SPE-GCS

SPE-GCS e-Newsletter September 2008

noemail@spegcs.org — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT

View this newsletter in your browser: http://www.spegcs.org/en/articles/view.asp?articleid=764

SPE-GCS e-Newsletter Sponsored by: Hexion

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Calendar Events for September 2008

Horizontal Well Production Analysis
Sponsor: Westside Study Group
Speaker's Names: Stuart Cox Senior Technical Consultant Marathon Oil Company
Days: Tue 9-Sept-08 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CST
Location: The WestLake Club - Carriage Room 570 WestLake Park Blvd Houston Texas 77079
Summary: Numerous horizontal well completion techniques are being employed in the industry today. The successful completion of horizontal wells presents unique challenges that extend all...
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Geology 101
Sponsor: Petro-Tech Study Group
Speaker's Names: Steve Allison Retired ExxonMobil
Days: Tue 9-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 12:30 PM CDT
Location: Sheraton / Brookhollow Hwy 290 & I 610 W 3000 North Loop West Houston TX 77092
Summary: Whether you work in geoscience, drilling, reservoir, subsurface, regulatory, or facilities, you owe your livelihood to the men and women who first FIND the oil and gas that we produce...
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Torque and Drag Prediction for Deviated Wellbore
Sponsor: NorthSide Study Group
Speaker's Names: Gefei Liu President Pegasus Vertex, Inc
Days: Tue 9-Sept-08 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CST
Location: Greenspoint Club 16925 Northchase Dr Houston TX 77060
Summary: Torque and drag problems are very common during drilling, completion, and workover operations. Excessive torque and drag from Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) can result in...
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The Extraction of Mud Stuck Tubing Using Vibratory Resonance Techniques
Sponsor: Drilling Study Group
Speaker's Names: Ozzie Gonzalez Senior Technology Development Engineer Vibration Technology, Inc
Days: Wed 10-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Greenspoint Club 16925 Northchase Drive Houston TX 77060
Summary: This presentation focuses on the extraction of stuck tubulars using a Forced Oscillatory Motion tuned to the resonance of the stuck system. The resulting process transfers...
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FROM SOVIET TO PUTIN & BACK - THE DOMINANCE OF ENERGY IN TODAY'S RUSSIA
Sponsor: General Meeting Committee
Speaker's Names: MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES Chairman XGAS & Paleon Oil & Gas
Days: Thu 11-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston, ExxonMobil Bldg, 43 Floor 800 Bell Street Houston Texas 77002
Summary: $120+ oil has a number of causes but the influence of Russia has been overwhelming and, surprisingly, underestimated and not discussed enough....
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Optimization of the Exmar OPTI –EX Semisubmersible hull form for floating production application
Sponsor: Projects, Facilities and Construction Study Group
Speaker's Names: Harris Knecht President Exmar Offshore Company
Days: Tue 16-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Houston Racquet Club 10709 Memorial Drive Houston TX 77024
Summary: The hull shape and structural configuration that created the unique OPTI hull form which optimizes the payload to hull steel ratio while minimizing motions and environmental forces will be discussed....
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Haynesville – From 0 to 60 in Six Months
Sponsor: Business Development Study Group
Speaker's Names: Stephen W. Herod, Exec. VP – Corporate Development, Petrohawk Energy Corporation
Dan Pickering, Co-President, Head of Research, Tudor Pickering Holt & Co.
Robert C. Turnham, Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer, Goodrich Petroleum Corporation
Days: Wed 17-Sep-08 6:00 PM - to - 7:30 PM CDT
Location: Four Seasons Hotel Ballroom, 3rd Floor, 1300 Lamar St., Between Caroline & Austin Houston Texas 77010
Summary: Join the Business Development Study Group at the Four Seasons Hotel as we strap ourselves in to get an update on this rapidly accelerating shale play. Three veteran drivers will take us through....
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Is it the Digital Oil Field of the Future, or Today? (Are We There Yet?)
Sponsor: Digital Energy Study Group
Speaker's Names: Tom Halbouty VIce President & CIO Pioneer Natural Resources
Days: Wed 17-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Courtyard on St James 1885 St James Place Houston TX 77056
Summary: Tom will present an overview and his personal point of view concerning the speed, pace of acceptance, and results from the digital oil field initiatives, from the large integrated oil companies, to the...
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A New Deepwater Pipeline Repair Capability for the Gulf of Mexico and Other Deepwater Regions
Sponsor: Completion and Production Study Group
Speaker's Names: Ray R. Ayers, Ph.D., P.E. Rupe & DW Rupe Project Manager Stress Engineering Services
Days: Thu 18-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: The Greenspoint Club 16925 Northchase Houston Texas 77060
Summary: Since 2004 a Joint Industry Project (JIP) has been in operation to develop the capability to repair pipelines in water depths from 1,000 to 10,000 feet seawater. The first Phase of the JIP identified and evaluated diverless pipeline repair...
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SPE-GCS Board of Directors Meeting
Sponsor: SPE-GCS Board of Directors
Days: Thu 18-Sep-08 7:30 AM - to - 10:30 AM CDT
Location: SPE Houston Office 10777 Westheimer Road, Suite 335 Houston Texas 77042
Summary: The Gulf Coast Section will hold its monthly Board of Directors meeting from 7:30 am to 10:30 am. Please register so that we may have a proper head count for breakfast...
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SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE 2008)
Sponsor: Society of Petroleum Engineers
Days: Sun 21-Sep-08 7:00 AM - to - Wed 24-Sep-08 4:30 PM CDT
Location: Colorado Convention Center 700 14th Street Denver CO 80202
Summary: The Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) is the leading technical conference in the E&P world....
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7th Annual PetroBowl 2008
Sponsor: Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapters
Days: Mon 22-Sep-08 8:00 AM - to - 5:00 PM CDT
Location: Colorado Convention Center 700 14th Street Denver CO 80202
Summary: The PetroBowl competition matches four-person teams from participating universities against each other to answer questions ranging from the fundamentals of petroleum engineering to the history and current events of the oil and gas industry...
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Predicting Field Performance - Thriving on Uncertainty
Sponsor: Reservoir Study Group
Speaker's Names: Neil Dunlop Board Director Energy Scitech
Days: Thu 25-Sep-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Courtyard on St James 1885 St James Place Houston TX 77056
Summary: Making predictions was always part of the art of management. Now that we can readily predict multiple views of future performance it is easy to become concerned that the results will...
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Symposium: Horizontal Operations in the Cotton Valley
Sponsor: East Texas Section of SPE
Speaker's Names: Neil Dunlop Board Director Energy Scitech
Days: 30-Sep-08
Location: UT Tyler – Tyler Ornelas Activity Center 3402 Old Omen Road Tyler, Texas 75707
Summary: Featured speakers from active operators and service companies will cover relevant topics in this rapidly developing technology. As part of our goal to...
Register | David Nelson dentogi@suddenlinkmail.com

