Back Issue: Summer 2011

1. From Bit to Rig Floor: An Integrated Systems Approach to BHA
2. Bit Design—Top to Bottom
3. Conveyance—Down and Out in the Oil Field
4. Basic Petroleum Geochemistry for Source Rock Evaluation
5. Technology for Environmental Advances

1. From Bit to Rig Floor: An Integrated Systems Approach to BHA

Editorial contributed by Guy Arrington, President, Bits and Advanced Technologies, Schlumberger.

2. Bit Design—Top to Bottom

The right bit plays a key role in optimizing ROP, minimizing rig costs and shortening the time between project commissioning and first production. At one time, engineers designed bits based on little more than rough estimates of the characteristics of the rock to be drilled. Today, however, the emergence of high-speed computers has made it possible for bit designers to consider the bit and the entire drilling system in far more detail and in a far more holistic manner than ever before.

3. Conveyance—Down and Out in the Oil Field

Evaluating, perforating and performing mechanical services on horizontal and high-angle wells present challenges for operators and service companies. This article reviews some of the methods used to convey equipment and logging tools downhole for cased hole and openhole operations; the article also describes conveyance options for logging in high-angle and horizontal wells.

4. Basic Petroleum Geochemistry for Source Rock Evaluation

The pursuit of prospects in increasingly complex plays is giving E&P companies a renewed appreciation for one of the fundamental principles of exploration: The viability of any prospective reservoir depends on an effective source rock. Petroleum geochemistry is proving its value in helping operators evaluate source rocks and quantify the elements and processes that control the generation of oil and gas. Geochemistry is also an important tool for reducing uncertainty inherent in exploration and production of frontier basins. This article explores basic geochemical techniques used to evaluate new prospects.

5. Technology for Environmental Advances

In recent years, the E&P industry has improved many technologies and practices to remove or mitigate detrimental effects on the environment. These improvements have been introduced throughout the life cycle of fields. Many of those new technologies also demonstrate improved performance over technologies they replaced.