R&D/innovation
As US shale potentially stares at a production plateau, operators and service providers are turning to smarter tools to extend the life of aging plays.
This article is the third in a Q&A series from the SPE Research and Development Technical Section focusing on emerging energy technologies. In this piece, Zikri Bayraktar, a senior machine learning engineer with SLB’s Software Technology and Innovation Center, discusses the expanding use of artificial intelligence in the upstream sector.
Successful in other applications, self-healing coatings could be the oil industry’s ticket to fighting corrosion and extending the life of steel.
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Bitumen is so viscous that the ultraheavy crude oil is often compared to peanut butter. -
Veros Systems is selling simplicity. The electric machine monitoring company promises accurate warnings of problems long before they occur, with a minimum of monitoring equipment to install.
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One of the defining features of the 21st century will undoubtedly be the changing relationship between humans and automated machines.
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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.
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The US government is working on regulations to reduce oil industry methane emissions by more than 40% over the next 10 years.
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Add a new possible use for downhole casing: It can serve as broadcast antennae.
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In the northeastern desert of Utah, a new type of oil sands extraction technology has been born. The company behind it claims the process is the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to develop oil sands.
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Saudi Aramco’s plan to create a global network of research centers is becoming a reality. It recently celebrated the opening of its Houston center that the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih described as “an upstream research center like no other.”
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Saudi Aramco is on a mission to increase the amount of seismic data that it collects by fourfold, while reducing costs and acquisition time by half of what it spends today.
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Last year, lawmakers in the United States sent a blunt message to the oil business: If it wants new exploration and production technology, it will need to pick up more of the cost.
