TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Since 2003, OHH has given $5.9 million to more than 1,000 oil and gas industry workers and their families. What began as a small fundraising effort for a family facing unforeseen medical expenses, has grown into a national organization.

The country's biggest independent gas producer said it had reviewed the methodology it follows to calculate depreciation of its oil and gas properties, after taking into account the scale of its portfolio since acquiring BHP Group's petroleum assets. It now plans to depreciate oil and conventional gas assets based on proven reserves, instead of the prior method where proven and probable reserves were both considered.

NOV’s electric fracturing system- Ideal eFrac fleet, will be field-tested collaboratively by NexTier Oilfield Solutions and National Oilwell Varco under their newly signed contract. The Ideal eFrac fleet is meant to reduce complexity and increase efficiency at the well sites. Within the agreement, both the companies will collaborate to test the operational capability and different operating conditions of the prototype.

Acoustic Data has been contracted to deploy its SonicGauge Wireless Monitoring System in a gas field project in North-Africa. The technology will deliver real-time surface readout of downhole pressure and temperature on post-frac well tests via acoustic telemetry at the project which will enable live analysis. This will allow the subsurface teams to make fast and informed decisions regarding the field development, reducing standby time and the associated operating expenditure.

Schlumberger, IBM and Red Hat, signed a major collaboration pact to accelerate digital transformation across the oil and gas industry. The unique collaboration will enable Schlumberger’s use for IBM’s hybrid cloud technology Red Hat OpenShift platform. Using the container platform will enable the deployment of applications in the DELFI environment across any infrastructure, from traditional data centers to multiple clouds, including private and public.

UK-based Geoteric has launched two new seismic interpretation products, Collaborative AI and Geoteric Stratum. Collaborative AI complements the existing Geoteric workflows. It enhances traditional interpretation, and efficiently extracts faults from seismic data. While, Geoteric Stratum is a new cloud-based AI software that delivers simple usability and even greater detail for fault identification, reservoir compartmentalization, and well trajectory planning. Geoteric's products enable faster and more accurate results.

Kongsberg Digital and ABB Turbocharging have signed a collaboration agreement on edge data collection and ship engine performance analysis. They plan to work towards a common data infrastructure and accelerate the development of value-added digital applications and services. The collaboration will enable ABB Turbocharging to use Kongsberg Digital’s data infrastructure solution for vessels, which runs on Kongsberg Digital’s Kognifai ecosystem.

One of Ithaca Energy's offshore platforms in the North sea has become 100% powered by renewable energy. Ithaca’s Jacky installation is now fully powered by wind and solar energy. Jacky would now have relatively low emissions compared to larger assets in the North Sea. However, now more operators seek to reduce emissions through green energy and electrification of their platforms.

Halliburton introduced Cerebro Force in-bit sensors, a first-of-its-kind technology that captures weight, torque and bending measurements directly from the bit to improve understanding of downhole environments, optimize bit design and increase drilling efficiency. Built on Halliburton’s successful in-bit vibration sensing platform, Cerebro Force utilizes downhole data to reduce or eliminate surface measurement uncertainty and inefficiencies caused by bit design, bottomhole assembly and drilling parameter selection.

Maersk Drilling will invest USD $1m in California-based company Clean Energy Systems to develop a new technology called Carbon-Negative Energy. The novel technology will help produce renewable fuel and power and aid to remove greenhouse gases. Maersk Drilling is working to reduce the emissions associated with offshore drilling in multiple ways.

A recent research study published in the IntechOpen publication has suggested that ARNCO series hardbandings developed by US-based Arnco Technology are the best hardbanding materials currently available. The authors emphasized that the latest products ARNCO 350XT and 150XT can guarantee 100% no crack. The paper titled ‘Research Progress of the Drill String Hardbanding Materials’ reviewed the research history and status quo of hardbanding materials on tool joints.

Heerema, a major marine contractor based in Leiden, the Netherlands, has broken the record for the largest single lift jacket removal. Heerema’s semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir successfully removed the 8,100-tonne Jotun-B jacket in the Norwegian North Sea for client Vår Energi. The project was completed on Thursday, July 16 and the jacket was offloaded onto the quayside of the decommissioning site in Vats, AF Miljøbase. The removal was completed in four days.

Trendsetter Engineering, privately-owned oil and gas service company based in Houston, has launched the Trident Intervention System. The intervention systems have been designed for rapid field reconfiguration, providing the flexibility to perform intervention riser, riserless wireline intervention and hydraulic stimulation operations all with one system. This modular intervention approach will result in lower costs for well maintaining, improved production and increased operational efficiency of the intervention.

Oilfield services giant, Weatherford International has introduced the Velox™ wellhead system, a best-in-industry solution for operators needing to lock in pressure integrity while enhancing safety and improving efficiency. Velox delivers unmatched isolation between casing strings with quick-connect components that maintain pressure control, reduce potential leak paths, and minimises non-productive time during installation in many applications, including high-pressure, high-temperature, and sour-gas wells.

WFS Technologies has joined forces with Subsea Energy Solutions to harness their combined global expertise and market-leading range of live condition monitored cable protection systems for the offshore energy industry. The collaboration will see WFS utilize its smart wireless Seatooth technologies, which provide real-time insight in extreme environments, with SES’s offshore cable and subsea umbilical, riser and flowline protection systems.

Bluware has landed an AI deal with British oil major bp. Bluware had entered into an agreement with bp to improve its ability to interpret seismic data. Financial terms remain undisclosed. Large seismic data sets are difficult to move and use in workflows. The interpretation of these data sets is also time-consuming. Using this tool, geoscientists can interactively train and correct deep learning results, thereby, improving structural interpretation workflows.

The OOC Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium has concluded a blockchain pilot with Data Gumbo for automating water management at the Bakken shale field in North Dakota. The trial was able to reduce process workflow to less than a week, down from 90-120 days. The OOC Consortium consists of ten prominent oil and gas players namely Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Hess, Marathon Oil, Noble Energy, Pioneer Natural Resources, Shell and Repsol.

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.