Opening Wednesday’s plenary session, “Technology: The Key to Finding and Producing Difficult Hydrocarbons,” session moderator Charlie Williams of Shell International E&P Technology noted that the industry is facing two types of “difficulties” in difficult hydrocarbons. One is the physical location of the remaining hydrocarbons – whether in ultra-deepwater, in HPHT environments or the Arctic. The other is the hydrocarbon’s very nature, and recovery of enhanced and unconventional hydrocarbons still requires improvement, said Mr Williams, Shell chief scientist, well engineering, production technology.

The first panelist, Hesketh Streeter, vice president – energy consulting for Latin America for Wood Mackenzie, examined the risk management aspect of producing difficult hydrocarbons. There’s no doubt the industry has dramatically improved the way it manages risk over the past decade, he said, “but are we doing enough?”

Varel International’s Varel Europe subsidiary, the base of the company’s Eastern Hemisphere operations, has announced the expansion of its PDC drill bit manufacturing facility in Tarbes, France, and the addition of applications engineering personnel to regional offices.

The Tarbes facility’s square meterage has been doubled, enabling the implementation of “lean manufacturing” flow lines to reduce the average time required to deliver a PDC bit. Sales in the East have especially fueled Varel’s growth in the last few years — more than half of the company’s total revenue now comes from Eastern Hemisphere sales.

On Thursday, 6 March, the plenary session will focus on “Roadmap to the Future: People and Processes.”

Moderated by Ford Brett, president of Petroskills Oil and Gas Consultants International, the session will discuss how the industry can accelerate the competency curve for the thousands of new-hires and what processes and methods will be developed to sustain growth to 2015. Panelists are:

More than 1,500 drilling and completion  professionals had registered for the 2008 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference in Orlando, Fla., by the end of the first day on 4 March. Opening-day technical sessions covered HSE, performance drilling, completions, fluid technology, tubulars and rig equipment.

The kick-off plenary session explored the challenges of managing operating costs for D&C operations. Titled “Operating Costs: Validation, Consequences and Solutions,” the session was moderated by Paul R Goodfellow, regional wells manager-Americas, Shell E&P Americas. (See below article for more information.) 

The 2008 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference continues through Thursday, 6 March. A preview of Wednesday’s program begins below.

IADC chairman John Lindsay, executive vice president – US and international operations for Helmerich & Payne, called for collaboration and team-building among operators, drilling contractors and service firms to maximize profits. High prices for oilfield services are inevitable when demand stands near all-time highs, he said in opening remarks prior to Tuesday’s Plenary Session I. The goal should be to ensure the total well cost is lower.

2008 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference chairman Rodney Eads of Pride International (at podium) introduces the expert panel at the conference's opening-day plenary session on 4 March in Orlando, Fla.

Titled “Operating Cost: Validation, Consequences and Solution,” the conference’s opening plenary session on Tuesday brought together five industry experts to discuss rising drilling costs, the impact of those cost increases, and how lessons learned can be applied to the future. Paul R Goodfellow, regional wells manager – Americas for Shell E&P Americas served as moderator.

While a service company’s discretionary costs can be cut down, said William Coates, Schlumberger president North America, other costs – such as people – are embedded and can’t be rolled back, he said.

Most casing while drilling (CwD) is done by attaching a non-retrievable bit to the bottom of the casing and leaving the bit in the hole. Directional casing while drilling (DCwD) uses a steerable BHA that is retrieved, making DCwD a viable alternative to conventional directional drilling in depleted or mature fields that have severe lost-circulation and wellbore stability problems, said Schlumberger during a press conference held at its exhibit booth on Tuesday.

Well construction in mature fields with standard drillpipe sometimes requires extra casing strings to avoid well stability problems caused by depleted formation pressures. Because they improve wellbore stability, the DCwD techniques developed through collaboration between Schlumberger and TESCO may reduce the number of casing strings needed.

Opening the Health, Safety & Environment technical session on Tuesday afternoon, Steve Kropla, IADC group vice president – operations & accreditation, discussed the tools that IADC provides for companies to build a well control culture. WellCAP, the Well Control Accreditation Program, establishes core curriculum for well control training. It is industry-driven, developed by operators, contractors and service companies and designed for global application. It provides building blocks for well control competency through courses at several levels: introductory, fundamental, supervisory and the newest WellCAP PLUS.

On Wednesday, 5 March, the plenary session will focus on “Technology: The Key to Finding and Producing Difficult Hydrocarbons.”

Moderated by Charlie Williams, chief scientist, well engineering, production technology, for Shell International E&P Technology, the session will examine what has been the backbone of the industry’s ability to find oil and gas in increasingly difficult places and circumstances. Panelists are: