Archive | September/October
DEA 164: What does a next-gen ranging MWD look like?
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Innovating While Drilling, September/October
The Drilling Engineering Association (DEA) continues to serve the industry as a key forum for learning about cutting-edge technologies and for forging alliances through joint…
Industry delves deeper into African frontier
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Drilling It Safely, Features, Global and Regional Markets, September/October, The Offshore Frontier
On the world map, Africa commands a grand presence, with more than 50 countries that straddle a multitude of climates, terrains and cultures. Into the continent’s vast lands and open waters, the drilling industry continues cautiously to navigate and integrate its activity…
BOP testing facility focuses on robustness, reliability of components
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Innovating While Drilling, September/October
As the industry continues to place new rigs into the market, the rippling effects on demand for BOPs and improved BOP technologies parallel the upward trend…
Hydraulic tensioning takes variance out of BOP installations
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Drilling It Safely, Exclusive Video, September/October, Videos
Using such conventional methods to make flange connections in the field, especially to BOP installations, can be prone to safety risks – pinch points for fingers and hands, swinging hammers…
Automated rig built to enable operator’s ‘hands off’ philosophy
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Innovating While Drilling, Onshore Advances, September/October
n the early 20th century, automation was not widely used in industrial work. This changed in 1947 when General Motors established an automation department…
‘Rich-burn’ engines look to power land rigs with reduced emissions
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Global and Regional Markets, Onshore Advances, September/October
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked record supplies of natural gas in North America, pushing prices to a 10-year low and cutting profits for gas…
As industry evolves, risk management programs must too
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, September/October
As the energy industry develops and deploys new technologies to meet the challenges of supplying the world’s energy needs, the effectiveness of the industry’s…
Automation: On the cusp of transformation
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Features, September/October, The Efficient Rig
After decades of discussion and debate, the industry has reached a tipping point, standing at the brink of what may become the biggest and most sweeping change it has ever faced – automation. No longer a pie-in-the-sky idea, drilling automation is fast becoming reality…
Upgrades extend drilling capabilities of Beryl platform rigs
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Global and Regional Markets, September/October, The Offshore Frontier
The Beryl field, located about 200 miles northeast of Aberdeen, is located in a water depth of 390 ft. Its discovery in 1972 led to the installation of the Beryl Alpha platform…
Northward ho!
Posted on 17 September 2012 in 2012, Features, Global and Regional Markets, Onshore Advances, September/October, Videos
Less than a decade ago, Williston, North Dakota, was a mere dot on a map in a state associated with long, cold winters and the movie “Fargo.” Today, the town sits at the epicenter of the biggest oil boom to hit the Lower 48 in recent history. Thanks to significant oil production in the Williston Basin’s…
Recent Drilling News
15 May 2013
BP commits to renewed focus on upstream oil and gas over next decade
Over the next decade, as much as 75% to 80% of BP's majority group capital expenditure will be spent in upstream...
15 May 2013
Statoil sanctions Julia development in GOM with ExxonMobil, pushes ahead with Logan
Pursuing further growth in its US offshore portfolio, Statoil has sanctioned its fourth field development in the Gulf of Mexico...
15 May 2013
Exclusive video: New composite wireline cable contains seven-conductor electrical core
Serko Sarian, telemetry and conveyance portfolio manager for Schlumberger, talks with Drilling Contractor...
15 May 2013
PETRONAS: NOCs expand globally with increasing autonomy, financial strength
National oil companies (NOCs) continue to assume an increasingly meaningful role in the oil and gas industry...
15 May 2013
Different dual-gradient methods enable drilling in deepwater, depleted reservoirs
Dual-gradient technology continues to gain attention as an important solution to deepwater drilling and...