GE Oil & Gas is investing in the development of new completion and workover riser connectors for the offshore market, which will enable operators to save valuable rig time during operations. GE Oil & Gas awarded Subsea Riser Products (SRP), an Acteon company, a contract to develop...

Well environments with increasing pressures, temperatures and depths are becoming the norm in hydrocarbon recovery. These complex and harsh-environment reservoirs drive the need for high-performance completion systems with more durability and reliability than conventional equipment. Innovative technology is paving the way for the industry to delve further into these challenging and risky frontiers, in which the cost of failure is enormous. Liner systems provide a variety of benefits to enhance wellbore economics and efficiency. Installing a liner can reduce casing and cementing costs and minimize rig time. Liners enable the drilling of deep wells with smaller, more efficient rigs, and they facilitate efficient casing of open-hole sections below previously installed casing. Liner systems also ensure zonal isolation while reciprocating during well conditioning and while rotating during cementing operations. Additionally, they provide annular barriers relative to long casing strings that tie back to the surface.

Editor’s note: This is an excerpted version of an article that appears in a new Drill Bits e-book that will be available through the IADC bookstore and e-bookstore later this year. Since the invention of the carbide-supported polycrystalline diamond cutter (PDC) by General Electric in 1971, this technology has impacted nearly all material removal industries. This article will trace the history and significant milestones of PDC technologies in the oil and gas well drilling industry since their introduction. This article will focus on advances in synthetic diamond cutters, bit design and other factors that have significantly increased drill bit performance and drilling efficiency to a point where PDC bits have taken over most applications once dominated by the venerable rolling cone bit, introduced by the Hughes Tool Co (HTC) in 1909. Over the years, the key bit company customers have insisted on pushing the technology and performance envelope, not allowing the PDC cutter to become a commodity item. As a result, PDC cutters, inserts, wear parts and bearings for oil and gas drilling products are, arguably, the largest segment of the super-abrasives industry. This technology is playing a significant role in changing how and where oil and gas wells are drilled

GE and Statoil’s Sustainability Collaboration has launched the call for entries for its second open innovation challenge, focusing on water usage in the development of onshore unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Through crowdsourcing, the challenge seeks to find...

Driven by operators’ focus on getting increased production from ultra-deepwater projects, Baker Hughes has engineered the Hammerhead completion and production system. The wellhead-to-reservoir system targets operations in 5,000 – 10,000 ft of water with well depths...

Petrobras has signed contracts with PetroRio S.A. for the sale of 20% of its stake in the concessions of Bijupirá and Salema fields, currently operated by Shell. The transaction amounts to $25 million ...

There have been further improvements in the management of major safety hazards offshore, according to Oil & Gas UK’s Health & Safety 2015 Report published today. Based on incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive for April 2014 to March 2015 and shared with the trade body; the total number of hydrocarbon releases - oil and gas leaks - has gone down and is at its lowest level ever.

Tullow Oil has issued an update on its operational activities and to provide trading guidance in respect of the financial year to 30 June 2015. In the first half of 2015, West Africa working interest oil production was within guidance averaging 66,500 bpd...

Royal Dutch Shell announced the final investment decision to advance the Appomattox deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This decision authorizes the construction and installation of Shell’s eighth and largest floating platform in the GOM. The Appomattox development will initially produce from the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields, with average peak production estimated to reach approximately 175,000 BOED. The platform and the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields will be owned by Shell (79%) and Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. (21%), a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC.

Ensign Energy Services was recognized at the inaugural Canada Oil & Gas Awards on 24 June with the Award for Drilling Excellence. The Award for Drilling Excellence recognizes organizations providing advanced drilling solutions...