SPE-GCS Blog

September 1st, 2021

SEPTEMBER 1992

Development of South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf off Iran will begin soon under an agreement between National Iranian Oil Co. and Italy’s Saipem and Technologic Progetti Lavori SpA. South Pars is an apparent extension of Qatar’s 150 tcf North field and has estimated reserves of 100 tcf of gas and 2.5-3 billion bbl of oil.

Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida Aug. 24, churned west into the Gulf, then swung north and hit the South Louisiana coast Aug. 25. By the close of business Sept. 8, MMS had received damage reports covering 83 pipeline segments and 193 platforms and satellite installations. An MMS official in New Orleans reported that any further damage discovered likely will be by underwater inspections.

Conoco Inc. is drilling one of the deepest rank wildcats ever in the southern Illinois basin. The …

August 1st, 2021

The SPE-GCS extends a warm welcome to our new chair, Nii Ahele Nunoo. We thought we’d introduce him by sharing part of our conversation.

Connect: Where are you originally from and how did you wind up in Houston, Texas?

Nii Ahele Nunoo: I was born in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, an oil-producing country in sub-Saharan Africa on the west coast.

After college, I moved to New York in 2008 to find a job during the economic recession. To increase my chances of landing an engineering position, I soon relocated to Houston. During my early years in Houston, I watched the movie “Big Men” about the oil discovery in Ghana. It solidified my resolve to be a part of the oil and gas industry and learn all I could, so I could one day return home to help …

July 1st, 2021

Simeon Eburi - 2020-2021 SPE-GCS Chair

Thank you from The Virtual SPE-GCS Chair

It’s been a great pleasure serving you as SPE-GCS chair for the past twelve months! On August 1st, 2021 the new SPE Gulf Coast Section chair for the 2021-2022 fiscal year will be Nii Ahele Nunoo. He will lead the section and its members to new highs. The section is in great hands, and I wish Nii and the board continued success as they lead the section through the post-COVID environment and the previously announced intention to explore a merger with AAPG. In this final article, I will provide an update of some of the goals and accomplishments and share some final thoughts.

At the annual SPE-GCS kickoff meeting last year, I outlined some of the goals for the section with support from the board. Here’s an update: …

June 1st, 2021

The SPE-GCS Podcast is Here!

It’s my pleasure to announce that this month, the SPE Gulf Coast Section will launch its first podcast episode. It took a lot of hard work and dedication by the SPE-GCS Communications Committee volunteers, speakers and podcast hosts, but the SPE-GCS podcast is here! This month, I will share thoughts on how the post- COVID world may affect our section programs and give you more details about the podcast launch.

With a larger percentage of people in the US getting vaccinated, there is growing optimism that soon we will return to normal – or the “new normal.” You may have heard about companies in our industry sharing or discussing return-to-the-office plans. Some companies are going back to the office in person; others are still fully or partially working remotely. One word you will hear frequently in …

May 1st, 2021

The Future is Bright

In Texas, all adults are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This is a moment many have been waiting for, as it symbolizes a big step closer toward getting back to some normalcy. The combined effect of more and more people getting vaccinated by the day, and the reported effectiveness of the vaccines administered, gives me hope that one day soon we will overcome the challenges we have all lived through over the past year. As a section, we cannot wait to get back to doing what we do best – providing opportunities for our members to exchange technical knowledge and allowing them to build relationships through networking. This month, I will highlight a few upcoming events, including Geothermal Experience (GTX 2021) and our flagship event for Young Professionals – Roughneck Camp (RNC).

A few months ago, …

May 1st, 2021

MAY 2003

With shallow water reserves being steadily depleted worldwide, big oil is increasingly targeting its dollars at deepwater. The “World Deepwater Report” forecasts a global capital expenditure for deepwater developments of $57.9 billion in 2003-07, more than double the $25.6 billion that is estimated to have been spent in the previous five years. The US Gulf of Mexico and West Africa together account for 70% of the deepwater capital expenditure forecast. With some 17 billion BOE in 250 prospective offshore fields, Africa now accounts for 16% of all reserve prospects for the period 2003-07. It is of note that prospects for the region now exceed western Europe, which has 12% of the world total, while North America trails with 7%.

US Central Command announced early last week the surrender of Iraq’s former oil minister, Amir Mohammed Rashid, described as …

April 1st, 2021

Keeping the Section Going

Our section members and affiliates have done an incredible job adapting. By necessity, our members have become very proficient at conducting virtual meetings,

webinars, virtual conferences, virtual award ceremonies, virtual networking events and even virtual hiring events! This month, it’s my pleasure to highlight the SPE-GCS Members in Transition (MiT) Committee’s Spring 2021 Energy Professionals Virtual Hiring Event. This event is a great example of collaboration, adaptation and resilience.

On April 7, 2021, the MiT Committee will hold a virtual hiring event for energy professionals. This event, organized by volunteers, is for energy professional members of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and members of our collaborating organizations. This is one of the many benefits of being an active member of a professional society. Some of the collaborating organizations include AADE, AAPG, ASME, ASCE,

IEEE, SWE, SHPE, …

April 1st, 2021

APRIL 2006

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered people and structures in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast, leaving many large-scale renovation projects and rising rig rates in their wakes. Many rigs were damaged, not surprising, given that design guidelines for offshore platforms set by the American Petroleum Institute require that a structure only need withstand a “100-year storm,” equivalent to a Category 2 or 3 hurricane, with sustained winds at 110 mph. API guidelines also require that a platform be able to withstand waves up to about 70 ft high. But waves during the last few big hurricanes reached well beyond this height. The Naval Research Lab recorded a 91-ft wave more than 100 miles from the eye of Ivan last year.

Driven by concerns over stability, China is stepping up cooperation with its neighbors, aiming to secure supplies …

March 1st, 2021

What’s Happening in the Section?

This month marks almost a year since the world changed due to the pandemic. I want to encourage all our members to hang in there, because with each passing day, we are closer to the end than we are to the beginning. Our section members are ready to return to normal, even if it’s just a “new normal.” I would normally write about our upcoming flagship one-day conferences and events scheduled for the spring, but nothing is normal. I will share how our study group and committee leaders have been managing events and venue contracts for the larger conferences with all the uncertainty, and highlight recent and upcoming events.

Most of our major in-person one-day conferences in 2020 were postponed as much as one year later, and the venues were very accommodating and understanding. Now, a year …

March 1st, 2021

MARCH 2001

Last year, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) sent a team out to the Permian Basin of West Texas to film our oil industry, and the film was included as part of a 30-minute documentary on the oil industry.

This documentary showed several experts testifying that world oil production will peak in the next 10 to 20 years before the world eventually runs short on oil. The King Hubbert Institute at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden also predicts world oil production will peak in the next 10 to 12 years. They cite statistics like 80% of the oil produced today flows from fields that were found before 1973, and the discovery of oil in the world peaked in 1962 at 40 billion bbl of oil. By 1991, it was already down to 7 billion bbl of oil.

Chevron …