Saudi Aramco

Although Saudi Arabia has plenty of sand, it took some ingenuity by Saudi Aramco and Schlumberger to figure out how to use it effectively as proppant.

A number of ongoing industry research projects are developing nanoparticles that work at the reservoir level and for fluid treatment. Though they may be a few years away from finalization, these efforts highlight nanotechnology’s increasingly sophisticated and growing application scope.

For nearly a decade, Saudi ­Aramco has been studying how altering the chemical makeup of seawater injected into its reservoirs can increase production. The result is "smart water" that can boost the sweep effectiveness of a waterflood.

As the drilling industry improves its efforts to capture drilling operation activities in real time, it has generated a significant amount of data that drilling engineers cannot process on their own.

With more wells to check than tools and time to do so, a methodology to predict wells with the highest risk of corrosion was developed.

At the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference, one of the most innovative ideas discussed was a liquid proppant designed to turn into strong spherical balls to keep a fracture open.

Add a new possible use for downhole casing: It can serve as broadcast antennae.