Future Events

Hydrate problems, it happens when Drilling Onshore, too
Sponsor: Drilling Study Group
Speaker's Names: Don Robinson Drilling Manager Range Resources
Days: Wed 8-Oct-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Petroleum Club 800 Bell Street #4300 Houston TX 77002
Summary: Hydrates can form onshore at temperatures far above freezing. This presentation will cover how the hydrates were identified in a Texas land well and...
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Optimizing Asset Design - Cradle To Grave - By Bridging The Gap Between The Earth Science & Engineering Disciplies Using Mechanical Earth Modeling Technology
Sponsor: General Meeting Committee
Speaker's Names: H. E. Goodman Staff Research Consultant Chevron
Days: Thu 9-Oct-08 11:30 AM - to - 1:00 PM CDT
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston - ExxonMobil Bldg, 43 Floor 800 Bell Street Houston Texas 77070 USA
Summary: This presentation will introduce acoustics based rock mechanics concepts, describe Chevron’s acoustics based rock property prediction technique, and present field application case histories for selected business units world-wide...
Register | Google Maps | Add to Calendar

3rd Annual Reservoir Technology Showcase
Sponsor: Study Group - Reservoir
Speaker's Names: Michael Bahorich, Executive VP, Exploration & Production Technology Apache Corporation
Days: Thu 16-Oct-08 8:00 AM - to - 1:30 PM CDT
Location:Microsoft Offices 2000 W Sam Houston Parkway South - 3rd Floor Houston TX 77042
Summary: The 3rd Annual Reservoir Technology showcase will feature eight leading technology companies that will discuss and demonstrate their latest developments. This year’s theme is The Power of Integrated Technologies...
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Divide & Control: A Topsides Story
Sponsor: Projects, Facilities and Construction
Days: Tue 28-Oct-08 7:00 AM - to - 5:00 PM CST
Location: Hilton Houston North Hotel (formerly Wyndham) - Greenspoint, 12400 Greenspoint Drive Houston TX 77060
Summary: Technology Showcase: Topside oil and gas production facilities have developed for over half a century as production first moved offshore on fixed platforms with pipelines to today's floating structures with...
Register | Google Maps | Add to Calendar

Articles/Miscellaneous

Chairman's Corner - September 2008
Who Are We, and Why Are We Here? by Bill bowers, Exterran 2008-2009 SPE GCS Chairman. As we enter a new year of activities in the SPE Gulf Coast Section and I begin my term as Chair,...

Then and Now
September 1958 A harbinger of things to come…Communist influence in Venezuela is reportedly growing and control of its critical oil industry is likely high on the list. (In another 40 years it will all culminate in Hugo calling the shots.) $ Interest in pursuing once-promising oil zones in northeast...

SPE Honors and Awards 2008
SPE honors and awards recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry, the engineering profession, or to SPE. We’re pleased to announce that Gulf Coast Region members...

Licensed Engineers Needed
SPE invites you to support the professionalism of engineers and petroleum engineering licensing programs on November 13–14 by participating in the PE Cut Score Session in Houston. This session will be held at the SPE Houston Office at 10777 Westheimer Road, Suite 1075.....

