this... more

A depressed level of exploration drilling has been evident in the Gulf of Mexico deep water during 2005 with the lowest number of exploration wells since 1996. As would be... more

Recent forecasts have predicted that the required number of subsea wells globally will grow to 350 to 400 per annum in the years ahead. At a presentation in Aberdeen earlier... more

Up to as recently as 10 to 15 years ago, most financial analysts had one key performance indicator by which they judged an oil company's performance - $/barrel discovered. Yet,... more

EXPLORATION, INDIVIDUAL EQUIPMENT: QUICKSILVER Schlumberger Probe sets benchmark for fluid evaluation Schlumberger's QuickSilver Probe addresses the fundamental problem of openhole formation fluid analysis: uncertainty due to the contamination of the fluid sample... more

Shell Malaysia reported that Datuk Jon Chadwick, chairman of Shell Malaysia, will be moving onto another senior Shell position within Asia. Saw Choo Boon, currently vice president of Shell Global... more

North America 1. The Cook Inlet in southern Alaska claimed a discovery when Aurora Gas LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, tested 2 MMcf/d of gas from Beluga at a stepout from the... more

The physical, geographic and economic landscape of the oil and gas industry has changed drastically over the past 3 years. Advances in technology and processes have added to this ever-changing... more

Rowan Companies executives Bob Palmer, Danny McNease and Robert A. Keller may be the only people in the oilpatch with their names on a patent to use an offshore platform... more

Last month I exhorted my exploration readers to get out there and get exploring because the pundits and prognosticators expect this to be a busy year for the discovery of... more

In a city of vigorous energy consumers, new technology for cost-effective energy development is quietly presented. Miami Beach. Expensive yachts. Exotic cars. Exclusive resorts. The global drilling industry? Well, for 3... more

For cinema fans, this year's Academy Awards provided more than a few surprises. Fortunately, there were no surprises in this year's crop of Meritorious Engineering Award winners - all were... more

Database stores geopressure information Knowledge Systems has introduced Pressworks, a relational database that allows operators to store and manage geopressure-related data, including geophysical, petrophysical and drilling data. The database is developed... more

The new Scanner family of wireline logging tools from Schlumberger answers the most fundamental of exploration and production questions: Where are the hydrocarbons, will they produce, and what other fluids... more

I have been asked - goaded is a more appropriate term - by various colleagues to launch an instructional series based on my long-ago field experiences. So, here goes. I have... more

New crews on the scene Dawson Geophysical Co. and TGC Industries are both launching new crews. Dawson's crew brings that company's total count to 12, and TGC's count is up to... more

After Googling "oilfield service companies" on the Web, one finds a list of drilling companies (e.g., Transocean,), seismic data acquisition companies (such as Compagnie Générale de Géophysique), well data acquisition... more

To improve the quality of portfolio decisions, companies are making an increasing effort to explore their options in depth, with the goal of risk identification, quantification and reduction. But time... more

Some of the deepest pockets in the oil and gas industry are reaching into the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico as operators chase the Paleogene play from Alaminos... more

My first job in seismic exploration came after an interview with the late Norm Christie, past president of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and a geophysicist. He hired me... more