R&D/innovation
Findings from two new SPE papers argue that the tight-rock sector needs to rethink longstanding assumptions about how hydraulic fractures form underground.
The newest recipient of the title SPE Legend of Hydraulic Fracturing talks about his career, the evolution of fracture stimulation, the development of increasingly useful simulators, and the future of the oil and gas industry. The honor was given at the 2026 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition.
SLB's and Baker Hughes' partnerships with NVIDIA and Google Cloud, respectively, will develop advanced AI-enabled power optimization and sustainability solutions for the global data center sector.
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Downturns offer you a choice: Panic and shut down all but breathing or make use of the opportunities that desperation has handed you. A mountain of mistakes is a gold mine to those willing to spend the time in assessment mode. -
Service companies are using the latest generation of additive manufacturing technology to print out steel components for big ticket downhole tools. There is great potential for the technology to drive down equipment costs and improve performance.
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For deepwater development, panelists at OTC emphasized the need for scalable technology, the standardization and simplification of projects, patient capital investment in innovation, greater collaboration, and new perspectives coming from outside the industry.
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Industry's finest minds are expected to come together for an idea summit during the upcoming SPE Intelligent Energy International Conference and Exhibition in Aberdeen.
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Baker Hughes is developing a drill bit capable of auto-adjusting its depth-of-cut feature to handle dynamic drilling conditions.
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Low prices require doing things differently. It is a hopeful sign for the future for innovators who have been struggling to keep going and have potential customers with little to spend and a lot to worry about.
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The upstream industry is undergoing a transformation. Operators and service providers alike are not just tweaking or fine-tuning, they are completely rethinking the way they work.
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When it comes to hydraulic fracturing, steadiness may not be a virtue. That was the conclusion of a test to see if rapid pump rate variations would lead to greater production than conventionally fractured stages when the pressure was held steady.
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Understanding how much rock is being stimulated and propped is critical for unconventional producers. New imaging methods using electromagnetic energy or acoustic microemitters could represent a milestone in understanding what is left behind after fracturing.
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The first brief flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903 did not immediately make the Wright brothers famous; however, within 5 years, enthusiasm for the new technology began to spread around the world. Louis Blériot won a prize for flying over the English Channel in a heavier-than-air craft in 1909, and Charles Lindbergh won the USD 25,000 Orteig prize for the first nonstop flig…
