SPE-GCS Blog

November 1st, 2020

NOVEMBER 1997

Phillips China Inc. has reportedly found oil in China's Bohai Bay. After drilling a dry hole on its first try, its second well flowed on test at a rate of 1,602 b/d. Phillips China, a unit of Phillips Petroleum Co., is operator of the block and holds a 60 percent interest, while China National Offshore Oil Corp. has the right to acquire as much as 51 percent of any proposed development.

BP Exploration Inc. and partners have started up the Troika oil and gas field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Troika, 150 miles south of New Orleans in the Green Canyon area, is produced from subsea facilities in 2,700 feet of water. The field was discovered by Marathon Oil Co. in 1994. BP Exploration Inc. is operator of the project. BP, Marathon and Shell Deepwater Development Inc. …

October 1st, 2020

SPE Volunteerism During Unprecedented Times

I was asked a few months ago why SPE-GCS charges a registration fee for its webinars. Shouldn’t webinars or virtual events be free if there’s no in-person networking or lunch provided? If someone is attending from the comfort of their couch at home, should they pay? These are all relevant questions. I will share a few thoughts on event finances, the scholarship program and volunteering with SPE.

SPE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. SPE-GCS relies on the proceeds from events organized by volunteers to operate, carry out the mission of SPE and support the scholarship program. During great times, the section benefits from strong sponsorship support from companies. Sponsorships help balance our event revenue and expenses, lower registration fees and allow our events to be more profitable. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and during industry downturns, we receive fewer …

October 1st, 2020

OCTOBER 2001

Operators, including Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Suncor Inc., which operate existing Canadian oil sands projects report having a number of projects under development or on the drawing board worth an estimated $51 billion (CAD). These projects are expected to extend oil sands production from about 600,000 b/d to an expected 1.9 million b/d within a decade.

Last month’s attack on the WTC is not forecast to significantly impact hydrocarbon demand, as economic growth is expected to be sluggish.

Military demand, on the other hand, is expected to spike significantly.

Light, sweet crude: $22.47/bbl

Natural gas: $2.00/MMbtu

U.S. active rig count: 1,140

OCTOBER 2008

Does this analyst report sound vaguely familiar..? "With numerous wells expected to be shut in and capacity coming online, 2009 is shaping up to be an ugly year in North America.”

Reliance Industries Ltd., Mumbai, and …

September 1st, 2020

CREATIVITY AND RESILIENCY

Last month, we held the SPE-GCS annual kickoff meeting virtually, where we formally thanked the outgoing board and welcomed new board members. Special thanks go to Gabby Morrow, past chair, for an excellent job during her term. I know I have big shoes to fill, and she has done a great job transitioning the chair role. During the kickoff, I also shared more details on the section goals. Here is a summary:

• Deliver more virtual and hybrid (virtual and in-person) events for greater flexibility.
• Enhance the online “On-Demand Content Library” and add more content with event recordings.
• Advance digital efforts by evaluating and proposing an SPE-GCS mobile app and deliver a podcast initiative.
• Look for opportunities to collaborate with other SPE sections and external organizations.
• Deliver diversity and inclusion (D&I) soft skills sessions to our members.

The kickoff was …

September 1st, 2020

SEPTEMBER 2002

Expandable-tubular technology advances as the industry extends its application from the drilling environment, where carbon-steel expandable tubulars reduce the telescopic effects of well construction, to corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) production liners with gas-tight connections.

Industry officials praise the key findings of a draft report by the US Environmental Protection Agency that found hydraulic fracturing of coalbed methane wells does not contaminate underground drinking water sources.

Light, sweet crude: $28.66/bbl

Natural gas: $3.23/MMbtu

SEPTEMBER 2008

Shell installs the world’s deepest production spar at Perdido in 8,000 feet of water and about eight miles north of the international maritime border with Mexico. It's to be used for gathering, processing and exporting production from three fields, namely, Great White, Tobago and Silvertip.

BP will reportedly pay $1.9 billion for a 25 percent interest in Chesapeake’s Fayetteville shale assets covering 540,000 net acres, which the companies …

August 1st, 2020

The SPE-GCS extends a warm welcome to our new chair, Simeon Eburi. 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?

Simeon: I was born in Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea, which is located on the west coast of Central Africa. Equatorial Guinea is among the top oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Growing up, I saw an influx of offshore oil and gas exploration and production companies, which influenced my decision to study petroleum engineering. I attended Texas Tech University, where I earned both a bachelor's degree and a master of science degree in petroleum engineering. After graduate school, I accepted a job with Chevron in Houston. I have been in Houston for most of my professional career, except for …

July 1st, 2020

Keep Learning

This will be my last article before I pass the torch on to the vice chair of the SPE- GCS, Simeon Eburi.

Simeon will be the new board of directors chair beginning August 1, 2020.

I am very proud to have served in this capacity for my community and the industry over the past year, and I wish Simeon and the GCS all the best in the months and years to come. With that said, here are a couple of events the GCS is hosting before my term concludes.

The Data Analytics Study Group and Members in Transition (MiT) Committee have collaborated with NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (NVIDIA DLI) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to present an exciting opportunity for SPE MiT members and students to develop and gain practical skills in deep learning through online courses.

These …

June 1st, 2020

A Virtual GCS

I am pleased to announce one of our goals this year is finally complete. The Gulf Coast Section has added an online content library to its website platform. Over time, we plan to build this library into a robust learning center that is applicable to all of our SPE members. The library can be found online at spegcs.org/on-demand-content-library/.

I encourage everyone to look at this new learning outreach site and create a bookmark on your browser so you can easily find courses of interest. This content library is in addition to the webinars our study groups and committees offer. The funds raised from our online library will go toward our Scholarship Endowment Fund, and directly assist local high school students attending university who wish to pursue careers in the oil and gas industry.

Most of our initial library …

May 1st, 2020

Keep Going

I truly believe that the people working in the oil and gas industry have to be some of the most resilient people on earth. The amount of volatility in our market leaves no room for people with a weak stomach. We have to be tough. It is never about if we will see another downturn.

It is always about when. We know there will be downturns in our industry. We know there will be many difficult challenges to face. But in times like this, please remember that we fuel the world. We improve the quality of life for millions of people on the planet because we supply them with energy.

With the current situation we are in, the coronavirus has tested our abilities to work in a safe but productive manner. Unfortunately, we now have a tremendous oversupply of …

May 1st, 2020

MAY 2002

Rotary steerable, directional- drilling systems increased the rate of penetration and, in the process, saved 100 days of rig time when used to drill complex 3D well paths in the 12.25- in. and 8.5-in. hole sections of North Sea Jotan field wells, compared to conventional directional-drilled wells.

The Nile Delta and Mediterranean deepwater trend along the northern coastline of Egypt is proving to be an emerging giant gas province with an estimated 36 trillion cubic feet of gas, and ideally situated for markets in the Mediterranean region. (This is a very “noble” development.)

MAY 2009

Operators are actively involved in testing new biocides to determine the best chemical for controlling bacteria introduced in Barnett shale frac source waters, including rivers, lakes, oilfield wastewater, and recycled frac water. Fracked Barnett wells have been plagued by biogenic sulfide plugging and corrosion failures of …