Integration and collaboration were keys to identifying an optimal field development plan. Schlumberger Data and Consulting Services conducted a multidisciplinary integrated study on a highly overpressured gas reservoir, Kela 2... more

Innovations in drill bit design continue to improve performance. During the last decade, diamond bits have taken market share away from tricone roller bits. Today, polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits account... more

The Validus system was designed not only to outperform today's rotary steerable systems in extended-reach applications, but also to replace much of the conventional downhole motor market. Validus International has completed... more

Rotary steerable tools open the door for true automated downhole steering. A critical feature is the downhole brain, which could use fuzzy logic to make directional steering decisions. Currently, there is... more

New polymer gel systems are improving waterflood economics and reducing produced water volumes from China to South America. During the past 25 years, technology has been developed to increase conformance... more

"Smart polymers" limit water production without hindering oil, while reducing cuts and costs. Chevron Texaco Exploration and Production Technology Company (EPTC) has successfully applied water control treatments using a novel relative... more

Drilling with lightweight muds makes its way into multilateral wells in South America. Rewritten with permission from Weatherford Magazine, September 2002. Subsurface conditions, remote locations and the popularity of enhanced recovery in... more

NORTH AMERICA Conoco wins safe company award Conoco Inc. was named one of America's Safest Companies for 2002 by Occupational Hazards magazine. Conoco ranked as the safest major energy company in the... more

Two new programs help operators manage reservoirs and mitigate risk. Making decisions about oil and gas reservoirs is not easy. For one thing, there are all kinds of risks and obstacles... more

Operators and contractors say they prefer generic designs for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels rather than one-off designs for each new project. ConocoPhillips has voiced a preference for generic... more

NORTH AMERICA El Paso Corp. sold its San Juan Basin assets in New Mexico to subsidiary El Paso Energy for US $782 million. Those assets include gas gathering, processing and... more

Energy companies need to be more serious about coaching the so-called "soft" skills. Going to school can be terrible preparation for being in business. The problem is that the whole focus... more

1. Aera Energy LLC, Bakersfield, Calif., drilled its #1-22 Northwest Lost Hills well in Kern County, Calif., to 20,457 ft (6,239 m) with casing installed in preparation for production testing.... more

1. Stone Energy Corp. found 59 ft (18 m) of net gas at its first well in West Cameron Block 45. It will install a single-well caisson surface facility with... more

1. Amerada Hess's West of Shetland Cambo exploration well, 204/10a-1, which was spudded with the West Navion drillship on Oct. 19, concluded without comment from the operator. Operations on the... more

1. Trinidad Exploration and Development Ltd. started drilling the onshore Rapso-1 well on the southwestern tip of Trinidad's Southwest Peninsula Block. Targets are the Tertiary Morne L'Enfer, Forest and Cruse... more

1. Apache Corp. made its fourth consecutive deepwater discovery in the West Mediterranean Concession off Egypt, taking it closer to its target of 3 Tcf for a deepwater development. The El... more

1. Tyumen Oil Co. continued a development campaign at its 3.7 billion-bbl Samotlor field in western Siberia with 10 successful development wells in the Ust Vakh area. One of the... more

1. Reliance Industries is moving ahead with plans to set up a US $2 billion, 10 million-tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Jamnagar in Gujarat off the India's west... more

1. Unocal's Unocal Sulu agreed with a Philippine-centered exploration group headed by Alcorn (Production) Philippines to take a look at the Galoc prospect in northwestern Palawan. If it likes the... more

Startup tech firms need to hire good people - and bring kolaches. There are a few really irritating things about the oil industry if one is trying to form a new... more

ChevronTexaco scientists have figured out how to turn condensate into nanometer-sized diamondoids. For many years diamonds have been used on drill bits to reach oil and gas reserves, but nobody... more

The Department of Energy puts up some numbers that help define how potential water disposal regulations in the Powder River Basin could impact US gas supply. As many as 39,000 coalbed... more

When I started searching for topics for this column, I came up a bit short. That gave me cause for reflection. Was it me, or were things so quiet that... more

A precise knowledge of the inherent risks of a project leads to better drilling results. Operators are coming closer to that perfect combination of the lowest cost and the best construction... more

Companies have learned that teams in which multiple technical and organizational perspectives are represented can produce better results than highly talented individuals acting alone. Unfortunately, not all teams live up... more