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Regulations are driving increased decommissioning activities in the Gulf of Mexico. Incomplete data is one of the obstacles in planning decommissioning. As fields have changed ownership over time, key information has been lost, creating challenges for the current operator.

The author reviews advances in produced water treatment, particularly offshore, since the 1960s. Regulations on discharge quality have been a major driver in the improvement of treatment technology.

A Separations Technology Technical Section was recently created to allow SPE members to share knowledge about emerging separations technology and its challenging applications. Interested members are encouraged to join.

Facilities engineers in the oil and gas industry have grown in stature over the past decade—the huge sums of capital we now spend have assured that. We are a growing presence as facilities become larger and more complex.

For several months, a number of us involved with water treating have been thinking about how we would like to contribute to Oil and Gas Facilities. We had in mind a regular feature with an emphasis on water treating technology.

Systematic experimental and modeling approaches to designing a safe operating strategy for a 5-km deepwater-subsea-flowline case study are presented to address unplanned shutdown and restart events for waxy-crude production.

Cost estimation for facilities depends on early concept selection and critical inputs, often complicated by uncertainty in one or more of the critical inputs. Empirical cost models and cost modeling methods using these inputs vary in degrees of scope, comprehensiveness, and robustness.

The recycling of produced water and fracture flowback water for reuse in hydraulic fracturing is on the rise in the development of unconventional resource plays.

This paper presents results from an ongoing research project (SINTEF 2011) on pressure-tolerant power electronics. The main goal of the research is to provide and demonstrate solutions that enable power-electronic converters to operate in pressurized environments.

Operators are increasingly recognizing the need for a systematic assessment and management of flexible pipe integrity, but the identification of critical criteria and the means to best achieve valid and efficient inspection and monitoring (I&M) continues to evolve.

Final commissioning and initial startup was the source of lively discussion at a recent applied technology workshop held in New Orleans. A summary of key points is provided.

The selection criteria for multiphase boosting options remain somewhat subjective. A comprehensive literature review into the working principles of the major pump types identified the intrinsic advantages and limitations of each technology for subsea and downhole applications.