A decade and a half after its Mars TLP started production, Shell is gearing up for the Mars B development and its centerpiece, the Olympus TLP. Russell McCulley talks to Robert Patterson, Shell VP upstream major projects for the Americas, about…
For this specially extended edition of his monthly OE column, Professor Michael Economides invited famed horizontal drilling pioneer Jacques Bosio to collaborate on a piece discussing the provenance of this breakthrough technology and its continuing influence on oil & gas well design today…
A configuration change-up on traditional spars could spell out some relief in wind load, drop the unit’s center of gravity, slim down the hull, and cut the amount of tripping time needed for drilling operations from a spar. OE’s Jennifer Pallanich…
Things are stirring on the UK continental shelf if the attendance at last month’s Pilot Share Fair in Aberdeen is anything to go by. More than 1000 people, including Meg Chesshyre, turned out to hear from major operators and contractors about their strategies for future North Sea projects…
By ensuring optimal hole size, well designs using solid expandable tubulars have a far-reaching effect on drilling, evaluation, completion and life-of-well solutions. Enventure Global Technology’s Kevin Waddell, Jerry Fritsch and Kristaq Mitrushi…
Another drilling contractor, Seadrill, recently put to the test DNV’s new standard for managing integrated software dependent systems. Wendy Laursen assesses the system’s scope for reducing software-related downtime on drilling units.There are…
Global demand for floating hardware continues apace. David Morgan and Meg Chesshyre review recent support & supply sector initiatives and innovations targeting offshore platforms and rigs.Drilling riser departure A high pressure marine riser…
Cairn Energy has wrapped up its 2010 exploration drilling campaign offshore Greenland and released both the Stena Forth and Stena Don rigs, the company said 26 October 2010.Cairn suspended the Alpha-1S1 exploration well to allow possible re-entry to sidetrack or deepen the well at a later date…
Conventional solids control methods are inadequate to manage low-gravity solids smaller than 8-10 microns. M-I Swaco’s Rich Cook discusses a new solution, recently successfully employed in West Africa, that helps manage these solids while keeping excess rig space to a minimum…
The risks associated with placing complex open hole completions across the reservoir are increasing. Deep Casing Tools’ Mark Presslie explains why and describes how a new tool assists the first-time placement of liners or completions.--Over the past two decades…
Making more sense of pipe handlingNorway's TTS Sense has developed an advanced pipe handling machine named SmartRacker, following the award to the company of a contract to supply an entire drilling package to two advanced newbuild jackups…
Weather is a major factor when planning offshore drilling campaigns. Asbjørn Stålesen of FMC Technologies says the company's Real Time Operating Limits system has allowed it to increase the time available for carrying out drilling work.The biggest…
The scheduled 2012 lease sale offshore Virginia will proceed, even without the environmental impact studies necessary to allow oil & gas exploration in place, according to MMS director Liz Burnham.The sale – the first on the US Atlantic OCS…
The oil & gas industry and analysts greeted President Obama’s offshore drilling plan as a step in the right direction. But subsequent events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster (see Heavy losses in Horizon tragedy ) could complicate matters…
Two recently published reports point to a speedy recovery for offshore E&P. The deepwater sector of the oil & gas business should recover quickly from the economic downturn and resume the growth the sector enjoyed before the recession, suggests a new report from Douglas-Westwood…
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