OCTOBER 2001
An onshore injection well in Brazil is the site of an all- electronic, multizone intelligent well completion being tested for eventual use by Petrobras in its deepwater Campos basin wells.
The World Renewable Energy Report lists the following as the forecasted order of renewable energy contributions for 2001-10: 43% biomass, 27% wind, 15% solar, 9% small-scale hydro, 4% geothermal and 2% others.
The American Petroleum Institute reports that US jet fuel deliveries fell nearly 10 percent in September due to reduced air travel following terrorist attacks.
Light sweet crude: $22.66/bbl
Natural gas: $2.42/MMbtu
US active rig count: 1,147
OCTOBER 2011
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issues an initial round of citations resulting from the Joint Investigation Team's final report on the April 2010 Macondo well blowout and crude oil spill. Fifteen citations are issued Oct. 12 as Incidents of Non-Compliance (INCs) to BP PLC, the well's operator; offshore drilling contractor Transocean Ltd; and well services supplier Halliburton Co.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemns what it calls the "sinful and abhorrent" attempt to assassinate its ambassador to Washington, a day after the US claimed Iran was behind the plot. Former chief of Saudi intelligence Prince Turki Al- Faisal tells an oil conference that there was overwhelming evidence that Iran was behind a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador and that it must "pay the price."
Kinder Morgan Inc. reports it will acquire all outstanding shares of El Paso Corp. in a transaction creating the largest midstream and the fourth-largest energy company in North America, with an enterprise value of $94 billion and 80,000 miles of pipelines, the companies claim.
Light sweet crude: $85.56/bbl
Natural gas: $3.58/MMbtu
U.S. active rig count: 2,023
OCTOBER 2016
Three groups that support the Dakota Access crude-oil pipeline and similar oil and gas transportation projects separately express concerns on Oct. 11 after protesters broke into facilities near the Canadian border and elsewhere and tried to close pipeline valves manually.
Fans of energy regulation might regret a rare success rooted in the US government's expansionism of the 1970s. Some of them are suggesting the decade wasn't so bad. Maybe they’re too young to remember the service-station lines, daisy-chain corruption and unseemly contortions of a government trying to fix its mistakes without admitting to having made any.
Alaska's government formally nominates the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and Cook Inlet for inclusion in the 2017-22 federal Outer Continental Shelf management program being prepared by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The action is necessary to assure that one lease sale in each area remains in the program, Gov. Bill Walker (I) says in an Oct. 6 letter to US Sec. of the Interior Sally Jewell.
Light sweet crude: $49.52/bbl
Natural gas: $3.03/MMbtu
US active rig count: 524
THE REST OF THE YARN
This month, we meet two of the guests from the Brown and Hunt families.
The white-haired figure shaking President Nixon’s hand with patrician reserve was George Brown, head of one of the world’s largest construction firms and a primary backer of Johnson and Connally. His company, Brown & Root, had participated in all the major construction in Vietnam, on Project Mohole in the Pacific Ocean, on NASA’s Houston Space Center and on countless other massive projects around the world, many of them related to war. Brown’s eyesight had begun to fail, but his political acumen remained intact, as did his elevated position among his peers.
Quite different in appearance was the short, plump Nelson Bunker Hunt, a heavy supporter of Nixon’s, who wore a shy, gap-toothed grin. The third son of H. L. Hunt, Bunker was a formidable force in his own right in financial America, and not unknown to controversy. He and other members of the Hunt family were presently involved in a federal wiretapping suit. His oil interests in Libya were threatened with nationalization. Neither of these would prevent his buying another thoroughbred racehorse, or his later attempt with his brother, Herbert, to buy up a large portion of the world’s available silver.
Next month, we meet some of the oilfield contingent.
HISTORY QUIZ
California’s first well drilled over water from an island structure was located off what beach?
If you would like to participate in this month’s quiz, e-mail your answer to contest@spe.org by noon, October 15. The winner, who will be chosen randomly from all correct answers, will receive a $50 gift card to a nice restaurant (courtesy of the ProTechnics Division of Core Laboratories).
ANSWER TO SEPTEMBER’S QUIZ
Arsenic was the earliest acid corrosion inhibitor used for treating limestone formations with hydrochloric acid.
SEPTEMBER'S QUIZ RESULTS
Congratulations to September’s winner, Mario Torre with Sensia.