Archive | Features
Tide is turning on offshore drilling: Drilling contractors prepare for anticipated rise in activity, dayrates with newbuild orders
Posted on 04 May 2011 in 2011, Features, May/June
The tide is turning for offshore drilling. An outlook that six months ago was on a flat-to-downward trajectory is showing what many in the industry believe…
Sand control case histories: Shape memory polymers, resins, shunt tubes
Posted on 23 March 2011 in 2011, Completing the Well, Features, March/April
Sand, a familiar adversary for drilling and completion engineers, continues to present a major obstacle to well production. It erodes hardware, blocks tubulars, creates downhole cavities and must be removed and disposed of…
Minimizing uncertainty: Geosteering advances keep wellbores in sweet spot
Posted on 21 March 2011 in 2011, Features, Innovating While Drilling, March/April, Videos
Deviated, ultra-deep and unconventional have become bywords of the complex and complicated nature of oil and gas drilling today. Underlying this new vernacular is another challenge…
UBD unlocks pay in North Sea wells
Posted on 21 March 2011 in 2011, Features, Innovating While Drilling, March/April
This article reviews an offshore underbalanced drilling project in the Danish sector of the North Sea undertaken during summer 2010. Two oil wells were drilled from a jackup, with produced oil and gas transferred to the accompanying…
Brazil: On the straightaway in an energy marathon
Posted on 21 March 2011 in 2011, Features, Global and Regional Markets, March/April
Any casual observer in Brazil could say that, with helicopters transporting modular rigs on land in the Amazon and the huge ultra-deepwater rigs dotting the seascape, it looks as though the country has met with an…
CT logging service leverages powers of fiber-optic telemetry
Posted on 21 March 2011 in 2011, Features, March/April
Since its inception, coiled tubing (CT) has stimulated innovation because it brings massive hydro-mechanical power to the spot where the work is being done. Innovative minds have developed a myriad of applications for CT…
2011 IADC chairman: Industry leaders must walk the walk on safety
Posted on 28 January 2011 in 2011, Features, IADC: Global Leadership, Global Challenges, January/February
Life takes us to unexpected places. For Matt Ralls, it was a rather circuitous route – including a botched roustabout attempt when he was 18, a decision to major in nuclear engineering rather than petroleum engineering in college…
2011 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference: Conference theme is ‘Being the best – growing our business’
Posted on 28 January 2011 in 2011, Features, January/February
Plenary sessions to highlight challenges in achieving outstanding performance in a tough business environment. How can an organization and each industry worker achieve outstanding business performance today?
No slump in sight for Asia Pacific drilling
Posted on 28 January 2011 in 2011, Features, Global and Regional Markets, January/February
Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia among strong drilling markets keeping utilization, rates stable in this region. As 2011 begins, the Asia Pacific region is experiencing a change in the drilling climate. Deepwater, already driving increased expenditures in 2011, will figure more in exploration activity…
How to ensure H2S safety on offshore rigs
Posted on 28 January 2011 in 2011, Drilling It Safely, Features, January/February
Putting in place OSHA-compliant sour-gas preparedness program demands early, comprehensive planning. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic, flammable and corrosive gas often encountered during hydrocarbon exploration and production. A byproduct of the decay of protein-containing substances…
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...