September-October 2020
Digital Twins Flourish in Upstream Sector
As software and technology continue to further penetrate the oil and gas industry, the upstream sector is seeing the technology benefit as well, in the form of programs that can digitally reproduce the inner workings of a production plant – a so-called digital twin, which is essentially all of the...
Buyer Beware: Consent-to-Assign Provisions in the Oil Patch
A sense of normalcy is returning to the oil patch, at least compared to the roller coaster ride that took place in March and April of this year. For much of this summer, WTI has hovered around $40/barrel, giving operators some stability in pricing and the chance to make money...
Drilling Tools Most Used and Techniques to Exploit Formation Conditions
Well drilling, the second step in the downhole process, begins when the superficial casing is put in place and ends when the well is set to begin the hydrocarbon production. It is commonly the process of greatest investment; for this reason, it is the main gauge when studying new projects....
Decarbonizing Oil and Gas Using AI
COVID-19 has undeniably shaken global economies to their very core, and the world has responded by changing at rapid speed. Additionally, the pressure of climate change looming in the background has also become an immediate threat. With these enormous challenges in front of us, it’s understandable to feel powerless. I...
Wearable Safety Technology in Combustible Gas Detection
Protecting your greatest assets – the people that make up your operation and the operation itself – are at the forefront of any company’s mind in the oil and gas industry. While much of a refinery’s commencement takes place in an office with very little immediate risk; once in operation,...
AR is Driving Business Continuity, Flexibility and Resilience in the Oil and Gas Industry
Driven by the worldwide COVID pandemic, the oil and gas industry is challenged to plan and operate with new procedures and approaches to keep its employees healthy. Social distancing, sick employees, and quarantine requirements can lead to smaller crew sizes, staggered shifts, and limited expert availability. Companies are often under...
Think pink! In 1985, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) became an annual addition to the worldwide calendar, while in 1992, the pink ribbon officially came to be a ubiquitous symbol of breast cancer awareness. We’re all used to seeing those pink bows adorning product packages and signs every October....
One Hundred Years In The Permian
One hundred years is a major milestone and the observance of a centennial usually calls for a celebration but, with the world in the midst of a pandemic, there hasn’t been much fanfare as this year quietly marks the centennial of the first commercially producing well in the Permian Basin....
Drilling is an essential component in the oil and gas industry with operators using drilling as a method to excavate oil underground and from various resources. With drilling being as significant as it is, it should also be performed efficiently, yet many operators have difficulty in this area. There are...
A 3D Digital Twin is a virtual replica of assets, consisting of “point cloud” data captured by Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) scanners, which is used to update Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs). This data is connected to a plot plan and users can navigate between the three (plot plan,...
Low-Code Software Development to Propel Oil and Gas Tech Higher
Tech, tech and more tech. It only goes up from here and, since the dawn of the Internet revolution in the mid-90s, the world has been riding the tech elevator beyond the limits of our atmosphere (thanks, Space-X). Technology and software development have been targeting the oil and gas industry...
Interview: Spencer Albright, President, MineralWare
Eric Eissler: Please provide some background as to what your company does and how you do it. Spencer Albright: MineralWare is an all-encompassing, cloud-based oil and gas asset management platform. We provide the leading software for managing mineral, royalty and non-operated working interest assets. Our clients are able to see...
Implementing the Right Strategies to Immediately Boost Operator Cash Flow
During these challenging times, with rigs drastically cut and completion crews on indefinite hold, finding ways to immediately impact cash flow is critical. If you are a C-Suite, division VP or field leader, there are a number of impactful strategies your team can implement today to drop more revenue into...
Lightning Strikes in the Permian
This photo sequence is courtesy of reader Christopher J. Riojas, an employee of Progress Drilling for 20 years. Riojas has spent his entire career from the age of 18 with Progress and has never worked anywhere else. During his time with the company, he has worked corner, thrown chain and...
Four Fundamentals to Improve Safe Production in Lean Times
For years, organizational leaders in dangerous industries have searched for ways to improve organizational performance and prevent serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). This is particularly true for oil and gas companies where the potential for burns, amputations, fractures and other serious incidents are ever-present. In fact, OSHA reports that employees...
Future Forward Operations: Putting Innovation at the Top of the Offshore Agenda
April 2020 saw oil prices dip negative for the first time in memory. A mixture of COVID-19 travel restrictions worldwide, an oil price war and potential global recession led the oil price to tumble. As a cyclical industry, the oil and gas sector is used to weathering storms, but this...
