New leadership aims to make positive, lasting changes at RPSEA. Last year, lawmakers in the United States sent a blunt message to the oil business: If it wants new exploration and production technology, it will need to pick up more of the cost. For decades, the industry has worked to realize the potential of gathering seismic data in wells. But it is a hostile environment for standard equipment. An inventor has developed a fiber optic system that can handle the heat, but he needs backers to see if it can deliver in the ground.

New leadership aims to make positive, lasting changes at RPSEA. ADNOC and BP will collaborate to form an earth surface technology center in Abu Dhabi. ADNOC has also reformed its stage gate process for advancement of new technologies. For deepwater development, panelists at OTC emphasized the need for scalable technology, the standardization and simplification of projects, patient capital investment in innovation, greater collaboration, and new perspectives coming from outside the industry.

Getting a good well for a field test can make or break a new idea. A government backed research group in Saskatchewan is offering up to CAD 100,000 break on royalty payments to test ways to extend the life of conventional, heavy-oil fields.

A 3-year study of air quality, soils, groundwater, and waterways found few to no effects as a result of hydraulic fracturing operations in Surat Basin coal seam formations. When two engineers lost their jobs during the industry downturn, they used the misfortune as an opportunity to develop an innovative concept that aims to make it a lot easier to move subsea gas long distances.

When two engineers lost their jobs during the industry downturn, they used the misfortune as an opportunity to develop an innovative concept that aims to make it a lot easier to move subsea gas long distances. Approaches to integrated investigative testing and root cause identification are discussed to prevent solid emulsions from stabilizing to impair flowlines and other field infrastructure.

From the highest courts of the US judicial branch to the C-suite, contests involving patents have recently come to the fore in the innovation hungry US oilfield services industry, even as filings and litigation have declined in recent years. Seeking out, experimenting with, and ultimately embracing technologies from other industries have proven crucial to innovating at oilfield service firms such as Halliburton, which has tried everything from dog food to submarine tech to improve its work downhole.

The technical challenges imposed by tight well spacing and fracture interactions have become a focal point of recent earnings calls between investors and the leaders of several shale producers. The picture of the future is becoming clearer, and there are fewer oil wells in it. By measuring which tests best predicted the fractures observed at the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site, Laredo Petroleum developed a method it hopes will improve fracture modeling in other places. A close look at hundreds of feet of fractured core samples suggest that new fracture models are needed to simulate complicated reality.

When it came to decide where to collect a critical sample of fractured rock, a new method for turning microseismic data into a heat map designed to display the most intense fracturing activity was considered. By measuring which tests best predicted the fractures observed at the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site, Laredo Petroleum developed a method it hopes will improve fracture modeling in other places. A close look at hundreds of feet of fractured core samples suggest that new fracture models are needed to simulate complicated reality.

Unconventional development has made it clear to Erdal Ozkan that conventional theory overlooks a lot of potentially productive rock. He talks about looking for ways to do better as part of JPT’s tech director report. Completion engineers feel pressure to maximize production per acre and minimize the downsides of fracturing in tight spaces. Terry Palisch, talks about promoting knowledge sharing as part of JPT’s tech director report.

Unconventional development has made it clear to Erdal Ozkan that conventional theory overlooks a lot of potentially productive rock. He talks about looking for ways to do better as part of JPT’s tech director report. Completion engineers feel pressure to maximize production per acre and minimize the downsides of fracturing in tight spaces. Terry Palisch, talks about promoting knowledge sharing as part of JPT’s tech director report. Though crude prices are rising, US shale producers face questions over whether their improving oil production results and cost efficiencies will last as increasing drilling activity drives demand for oilfield services.