The Regional Report of the July issue of Oilfield Technology takes a look down under and examines the Australian upstream oil and gas industry. The lead feature on Maximising Production will cover a broad range of topics targeted at operators aiming to get the most out of their wells. Other features in the July issue include: Seismic Processing, Artificial Lift, Extended Reach, Well Control, Water Treatment/Management, Reservoir Characterisation and Safety and Security.
03 Comment
05 Guest comment
Chris Faulkner, Breitling Energy Corporation.
07 World news
12 At the crossroads
Can Australia’s oil & gas producers re-establish global competitiveness? John McCreery and Brian Murphy, Bain & Co., show how a renewed focus on excellence can help companies restore their competitive edge.
16 Looking at the big picture
Chris Marland, Halliburton, USA, investigates engineered solutions designed to help maximise productivity with a holistic approach to well construction.
21 A new interpretation
Jonathan Henderson, ffA, UK, examines geological expression software designed to deliver a step change in interpretation productivity.
26 High fidelity
Directional drilling has put extra demands on the accuracy and fidelity of imaging algorithms to accurately predict the correct depth and geometry of a reservoir. Dr. Jaime A. Stein and Kevin Hellman, Geotrace Technologies Inc., USA, provide an overview of an imaging toolkit that helps reduce exploration and drilling risks, as well as reserve estimates.
33 Autonomous deepwater nodes - an update
Chris Walker and Steve McIntosh, FairfieldNodal, examine new developments in clock technology that are improving the operating life and range of applications of autonomous deepwater nodes.
37 Reshaping the industry
Mark Rivenbark, Meta, UAE, examines a new metal morphing technology designed to provide improved wellbore integrity and reduce uncertainties over swellables, elastomers and other systems.
41 Cut, reach, clean and analyse
Ola M. Vestavik, Reelwell, Norway, illustrates a solution to improve the performance of extended reach drilling.
45 Working the angles
Neil R. Armstrong, Merlin ERD Limited, UK, outlines the steps that need to be taken in order to avoid differential sticking on high angle wells.
49 Troubleshooting
Mark Fraess and Jennifer McMurtry, KUDU, Canada, examine a new hydraulic stroking unit that can help eliminate some of the most common problems that producers encounter in today’s oilwell environment.
53 Putting the pump jack out to pasture
Mike Wagner, National Oilwell Varco, Canada, examines a new versatile hydraulic pumping unit that is improving efficiency across a range of oil and gas applications.
57 Rock physics for reservoir characterisation
Hamed Amini and Steve Spencer, Senergy, UK, establish the link between petrophysics and seismic data.
63 Shouldering the responsibilities together
Cason Swindle, Well Control Institute, USA, demonstrates the key collaborative efforts needed for better well control across the industry.
67 Ensuring safety through software
Scotty Roper, Lloyd’s Register Energy - Drilling, USA, looks at the safety systems used in the nuclear industry and explains how these can be applied to offshore oil and gas assets in the wake of the Macondo well failure.
71 Solutions for sustainable water supplies
Aaron Johnson, Dow Water & Process Solutions, investigates options for operators looking to reduce the amount of water used in unconventional oil and gas operations.
75 Handling hazardous installation
Scott Orlosky and Michelle Todd, BEI Sensors, explain how to optimise encoder installation in hazardous environments in an increasingly complicated global market.
78 Bringing sea surveillance to surface
The offshore sector is embracing the era of ‘big data’ on the ocean floor. Bob Judge and Silvia Gonzalez, GE Oil & Gas, USA, explain the possibilities that await those who go exploring.
84 Rewriting the rule book
Andrew Clark and Rose Landau, Strategy&, UK, unveil a new model to enable line performance for safety and environmental management in the oil and gas industry.