Why AI Will be a Game Changer for the Global Oil and Gas Sector
As business leaders in the oil and gas industry come to terms with the “new normal” of remote working, digital-led interactions, and increased uncertainty, Craig Hayman, CEO at AVEVA discusses how the company is helping teams to navigate the challenges and opportunities that the macro-economic downturn is creating. As a...
Pipelines: A Vital Piece of the Puzzle in the Oil and Gas Stream
Five major players – Kinder Morgan, Williams Companies, ONEOK, Energy Transfer, and Plains All American – each with extensive pipeline networks that zigzag across the country, dominate the midstream oil and gas segment in the U.S. Numerous regional companies also facilitate the intricate delivery of petroleum products on a smaller...
Third-Party Compliance Management Trends in Midstream Operations
Several influences play integral roles in the evolution of the midstream sector, with compliance and safety often at the heart of the industry’s pursuit of operational excellence. Recent regulation changes are among the most current stimuli in midstream operations, which have led to several operator trends in recent months. The...
Financial Reporting Impairment Considerations for Oil and Gas Companies in the Low-Price Environment
The decrease in oil demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the worldwide pendulum of supply and demand, has put many energy companies in financially difficult positions, including evaluations of operating efficiencies of their overhead and capital development projects, as well as constraints on cash flow and...
Choosing the Right MWD Telemetry System Reduces Well Delivery Costs
In 1912 the French geophysicist Conrad Schlumberger, after recording the first geological map of equipotential curves, applied the data to locating iron ores and subsurface structures that could form traps for minerals such as oil and gas. Conrad and his brother Marcel were pioneering petroleum engineers from France’s oil-rich Alsace...
Tax Considerations for Oil and Gas in a Low Price Environment
The COVID-19 pandemic has put many oil and gas companies in financially difficult positions. In response to low oil prices and a decline in earnings, oil and gas companies should understand several tax provisions that could help them increase liquidity by producing a tax refund, reducing tax liability or deferring...
How Safety Has Become a Priority for the Oil Sector
The discipline of oil drilling is one of the most inherently risky manufacturing industries worldwide. From the heavy machinery involved, to the isolated locations and long driving distances, risk presents itself under many different guises in the oil industry. Though the sector’s relationship with health and safety has traditionally been,...
The Crude Life engages with industry experts and energy enthusiasts every day with interviews, radio programs, social media posts, print features, video content and podcasts. These conversations range from CEOs to truck drivers to authors to engineers to café owners. Just like our diverse experts and interviews, the conversations have...
3D Printing Readiness: How to Get Setup for Success
Environments in oil and gas wells are harsh, complex and abrasive, wreaking havoc on drilling systems and equipment, which are especially difficult to replace or repair when in boreholes miles underground. For manufacturers in this space, industrial 3D printing, known as additive manufacturing (AM), has been a game-changer. AM technologies...
The Challenge of Hurricane Preparedness During a Global Pandemic
Imagine for a moment, you’re getting ready to dial into your weekly leadership call when you receive an urgent text from your director of operations. “Have you seen the latest National Hurricane Center advisory? There are two potential hurricanes heading our way this week. We need to talk ASAP!” This...
Amphibious, All-Terrain and Airborne Drones Enhance Efficiency in Execution of Essential Services
Although awareness of the safety solutions offered by unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – aka drones – has recently spiked across the healthcare community due to the coronavirus crisis, perhaps one of the fastest growing uses of this burgeoning and advanced technology is within the oil and gas industry. Not only...
Greater Gender Diversity – A Rare Positive Change to Emerge From the COVID-19 Crisis?
My two young daughters and I were stranded on vacation in the U.K., separated from my husband for five months during this crisis, while he was at home in New York. When we finally were reunited, a new reality hit. Like many parents, my husband and I now had to...
GTL Technology for Flare Mitigation is Critical to Tackling Scope 3 Emissions
With growing worldwide momentum in decarbonization, the oil and gas industry is starting to acknowledge its impact on climate change, and is now increasingly committing to carbon neutrality goals and taking part in collaborative decarbonization initiatives. The majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the oil and gas industry...
Young Professionals in the Oil and Gas Industry: Interview with Kim Salinas, Bank Engineer, ING
To continue with our young professional series, our talk today is with Kim Salinas, who is a bank engineer with ING. Kim is an active participant with the local SPE chapter and serves as a chairman. Alan Alexeyev: Tell us a little bit about your current position and what you...
Leveraging Technology to Crush Costs and Concerns
The energy industry is very cyclical and, while companies should take advantage of economic ups and market changes that give them an edge, it is imperative to keep in mind that a downturn will follow. It is easy to focus on growth without having a Plan B, which causes concern...
