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A condensed version of what is on the minds of SPE’s technical directors is: The industry needs multidisciplinary, data-driven ways to adapt to what is ahead, focus on what is critical for decision making, and take a long view as another generation takes over.

Robotic submarines, capable of operating by themselves thousands of feet underwater for months or perhaps years at a time, are under development as the vanguard of tomorrow’s subsea oil and gas fields.

“Big data,” once only the concern of database geeks or a marketing technique among retailers, is now part of our mainstream consciousness and vocabulary.

Determining the fluid properties of a reservoir by using pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) analysis is essential to petroleum reservoir studies, production equipment design, and reservoir recovery efficiency estimation.

Many operators have a register of flanged connections identified as having fitted stud bolts below acceptable standards and, on many occasions, in critical condition requiring urgent attention.

A critical part of any oilfield production processing is oil and water separation. Although some highly effective demulsifier products for this purpose have been developed for a number of production scenarios, the application of demulsifiers to “heavy” oils remains problematic.

Signs point to sustained strong oil prices this year, levels that will continue to support upstream unconventional projects in North America and elsewhere.

For this column, I have elected to do a book review on Risk Society by Ulrich Beck in which he argued that we are in the midst of a major cultural change in Western society.

Carl Wiseheart Sherman, who held prominent positions in engineering, academia, and government, and was a former chair of the SPE Illinois Basin Section, died 5 August 2013. He was 90.

SPE created the A Peer Apart program to recognize dedicated individuals who have been involved in the peer review of 100 or more technical papers. Members who commit their time to review papers make substantial contributions to the industry’s literature by helping to ensure that the papers published in SPE’s technical journals are of the highest quality. Over time, th…