Oil & Gas Technology News

Turning to shale deposits and doubling the North American supply of natural gas is expected to bring many changes, according to a recent study by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Foremost will be a move from coal to gas for power generation, with gas usage expected to nearly double by 2030. Gas-fired plants emit half the greenhouse gasses (GHG) of coal-fired plants. Unfortunately, lack of gas-fired capacity and broadening requirements to minimize all GHG will throttle the changeover. The good news (see video) is that other opportunities abound, from transportation to cheaper fertilizers for ethanol production.

Tungsten Heavy Alloy (WHA) is an brilliant casing material for down-hole logging of oil/gas wells. WHA casings are heavy enough to sink through mud and strong enough to withstand the harsh environment down hole.

WHA is also an excellent choice in source holders to protect sensitive electronic equipment under extreme conditions.

U.S. Chemical Storage buildings are designed for compliant storage of Class 3, and other combustibles, such as lubricants and oils. Industries find prefabricated buildings to be an effective drum storage solution. Drums may be stored for inactive use and supply, or they may be outfitted with pumps for access to dispensing.

Unlike sandblasting, Gotar technology chemicals don't erode the thread profiles and piping surface. Our method also lets you clean the interior surfaces of the piping bore — lowering labor costs. Gotar D 500 is just what the oil and gas industry has been waiting for — a biodegradeable and non-toxic product.

Conax Technologies' Process Analyzer Sample Probe Assembly (SPA) with a Packing Gland compression fitting is used to hot-tap a sample probe into a closed-loop process through a process isolation valve. This assembly features a plasma welded stop collar, optional retaining chain kit, wake frequency calculations or custom engineered solutions.

Rotary steerables with build-up rates approaching 10 degree/100 ft are gaining ground on mud motors. Watch how steerables improve directional control and drilling rate, maintain more consistent bores, and punch tight doglegs that get productive laterals installed faster. The cost difference, while still a factor, is dropping.

Adding a separator to the boom dramatically improves spill collection in rough weather and difficult currents, according to an article in Science Daily. Funded by the Research Council of Norway, this system works on both surface and partially-submerged spills in any kind of seas, and adapts to various sized vessels.

Distressed by high-sulfur coke piling up around your refinery? Think anode-grade coke instead. Demand exceeds 17 million tons/year. This article recommends deasphalting to remove metals and sulfur from heavy feedstocks. Mixed with resin from residuum oil supercritical extraction (ROSE) processes, the result can turn coke to gold.

Microchannel reactors cheaply convert methane to synfuel. Watch how miniaturized Fischer-Tropsch reaction vessels use embedded cobalt-based catalysts to reduce reaction time and increase conversion ratios. Modular, economic units feasible for small-scale hydrocracking and gas-to-liquid process streams are in production trials.

Dialight's SafeSite® series LED high bay luminaire is the first designed specifically to replace high bay lighting fixtures in hazardous locations. The Dialight SafeSite® series LED high bay luminaire significantly reduces energy with a life expectancy of up to 10 years. Available with CID1, CID2, CIID1, CIID2, CIIID1, CIIID2 certifications.

Stellar's subminiature Series VLU850 tension and compression load cells are small in size — with diameters from 0.50 in. and heights from 0.31 in. — and deliver 0.50% accuracy over ranges from 10 to 1,000 lbf. Standard output is 2 mV/V. Welded stainless steel construction makes these units perfect for demanding limited-space applications.

The Fitness-For-Service Toolbox is a comprehensive suite of software tools based on the most current API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 standard for mechanical engineering assessments. The analysis "Tools" have been coupled with state-of-the-art assessment procedures in API/ASME Fitness-For Service to make this the industry standard for performing Fitness-For Service (FFS) assessments of in-service plant equipment.

Advanced Sensors is proud to present the OIW-EX 1000P Series of in line analyzers boasting the same rich features and maintenance-free operation that are required in today's market. These oil in water analyzers are designed to operate in hazardous environments but provide enhanced measurements ranging up to 20,000 ppm.

Mapping deep structures may be easier, thanks to wave equation migration (WEM). WEM increases seismic imaging in areas with complex velocity models, penetrating geology such as salt formations that resist traditional techniques. Engineer Live explains how WEM helps map gas-hydrate sand reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Faced with the need to quickly determine reservoir parameters from sidewall cutting fragments, Noble Energy recently tried digital rock physics analysis to compute porosity and absolute/relative permeability. An article in World Oil explains how the process works with small samples and returns data in as little as 30 days.

Has the changeover to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) caused problems for storage and transport operators? The Steel Tank Institute recently surveyed almost 1200 tank owners, equipment manufacturers, and transportation companies. A little over 40% reported problems with pumps, seals, filters, and a wide variety of other parts.

Regularly evaluating the integrity of pipelines in high consequence areas like road, highway, and river crossings is a federal mandate. Pipeline and Gas Journal reports that Baltimore Gas and Electric found casing removal only slightly more costly than guided-wave assessment. But GW proved reliable where excavation was impractical.

Curtis universal joints are routinely used in a host of valve applications such as submarines, municipal water systems, nuclear reactors, and oil and gas exploration equipment. For applications which require unusually high non-corrosion standards, the product is available in various grades of brass, monel, and stainless steel. Learn more...

Senscient ELDS™ Open Path Gas Detectors detect lowest levels of 'sour' oil or gas. Innovative ELDS™ OPGD overcomes all problems of existing open path and point gas detectors with no sensor replacements, no field calibration, no un-revealed failures with superior response and durability in the harshest conditions.

Suppliers to the oil and gas industry are under more pressure than ever before to increase quality, collaborate closely with the customer and take on more project risk. Learn how ERP helps engineer procure construction companies, equipment fabricators and service providers meet the new demands from oil and gas companies.

Announcing the release of the MVX medium voltage soft starter from AuCom. The MVX soft starter and L-series panels provide the highest degree of safety of arc fault of any medium voltage soft starter available. With the smallest panel footprint of any soft starter in the world today.

Two refinery safety standards issued by the API are in response to the CSB's investigation of the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and fire which killed 15 and injured 170. The first standard helps companies develop leading and lagging process safety indicators to predict and manage risks. The second standard provides guidance for identifying and preventing risks due to personnel fatigue and inattention.

Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs? Probably, but behind all that death and destruction is a silver lining. By randomly superimposing the distribution of known Canadian impact craters on a map of the U.S. one geoscientist predicts that undiscovered impact craters may hold 50 billion barrels of oil, doubling current proven reserves. Russian geologists have known this since the 1950's; deep bedrock wells dot several former Soviet states.

Let's be More Like NASA

When sea bottom control devices don't work reliably, oil coats the Gulf Coast. Isn't it time for the industry to take a lesson from NASA and build in more redundancy? And, how much redundancy is enough?