Archive | Features
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…
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…
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…
New bits look beyond design at overall wellbore
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Features, Innovating While Drilling, July/August
In the wellbore, drill bits lead the way through formations to achieve longer wells more efficiently and quickly. The latest developments in drill bits share a common goal: optimize bit performance in the wellbore to save time and money…
Industry maps smarter way to build wellbores
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Features, Innovating While Drilling, July/August
Fifteen years after the first intelligent well system (IWS) was installed in Norway, the application is finally stepping out of its high-end niche and gaining broad recognition as the game-changer it was designed to be…
Raising the bar for global safety, competency
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Drilling It Safely, Features, IADC: Global Leadership, Global Challenges, July/August
IADC has kicked off an ambitious project to develop worldwide competency guidelines for virtually all rig positions, with a priority on safety-critical positions with well control responsibilities. The guidelines, to be built upon IADC’s Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) templates, aim to provide tools…
HPHT research heats up
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Features, Innovating While Drilling, July/August
BP’s Project 20K among industry initiatives to push technologies beyond 20,000 psi, 400°F. What will production in subsea, ultra-deepwater fields look like in 10 years? That’s the multi-billion-dollar question as industry attempts to chart a course for those high stakes-arenas…
Offshore Europe: E&P revival drives rig demand
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Features, Global and Regional Markets, July/August, The Offshore Frontier
Despite the financial hardships rippling through the European economy, operators and drilling contractors continue to thrive in a reinvigorated offshore European drilling market that is supported by continued high oil prices and buoyed by new discoveries on old fields…
Euro-shales: Opposition mounts
Posted on 16 July 2012 in 2012, Features, Global and Regional Markets, July/August, Onshore Advances
A year ago, an article in the July/August 2011 issue of Drilling Contractor stated that the journey to achieving commercial shale gas production in Europe would be a slow one. Over the past 12 months or so, that journey has arguably gotten even slower…
The great migration to wet plays
Posted on 24 April 2012 in 2012, Features, Global and Regional Markets, May/June
The paradigm has shifted. US land rigs that just two years ago were at work in prolific shale gas plays are on the move, delivering an oil and liquids boom that has yet to be fully quantified…
Recent Drilling News
19 June 2013
Dolphin Drilling unveils new deepwater drillship
Aberdeen-based Dolphin Drilling, one of the oldest and largest independent drilling contracting companies in the North Sea, unveiled its new 751-ft ultra deepwater rig...
14 June 2013
UK HSE report: Reportable hydrocarbon releases nearly halved over three years
The UK oil and gas industry has achieved a 48% reduction in the number of reportable hydrocarbon releases over three years, the...
12 June 2013
Atwood Oceanics secures contract for Atwood Achiever ultra-deepwater drillship
Atwood Oceanics has been awarded a drilling services contract for the ultra-deepwater drillship Atwood Achiever by a subsidiary...
10 June 2013
Ensco orders its eighth Samsung DP3 ultra-deepwater drillship
Ensco has ordered an additional advanced-capability DP3 ultra-deepwater drillship based on the Samsung GF12000 hull design. The vessel, ENSCO DS-10, will be the eighth...
07 June 2013
Unconventionals lead the way for drilling automation, but business model defines uptake
Industry’s ongoing efforts to bring automation to the drilling sector will progress over time as a “natural alignment”...