March-April 2020
Feature Podcast: Women in Tech: Female CIOs on the Rise
Houston, long known as the energy capital of the U.S., is now becoming recognized as a technology hub as well as a forward-thinking city for women in tech. While the oil and gas industry usually ranks near the bottom of male-dominated industries in terms of numbers of women in its...
Macondo Tragedy: Lessons Learned at the Edge of Technological Envelope in Deepwater GoM
Just before 10:00 pm on the night of April 20, 2010, the Macondo well blew high pressure oil, gas and mud through the derrick of the Deepwater Horizon setting off two major explosions instantly killing eleven rig workers and physically injuring 63 of the 115 survivors. These eleven men have...
2020 Oil and Gas Impairments: What’s Behind the Numbers?
Find out why some energy companies are considering potential oil and gas impairments amid low oil and gas pricing, and what key considerations go into conducting these impairments in order to comply with debt covenants and investor reporting requirements. Public companies are busy preparing their year-end SEC filings and there...
When Workers Leave: How to Keep Their Knowledge from Walking Out the Door with Them
An information management approach to data can help companies capture and structure institutional expertise Like many others, the oil and gas industry is likely to be impacted by the impending departure of an aging workforce over the next few years. While there are ample warm bodies to replace them –...
Real-time Communication Using CAN Devices Helps Advance Solutions in Directional Drilling
Houston-based engineering firm Erdos Miller develops down-hole devices used in the drilling of advanced horizontal oil wells. Their firm develops down-hole devices used in drilling advanced horizontal wells, and their tools provide critical drilling and operational data, directly from the drill tools. Most significant is that these devices operate in...
Use of Clean Energy as an Alternative for Supplying the Oil Industry’s Production Chain
The use of clean energy is increasingly more important for the future of humanity as we know it. To be able to understand the research topic in greater depth, it is necessary to answer the following question: What is Clean Energy? Clean energies, also called green energies, are those that...
A New Way to Train: Digital Training in the Oilfield and Its Impact on the Workforce
As with any occupation, new employees normally undergo some form of training and onboarding to help them understand the functions of their job and to become productive faster. In most cases, training is an ongoing necessity within many industries. Consistent training and professional development can not only help individuals master...
Interview: Brad Boksteyn, Inventor, Guardian CSE
Eric Eissler: What inspired you to create this unique product? Brad Boksteyn: Having been involved in the Industrial Fire and Safety industry for the past 30 plus years, I have always tried my best to make the work space or project I was involved with be the absolute safest working...
Here’s How the Oil Industry Can Take Advantage of the IIoT
The advent of industry 4.0 has made data more valuable than ever before for industry. With the right technology, it’s possible to collect, store and analyze information about nearly every aspect of any industry process. Fleets of IIoT devices — which connect to internet or local networks to send or...
Interview: Cody Nath, President and CEO, Refined Technologies, Inc.
Tonae’ Hamilton: Can you share how RTI was established? What is RTI’s purpose in the oil and gas industry? Cody Nath: Refined Technologies was founded and established in 2001 by my father, Bill Nath. It began as part of a sister company targeted to become the industry leader for chemical...
Letter from the Publisher (March-April 2020)
Innovators in the oil and gas industry are consistently pushing out technology that improves production and helps thousands of employees perform better at work, whether it’s in accounting, engineering, oilfield production or at the executive level. NAPE Summit in February had several technology companies exhibiting what they do best and...
Europe Builds Cloud-based, Automated Supply System
Compared to the United States, Europe’s oil and gas industry operates differently in many facets. OILMAN Magazine had the opportunity to speak with another European IT development and consulting company, Brainum. Based in the Netherlands, Brainum was recently acquired by Implico, an international software and consulting company with headquarters in...
Reflections from NAPE Summit 2020: Interviews with LongPoint Minerals, Quorum Software and Opportune
There were a lot of companies at NAPE Summit, and as my 1st visit to the conference, I could say that it’s indeed where the deals happen! We happened to interview three prominent companies. The first company was LongPoint Minerals, a Denver based company focused on the acquisition of mineral...
Changing the Status Quo in the Oil and Gas Industry
Africa is changing and so is its oil and gas sector. Despite this, women remain largely underrepresented in the sector, with men and oil companies being the biggest roadblocks. In executive roles and key industry appointments from governments, women are often not given the tools to succeed. African women in...
