Oil and Gas Technology NEWS

Even as energy prices trend down from recent highs, Bank of America still expects the Federal Reserve to make a 75-basis-point rate hike at the next FOMC meeting, but there's a chance of an even more aggressive move."We think the main takeaway from the June inflation data is that underlying price pressures remain robust and unacceptably high relative to the Fed's mandate," BofA analysts wrote in a Friday note.

'This is the first such incident against commercial shipping'. In the Ukrainian Port city of Mariupol, Russian-backed separatists have seized two foreign flagged ships.That’s according to Dryad Global’s latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory (MSTA), which highlighted that these were the Panama flagged Blue Star I and the Liberia-flagged Smarta vessel. The Blue Star I is a general cargo ship built in 2005, while the Smarta is a bulk carrier built in 2007.

Equinor and its partners in the Troll and Oseberg oil and gas fields in the North Sea are looking into possible options for building a one-gigawatt floating offshore wind farm, the Norwegian energy firm said on Friday. The project, named Trollvind, could provide much of the electricity needed to run the Troll and Oseberg fields through an onshore connection point, Equinor said. "Power from Trollvind could make a solid contribution towards electrification of of oil and gas installations, accelerate offshore wind development in Norway, and deliver extra power to the Bergen region," it said in a statement.

Halliburton introduced the DynaTrac Real-Time Wireless Depth Correlation System, a new technology that reduces uncertainty and saves rig-time by enabling operators to accurately position packers, perforating guns and the bottom-hole assembly without running wireline or moving the work string. This system takes static measurements to determine the position of the BHA before and after setting the retrievable packer.

Rovco, a subsea technology company has launched a new product called “SubSLAM Live”. It is 3D streaming technology which will allow clients to live stream 3D underwater point clouds to any device in the world. “The model is compressed and progressively sent over a low-bandwidth <256Kb network link to a cloud server along with the ROV's position", says Rovoco's CSO.

Operational Excellence (Opex) Group has backed a multimillion pound contract with Cnooc. It is a three-year deal for Cnooc International's North Sea assets. Opex will roll out its predictive analysis technology at the Buzzard, Golden Eagle and Scott platforms. Also, ts X-pas service will use data science to monitor all the installations. "We are pleased to have extended our scope across the company’s UKCS assets", said Chief Executive of Opex.

A new single-trip openhole and sidetrack system has been launched by Weatherford. The system can initiate sidetrack operations without a cement plug. AlphaST will enhance operator flexibility, eliminate multiple trips, and avoid costly cementing operations. Weatherford's President said, "AlphaST enables operators to avoid the cost and time of setting a cement plug; waiting on cement to dry and time drilling".

With an aim to enhance the drilling efficiency, Halliburton has released first 3D reservoir mapping technology. This is a new logging-while-drilling (LWD) capability which will significantly improve well placement in complex reservoirs. It will give a detailed representation of subsurface structures. "In complex formations, visualizing data in a 3D environment helps operators significantly enhance reservoir understanding to drive better drilling decisions and maximize asset value", said VP of Sperry Drilling.

BHGE and C3.ai are entering into a joint venture with an aim to deliver digital transformation technologies to the industry. BHGE's CEO said, "The oil and gas industry is rapidly evolving, and digital technology is critical to achieving increased levels of productivity, efficiency and safety for ourselves and for our customers,". C3.ai technologies including C3 AI Suite and applications will be marketed and deployed in the industry business immediately.

Halliburton has introduced new technology in the market, Flex Managed Pressure Drilling System (MPD). It is a scalable and mobile technology which is designed to deliver greater rig efficiency. It assists the driller to control backpressure or choke position while drilling, tripping and making connections by providing a single, straightforward display. By deploying real-time hydraulic modelling, the system can also be used as a full MPD solution.

Expro is an international oilfield services company which has recently added two new well access solutions in its portfolio. Apart from this, the company has also established subsea landing string system technologies. These advancements have led to the expansion of its subsea intervention capabilities. The Intervention Riser System (IRS) and Riserless Well Intervention (RWI) system are the two new solutions introduced by Expro.

Last year, Total signed an agreement with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to work on developing AI solutions for the subsurface data analysis. Working on the same lines, Arnaud Breuillac, Total's head of E&P, recently informed in a conference about the digital factory to be set up by the company. This factory will employ 200 to 300 engineers in order to build the North sea project successfully using AI.

The world's first remote-activated, single-trip deepwater completion system has been introduced by Weatherford. This system reduces the installation time between 40% and 60% and rig time by four to six days. The system deploys radio-frequency identification technology and delivers intervention less operation in producer and injector wells. Weatherford's TR1P combines the upper and lower completions in one trip and has set a new industry benchmark.

Transocean has entered into an agreement with its customer, Equinor, wherein the company will license and install Automated Drilling Control (ADC). ADC will be installed on the four rigs which are currently working in Norway and the fifth rig which is expected to commence its operations soon in the Norweigan sea. CEO commented, "The ADC upgrades advance our automation efforts and further enhance our industry-leading fleet of semi-submersibles".

Baker Hughes, a GE Company has introduced MILLITE lightweight frac plug. This frac plug is said to be different from the conventional plugs available in the market. The plug has been constructed using alloy material and does not contain any heavy metal or ceramic part. MILLITE enables smooth milling and enhanced clean up. Further, it eliminates the preset risk and has safe run-in rates in excess of 600 ft/min.

Baker Hughes, a GE company has taken an initiative to enhance oil production, optimize production and save costs in Oman. The energy major has joined forces with the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) for the same. They will be opening the first artificial lift systems assembly and repair facility in Oman in order to support PDO’s operations and customers in the region.

Siemens and Aker Solutions have decided to improve digital offerings in engineering, operations and services. Both the companies have joined a pact for the same and will aim at creating software applications and joint service offerings. This will help in the efficiency growth during the entire plant lifecycle. The oil and gas sector specific offerings will be inspired from Siemens’ Comos engineering platform which will reduce engineering and operational costs.

BHGE has come up with a new deepwater modular technology, combining planning and risk management. The company has informed about the launch of Subsea Connect, and Aptara TOTEX-lite subsea system, a new approach towards subsea development. It also unravels additional 16 Bbbl of global reserves. It will provide 4 key solutions: Project Connect, Reservoir to Topsides Technology Solutions, Flexible Partnerships and Commercial Models and Digital Enablement.