During the past 5 years the well construction sector has witnessed many radical changes, including the emergence of new breakthroughs that reduce cost and risk and the evolution of state-of-the-art... more

Recruiting and training issues are dimming technology's bright promise. As 2001 begins, a spot survey of companies concerned with the big picture drew comments about applying the newest technologies to increase... more

Coflexip Stena Offshore (CSO) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Pierre M. Valentin and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Ehret share their views on the future of deepwater development. Hart's E&P: Can you... more

In creating their companies' information technology (IT) strategies, managers should consider how to implement five key technologies to reduce costs and improve their competitive position. The digital revolution that has transformed... more

The buzz over e-commerce - the company start-ups, the mergers and acquisitions, a few notable failures along the way - has probably served to sour some on talk about new... more

The concepts of multicomponent acquisition have been bandied about the seismic dinner table for decades. Now contractors are trying to serve up solid helpings of the technology. While perhaps not generating... more

Until recently it was a universally acknowledged truth that you could talk about the weather, but there was nothing you could do about it. Now companies, especially energy companies, are... more

IT prophets look to the future. Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, warns that 90% of white-collar jobs will be eliminated or dramatically changed in the next 10 years.... more

The reuse of equipment in the North Sea has, to date, been limited. It's precisely this area, however, that is set to benefit from a great deal of availability as... more

Hart's E&P names new editor in chief Hart Publications has named veteran industry journalist William J. "Bill" Pike editor in chief of Hart's E&P. Pike also will serve as editorial director... more

A duo of heavyweight statistical organizations has painted an optimistically rosy picture for the energy industry of the future with two new and surprisingly similar visions of the period between... more

One hundred years ago the world changed. An oil well called Spindletop blew in at about 10 a.m., Jan. 10, 1901, spewing thousands of barrels of oil per day over... more

Demand is fueling a drilling boom in North America. Oil and gas drilling activity will continue to drive rig counts higher in 2001 as North American operators work to meet accelerating... more

Gulf of Mexico operators are setting deepwater records in the hottest offshore area in the world. The shelf is busy enough to keep jackup utilization rates essentially at 100% and... more

Capital investment in new field developments offshore Norway has leveled off at US $3 billion a year, a 50% fall in capital expenditures compared to 1998. Despite this, the Norwegian... more

Energy-producing countries are leveraging their assets to improve living conditions for their people through more open alliances with foreign investors. More energy investments and economic expansion are solving South America's two... more

2001 is expected to see a consolidation of some of the trends set in 2000. Opec will try to manage prices down to their target range of US $22/bbl to... more

As Asia continues to show strong signs of financial recovery, the region's traditional energy powerhouses are likely to provide the greatest opportunities for international upstream companies. The more eastern locations, such... more

Australasia has long been able to supply a steady flow of solid upstream opportunities. But it looks like it will be gas, not oil, that will fuel the area's future... more

1. Berkley Petroleum Corp., Calgary, Alberta, has run 7-in. liner to 17,650ft (5,383m), some 1,250ft (381m) into the Temblor formation at its East Lost Hills No. 2 wildcat in Kern County,... more

1. Blue Dolphin Energy Co. has a gas discovery at its High Island Block A-7 field, operated by Spinnaker Exploration Co. off the coast of Texas. The High Island A-7 No.... more

1. Norsk Hydro has made a new discovery in the Njord field area with the 6407/7-6 exploration well, it is understood, but it has not yet been established whether it is... more

1. BP will be hoping to keep its 100% discovery rate on Block 18 offshore Angola after spudding its latest well, Cromio-1. BP and Shell announced the success of the Paladio-1... more

1. Chilean state oil company Enap's international subsidiary Sipetrol will put up its 25% interest in Quiamare-LaCeiba field in Venezuela's Anzoategui state in a property swap with Repsol YPF. The Spanish-Argentine... more

1. China's second largest crude producer, Sinopec, says it has found oil and gas reserves off the southeastern coastal province of Shanghai and in the south-central province of Sichuan. The Chinese... more

1. TG Holdings Yemen Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of TransGlobe Energy Corp., has signed a letter of intent to purchase an additional 4% interest in Block 32. This transaction increases... more

1. New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) says the Tusk-1 well offshore Western Australia could contain between 5 million and 10 million bbl of recoverable oil. NZOG, which has a 6%... more

Safely testing deepwater wells requires purpose-built technology and a good deal of experience. By improving the safety and reducing the costs of deepwater well tests, several key technologies are improving operators'... more

Details of a novel approach to drilling and completing open-hole horizontal wells with a fully compatible synthetic- and oil-based fluid system using shunt tube technology have been revealed. MI Drilling Fluids'... more

Since its introduction in 1948, hydraulic fracturing has become a popular method for the stimulation of oil and gas well production. Oil and gas well stimulation involves fracture initiation and propagation... more

In a wonderful new book, The Engines of Our Ingenuity, John Lienhard, University of Houston M.D. Anderson Professor of Mechanical Engineering and History, argues persuasively that we often fail to... more

Greenland's Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) is hoping to build up the interest of oil companies in its sector's prospectivity by opening a new offshore licensing round in its... more

The world seems to be divided between romanticists, who eagerly embraced the dawning of the new millennium last January, and scientists, who grumpily maintain the actual millennevent occurred only this... more