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31-Aug-08 4:00 PM

Then and Now - September 2008

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:30:00 GMT

September 1958

A harbinger of things to come…Communist influence in Venezuela is reportedly growing and control of its critical oil industry is likely high on the list. (In another 40 years it will all culminate in Hugo calling the shots.) $ Interest in pursuing once-promising oil zones in northeastern Montana begins to fade. (Too bad that a time-traveling driller could not return to this era and drill one of them new-fangled horizontal wells in the Bakken.) $ Petrobras is reportedly close to obtaining much-needed long-term financial aid from ENI. (What a difference 50 years has made for the Brazilians.) $ An interesting cooperative water flood project kicks off in California…While Shell and Union independently flood adjacent leases, four injection wells are used to build a water barrier to protect against migration of oil across the lease line.

East Texas crude oil - $3.25/bbl; U.S. active rig count – 1,921

August 1982

France and Italy are at it again…selling industry technology to Russia…and even Great Britain is threatening to defy the U.S. embargo against such sales. President Reagan is not a happy camper! $ How many of you knew that Amoco was once in the fertilizer and pesticide business? Well, it won’t be for much longer, as they are reportedly looking for a buyer. $ The operating company of Oklahoma State’s favorite alumnus breaks the Oklahoma production depth record with the completion of the Mesa Petroleum Tipton 2-29 well at a perforated depth of 24,928-969 ft. $ The DOE goes shopping for a contractor to operate it’s Bartlesville, Okla. Energy Technology Center.

U.S. active rig count – 2,676

September 1997

Venezuela is thwarted in it’s attempt to market it’s patented boiler fuel, Orimulsion, in the state of Florida, as Florida’s Governor Chiles declares that Florida does not want to be the guinea pig for this experimental fuel that Venezuela won’t use. $ Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov vows that Rosneft’s privatization will occur “in the presence of many journalists in an open and clear manner with no behind-the-scenes dealing.” (Did anybody check to see if he had his fingers crossed?) $ Following in the footsteps of Enron, Japan’s oil companies reveal plans to become electric power suppliers. (Might want to look for another role model.) $ Mitsubishi reports to have developed a process that uses Red Sea green algae to produce fuel ethanol by changing a starch produced from CO2 through photosynthesis into ethanol. (Don’t let the moonshiners get wind of this!)

Light sweet crude oil - $19.41/bbl; Natural gas - $2.78/MMBTU; U.S. active rig count – 993

The Rest of the Yarn

This month we resume a series of articles profiling international public figures that have significantly impacted the petroleum industry in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In the early 1900’s the British Royal Navy was fueled by coal. John Fisher, First Sea Lord of the British Royal Navy, tried to get the fleet converted over from coal to oil, but most of the British admirals felt more secure using their own Welsh coal.

Enter a 35-year old Conservative turned Liberal Party parliamentarian named Winston Churchill, who in 1910 had risen to the position of Home Secretary. He too believed that the Navy should convert both new and old vessels to oil fueled.

By July 1911, Churchill became convinced that the growth of the German fleet represented a threat to Britain and that Germany did intend to make war. He thus became very concerned about the capacity of the Royal Navy. By the end of September that year, he had been appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, the top civilian post in the Royal Navy.

The Navy was building 56 destroyers and 74 submarines that could run on oil, but the backbone of the fleet, the battleships, still burned coal. A study commissioned by Churchill reported that oil-powered ships could travel at 25 knots, faster than coal-powered ones. Oil would allow higher speeds, greater rapidity in getting up to speed, and, it would open up extra space on board, allowing room to store more gun powder. Thus, the battleships built in 1912-14 were all fueled by oil.

Churchill appointed Admiral Fisher head of a commission to study the question of finding adequate and secure oil supplies. The commission found overwhelming advantages in favor of oil fuel over coal, and it maintained that sufficient supplies existed throughout the world. The decisions that were being made here would have ramifications in the political world and in the petroleum industry for years to come.

Next month, we examine the relationships that developed between the British Admiralty and their principal oil suppliers, Royal Dutch Shell and Anglo-Persian Oil.

History Quiz

Shortly before the 94th birthday of this oil industry titan and philanthropist, his son wrote the following about his father: “…In all these years of effort and striving, your own life and example have been to me the most powerful and stimulating influence. What you have done for humanity and business on a vast scale has impressed me profoundly. To have been a silent partner with you in carrying out these great constructive purposes and benefactions has been the supreme delight of my life.”
Name this oil industry titan and philanthropist.

If you would like to participate in this month’s quiz, e-mail your answer to contest@spe.org by noon, September 15. The winner, who will be chosen randomly from all correct answers, will receive a $50 gift certificate to a nice restaurant.

Answer to May’s Quiz

The Canadians claim that the true father of the oil industry, circa 1858 (one year prior to Colonel Drake), was James Miller Williams whose strike was at Oil Springs, Ontario.

Answer to April’s Quiz

The discovery well drilled in 1905 near the small village of Tulsa, Indian Territory that spawned a state, several major oil companies, and made Tulsa the oil capital of the world was the No. 1 Ida E. Glenn.

Congratulations to April’s winner – Victor Blanco with Valence Operating

31-Aug-08 2:30 PM