Building Your Sustainable AI Strategy and Implementation
A review of best practices and steps for projects to produce sustainable AI implementations. Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to surpass what experts thought was possible. Governments and companies of all industries are pouring billions into implementing the technology. In the energy industry, AI has thoroughly permeated the exploration and production...
A New Aera For President and CEO Christina Sistrunk
After more than five years at the helm of California-based Aera Energy, which is jointly owned by Shell Oil and ExxonMobil’s affiliates, outgoing President and CEO Christina Sistrunk prepares to step down and begin her next act. Prior to her October 1st departure, which will see her succeeded by COO...
Patented Chemical Mixing Tool Improves Results While Slashing Chemical Spending
Ongoing chemical treatments are among the top production costs in almost every basin, coming in at around eight to ten percent on average on the low end. As oil prices whipsaw across the line between profit and loss, producers are looking for ways to manage every possible cost, including chemicals....
Estimating Installation Costs for Automatic Tank Gauges
Determining which automatic tank gauge works for a specific application is more complex than simply comparing product prices or performance specifications. There are numerous factors associated with installing a gauge that can inflate costs and cause an operator to exceed budget. These factors can lead to expenses that overshadow the...
API Foundation for Refinery Safety Regulations
Refineries are petrochemical industrial plants where substances derived from crude oil and gas are obtained. Within their walls, transformation and refining processes occur to obtain products such as gasoline, diesel, asphalt, kerosene, liquefied gas, oils and fuel. To talk about refineries is to discuss movement worldwide. Today, refined hydrocarbons are...
Honoring Innovation During World Energy Week
In celebration of World Energy Week on Oct. 5-9, the National Inventors Hall of Fame® is proud to celebrate 2020 Inductees James Abercrombie (1891-1975) and Harry Cameron (1872-1928), who developed the blowout preventer (BOP). James Abercrombie, a Texas oil driller, and Harry Cameron, a machinist, designed the world’s first reliable...
AI’s Critical Role in the Digital Transformation Journey
By taking advantage of reduced inaccuracies and improved productivity thanks to AI, the oil and gas industry can enjoy faster data analysis and more informed business decisions. Beginning in the early 2000s, the term “digital transformation” became a buzzword in the oil and gas industry. Nearly every major energy company...
What are the Most Relevant New Technologies for the Upstream Sector?
The upstream sector of the oil and gas industry is based on the first stage of a reservoir’s lifetime. This cycle takes into account the processes of exploration, drilling and production of the well; therefore, its task focuses on converting possible reserves to proven ones, achieving a quantification of fluid...
Natural Gas: Beyond the Pandemic
A recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) entitled “Gas 2020: Analyzing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Natural Gas Markets” was published in June 2020. The lengthy report emphasizes supply, demand and trade, and, in part, states: “After a four percent drop in 2020, natural gas...
Letter from the Publisher (September-October 2020)
We’re all searching for the good news in the good news/bad news equation right now and it can be hard to find at first glance. While remaining realistic and pragmatic, at OILMAN we also want to be optimistic and, if we know one thing about the energy industry, it’s that...
Considerations Before Implementing AI in the Oil and Gas Industry
An effective AI platform needs a reliable master data strategy and cloud computing source to build upon, as well as sound data integration and cleansing for optimal performance and outcomes. Over the last few years, adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by companies has surged 270 percent. Companies are pushing to...
Satellite Connectivity is Key for Driving Offshore Efficiency, Now More Than Ever
The energy industry today understands the value of technology. Innovation and sensible investment can rapidly cut operating costs and reduce the risk of accident. This is especially true in the offshore sector, which relies on technology and development to make progress and must deal with higher cost pressures than most...
In the Hot Seat: Solar’s Abby Hopper
Abigail (Abby) Ross Hopper’s career has spanned the energy spectrum from wind to fossil fuels and now to solar, as president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), since January 2017. She talks to OILWOMAN about the current state of the solar industry as it deals with the COVID-19...
How COVID-19 Is Forcing Oil And Gas To Rethink Workforce Management
With operational disruptions, supply chain lags, and reductions in consumer spending, the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact business globally. Stalled or stopped business activities, combined with a slowed demand for oil, are particularly affecting the energy sector. The oil and gas industry is used to whiplash reactions to market changes...
Deepwater Manages Pandemic on Land and at Sea
The oil and gas industry has quickly made leaps and bounds in combatting COVID-19, and the offshore sector has been forced to develop creative and innovative tactics in winning the battle. Like the various types of work that make up the shale industry, the offshore world serves as the workplace...
