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Industrial accidents rarely occur because of failures in design. More often, they occur because operators make faulty decisions while under stress or because they do not follow sensible maintenance procedures.

This paper reviews the mechanisms of initiation and the prevention of top-of-the-line corrosion (TLC). Recent research and developments are highlighted and validated to arrive at best practices for control of this significant corrosion manifestation.

The 2014 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) will take place in Amsterdam. With its aging wells and processing facilities that present specific challenges, Europe is an interesting place for oil and gas production and applied separations technology.

The market for floating production systems is growing rapidly, with spending from 2014-2018 expected to increase more than 100% from the prior 5-year period. Factors such as increased local content contribute to growing expenditures.

Hydraulic fracturing solutions use a gelling agent known as guar gum to transport proppant. Flowback water can have guar gum concentrations has high as 1% by volume creating treatment challenges prior to reuse or disposal.

Flow assurance is a burgeoning field that offers many opportunities to young engineers—provided they are willing to develop expertise in a range of technical disciplines to obtain additional nontechnical skills.

Who are facilities engineers and what is it that they do? The author discusses how the answer to this question has changed during his career in the oil and gas business.

Roughly one-half of global gas reserves are considered stranded gas--uneconomical because of the remote location of potential markets, lack of economic transportation and infrastructure, or the lack of conversion technology. An FPSO with gas to liquids conversion is an option for stranded gas.

Human error is identified as a root cause of accidents and incidents in 60% to 80% of the cases and a causal factor in another 50% to 60% of all mishaps across many industries.

I was an employee of Union Carbide Corp. (UCC), and like other employees, I know exactly where I was when I first heard the news. Analyzing the root cause of this horrible accident provides insight and opportunities to learn from the mistakes that led to Bhopal.

Good early production caused an FPSO to reach the design topside limit with only five wells connected. A study was undertaken to determine how bottlenecks could be reduced to allow greater production without compromising process safety.

During OTC in Houston last month, offshore construction capabilities drew a room-capacity audience to a technical session about advances in deepwater construction techniques and vessels, including pipelaying and heavy lifting.