Oil News and Information
Insight: why do major projects fail?
Given my own background, I have always been focused on exploring for deep water fields, especially those with deep water clastic reservoirs – how significant are they to recent global discovery history, which provinces have been especially successful, which regions are seeing the most activity?
Exploitation of these fields once discovered is a further issue, and actually one where data, knowledge and insights are much harder to come by.
However, the reality is that such deep water development projects are typically late, (way) over budget, and do not deliver the promised production profile.
26 Sep 2013
Review: Lord Cullen - what have we learned from Piper Alpha?
Lord Cullen, who conducted the 13 month government enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster, used his keynote speech at the 2013 Oil and Gas UK conference to question how much the industry has learned since then. The inquiry made 106 recommendations, all of which were accepted by the industry.
His talk at the 2013 Oil and Gas UK conference to mark 25 years since Piper Alpha, aimed to 'give you some reflections on the Piper enquiry and look at them in the light of recent developments,' he said.
16 Sep 2013
Insight: Managing health in the oil and gas sector
Effective management strategy takes account of all possible risk factors, uses applicable systems to rate hazards and any associated risks, then develops strategies to eliminate, minimise and manage the processes.
Dealing with health, requires exactly the same diligence. In potentially high risk environments managing the overall health of all individuals needs to be addressed in a clear simple fashion. Individuals working in remote locations which can be subject to acute climate change and are often required to make critical decisions affecting health and safety need to be operating at an optimum level of personal performance. More than any other issue affecting staff this requires guidance from occupational health professionals' very clear parameters and the engagement of the whole workforce.
11 Sep 2013
Insight: Value of Stress Field Detection technology in early-stage exploration
Overview of Stress Field Detection (SFD®)
The SFD® system utilizes quantum-scale sensors to detect gravity field perturbations which are induced by terrestrial stress energy variations, primarily in the horizontal plane. Significant subsurface discontinuities or anomalies are inherently associated with, and dependent on, subsurface principal stresses. As a consequence, the discontinuities will distort stress fields, resulting in a unique in-situ stress pattern.
SFD® has been used by oil and gas companies to identify subsurface stress-field anomalies related to trapped fluids. This technology offers a leap in cost-effective rapid reconnaissance for early-stage exploration from an airborne platform.
06 Sep 2013
Review: The Middle East, from the Levant to The Straits of Hormuz
David Bamford writes:
The Middle East is such a focus of our attention at the moment that I thought it worth compiling Richie's 5 articles on Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE in one review, as a 'taster' for an upcoming Forum.
Our December Finding Petroleum Forum will examine whether or not we should anticipate an imminent 'exploration Spring' in the Middle East, in particular whether further large discoveries can be foreseen, and if so, where? Or are we headed into 'deepest winter'?
First of all, do we actually need any exploration there? Absent identification of future reserves, is the future for many countries one of inexorable decline; what is the realistic production potential of Iraq; are new reserves (or simply old ones) being discovered in Kurdistan?
Above ground , of course there are some significant issues to contemplate, from the commercial realities of Eastern Mediterranean gas, the relationship of Kurdistan to Iraq, the security situation in Iraq, the needs of Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, to whatever is happening in Iran. And is the Syrian situation going to result in some sort of regional conflict?
Below ground , these countries show different stages of exploration maturity, with probably Iraq the leading contender for exploration dollars, with Kurdistan as a key component, absent any other consideration.
28 Aug 2013
Review: Abu Dhabi: The Maturing Jewel In The Emirate Crown
When talking about the oil industry in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member state United Arab Emirates (UAE) we are in essence talking about the oil industry in Abu Dhabi. This is because of the seven emirates which make up the UAE, Abu Dhabi is home to approximately 94% of all the proven oil reserves, which total 97.8 billion barrels - according to the US Energy Information Association. (EIA).
This ranks the UAE as home to the seventh largest supply of proven oil reserves in the world. The remaining 6% of the reserves are shared across the six other Emirates of Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm Al-Quwai.
26 Aug 2013
Insight: UK shale gas and oil - who is watching?
Professor Andrew Hopkins’ insights, described in Karl Jeffrey’s article from yesterday, can be summarised as:
The important features of a safety case regime are that it must have:
1. a risk/hazard framework,
2. workforce involvement,
3. a requirement to make the case to a regulator,
4. an engaged regulator, and
5. a requirement of duty of care.
21 Aug 2013
Review: Delivering 'Safety Cases'
What is a safety case regime?
Professor Andrew Hopkins, professor of sociology with Australian National University, explained what a safety case regime is for offshore – how to make it work – and how safety cases can be improved.
Professor Hopkins was speaking at the Aberdeen event in June “Piper 25” to mark the 25 th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster.
20 Aug 2013
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