Monthly Features
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Oman is embarking on a renewed effort to deploy the latest hydraulic fracturing technologies and techniques, tailored to its unique reservoirs and challenges. -
Addressing the challenge of developing a mature basin with a data-driven approach to spacing and inventory decisions. -
From its origins running just a few light bulbs in Tuscany in 1904 to supporting baseloads on national power grids today, geothermal power generation has been driven by technological advancements. Many of these advancements stem from oil and gas exploration and production efforts. -
Monitoring on the ground is helping the industry shift from best estimates to hard data so it can bring the true emissions profile into focus. -
To overcome operational constraints tied to ball-and-seat valves, an operator tested a spring-loaded alternative downhole. -
Despite a 2.8% drop in liquefied natural gas exports in 2025 because of lost market share in China, Australia anticipates a 2026 rebound as new North West Shelf capacity comes online. Meanwhile, East Coast operators brace for a tsunami of wells entering the decommissioning pipeline and potential energy shortfalls necessitating LNG imports.
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During a protracted period of depressed prices in E&P, the customer focus for service companies and suppliers shifts to finding ways to reduce the cost of producing a barrel of oil. -
Pressure is growing this year for exploration and production (E&P) companies to “face the reality of a prolonged period of low prices,” said Alan Cunningham, technical director for Gaffney, Cline & Associates.
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The impact on workers from the global downturn is so large it is difficult to track. At the high end of the job loss estimates is John Graves, owner of Graves & Co., who estimated the number of jobs lost in the oil and gas industry at more than 250,000 at year end, and rising.
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Seismic innovators are working on new sound sources designed to produce better subsurface images while addressing concerns raised by scientists and regulators about the environmental impact of the related noise on sea life.
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The Caspian Sea region is once again becoming one of the globe’s important frontiers in oil and gas production. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan are in the midst of intensive efforts to underpin their developing economies by increased exploitation of massive reserves.
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Concerned about the long-term impact of the current oil recession, SPE’s seven technical directors give their outlook for the coming year.
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The standard for progress in shale development has been the drastic reduction in the number of days needed to drill a well, from more than 20 to less than 5 in some unconventional plays. But some question whether it has become a misleading metric for an industry needing more productive wells.
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The only wells that are straight or follow a smooth curve are in the pictures in well plans. Real wellbores are shaped by the mechanics of directional drilling tools, the skills and attention of drillers, the force of gravity, and the path followed by hydrocarbon-rich seams of rock.
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Rising demand for flowback technologies to reduce uncertainties is leading to the creation of more hydrocarbon and water tracers. These chemical-based tracers may play an important role in the shale industry’s effort to come up with more cost-effective fracture designs.
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An area of great interest to those researching flowback is the interaction of water and salt inside the shale reservoir. After a well is stimulated, the flowback fluids tend to show a rising concentration of salt that falls back to near zero over time.
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