In 2007 I chaired four energy events for the centennial celebration of Oklahoma’s statehood. The events were a salute to the past, present, future, and women in energy. In the early days, it was known as a men’s energy industry. Over the years, especially in most recent years, women have...
How Young Students Entering the Field Can Gain Leadership Skills
Leadership is one of the most sought-after qualities in a professional of the oil field, some of them have this innate ability, but for many others a training process is necessary to be able to manage a group of specialists in different skills. Nowadays, the time frame for a recent...
Why Is An E&P Recovery Slow to Materialize?
The U.S. economy is booming, but why is the E&P industry lagging? While the rest of the U.S. economy is enjoying one of its longest bull runs in modern history, the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the E&P industry where the road to recovery continues to be challenged, especially...
Frac Hit Crisis – Producer Solutions
Blow outs are typically associated with the perils of drilling, but these days there is a looming threat to existing production. Decades of downspacing in many U.S. basins have resulted in a large-scale problem for the industry where blow outs, water outs, and other adverse, sometimes catastrophic events can and...
Advanced Technology Improves Worker Safety
Improving worker safety on offshore assets has long been a challenge for the oil and gas industry. Statistics on injuries from the U.K. Offshore Statistics & Regulatory Activity Report 2018 indicate there were 106 reported injuries. The U.S. BSEE (Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement) reported a similar number of...
Women in Tech: Female CIOs on the Rise
Houston, long known as the energy capital of the U.S., is now becoming recognized as a technology hub as well as a forward-thinking city for women in tech. While the oil and gas industry usually ranks near the bottom of male-dominated industries in terms of numbers of women in its...
After NAPE, everyone gets together, they decide collectively to put their assets on the market. Everyone gets excited that deals are being marketed and put together engineering runs on anything and everything that appears even close to decent. Offers are made, and then…nothing. The seller expectations are not met, and...
The Crude Life Conversation on The Cult of Environmentalism
The Crude Life engages with industry experts and energy enthusiasts every day with interviews, radio programs and podcasts. These conversations range from CEOs to truck drivers to authors to engineers to cafe owners. Just like our diverse experts and interviews, the conversations have depth and worldly experience. Over the past...
A Look Into Avoiding Costly Pitfalls – Software Evaluations and Implementations
With the sheer number of competing software in the industry, on top of new software being developed rapidly, it’s quite challenging for companies to determine the right solution for their business. Because of the competition, during the sales process, vendors tend to showcase the software’s latest and greatest features as...
3D Printing to Open New Opportunities and Cut Down Manufacturing Costs in Oil and Gas Market
Are we completely and unequivocally dependent on the oil and gas industry? Yes. In fact, the global demand for crude oil observed was more than 99 million barrels per day in 2018 and the demand is increasing every year. While many countries want to end their addiction to oil, the...
The Cyber Security Problem for Oil and Gas Refineries
Refinery operators running ICS (Industrial Controls Systems) have many concerns, such as keeping the plant running smoothly. In this universe, information technology isn’t necessarily a high priority. However, information assets play an increasingly important role in the refining process, which means that understanding cyber security threats is vital, perhaps even...
Diversity and Inclusion is No Longer a Nicety; It’s a Necessity
A few years ago, a step toward diversity and inclusion in the oil and gas industry meant a young, female crew member on a frac pad received her own portable toilet while the other 100+ male crew members shared three or four. The animosity among the men was palpable. The...
Potential Failure Modes and Considerations for Reel-Lay Method of Installation
Several methods exist for the installation of rigid subsea pipelines. Some of the better-known ones include: S-Lay, J-Lay, Reel Lay, Surface Tow, Below Surface Tow, Bottom Tow, Bottom Pull, Control Depth Tow Method, Horizontal Directional Drilling and Push-Pull Method. Of all the methods for pipeline installation, the Reel-Lay method is...
Use of Natural Gas Production for a Thermoelectric Power Generation Plant
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons that contains methane (CH4) at an amount greater than 80 percent, volumes of alkanes and, in some cases, small traces of pollutants like nitrogen, sulfhydric acid, helium, or carbon dioxide. Gas comes from chemical interaction processes, among plants or decomposition of animal materials...
How Augmented Reality Glasses Can Solve Current Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry
Fluctuating oil and gas prices result in an associated pressure to permanently reduce development expenses and ongoing production costs. Digitalization is not only promoted as a solution to this problem but also able to simultaneously make production workflows more efficient. This provides a strong motivation for the oil and gas...
