Decommissioning – the next Australian oil and gas boom?

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Cullinane ◽  
Susan Gourvenec
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Innovative Thinking ◽  
Fit For Purpose

In the Oil and Gas Competitiveness Assessment recently published by National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), Australia ranked at the bottom of the group of 30 oil and gas producing nations in abandonment and decommissioning (NERA 2016). With the recent focus on the massive investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG), it is easy to forget that the Australian oil and gas industry is nearly 100 years old and many assets are reaching the end of their producing life. Liabilities are estimated at more than US$21billion over the next 50 years (Wood Mackenzie 2016a). With nearly 70% of producing assets located offshore, this problem is complex and costly. The industry must develop strategies to address this looming challenge, however Australia has completed few large-scale decommissioning projects and currently lacks the required experience. This paper explores how Australia must: evaluate a range of approaches from complete removal to allowing assets to remain in situ; develop multi- and interdisciplinary solutions based on the collaborative input of all stakeholders and ocean users to develop a framework suited to our geographic location and environment; develop fit-for-purpose policies and regulations to support the most appropriate decommissioning framework for Australia, by learning from other countries, while recognising local uniqueness; and build workforce capability and capacity to support efficient and economical decommissioning activities and stimulate economic growth, which is more challenging than in other regions given our remoteness and high cost structure. The upcoming decommissioning wave represents a perfect ‘greenfield’ opportunity to apply innovative thinking, new technologies and collaborative approaches as well as an opportunity for Australia to demonstrate global leadership in this inevitable final stage of the lifecycle.

A new safety arena—the safety challenges of new floating structure applications

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 706
Author(s):  
Matthew Rawlings ◽  
Graham Bower-White
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Condensate ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
Floating Structure ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Innovative Thinking

For a long time Australian waters have been known to contain huge stranded gas reserves, and many of these reserves are now planned to be unlocked by recent technological advances. Recent development of technology and application has seen the emergence of new floating development applications ranging from large scale gas-condensate FPSOs, FLNG, semi-submersibles supporting mega sized gas-condensate topsides, through to dynamically positioned drill ships. Traditional safety engineering approaches to FPSO design in the past 20 years that apply to oil developments often do not automatically apply to these new floating applications. Inherent safety risks fundamental to the new application and their associated practical solutions need to be understood and worked using a first principles approach. This may often result in the implementation of solutions involving counter intuitive philosophies and safety in design practices. The safety challenges of new floating applications involve engineers, fabricators, operators and certifying agencies and apply across all phases of project implementation: assessment, selection, definition, execution and operation. This paper maps out some of the key challenges and risks associated with the new floating structure applications. It also lays out the need for integrated, innovative thinking not only in the early project phases but also in the design processes, fabrication, testing and certification phases. It also describes the requirement for industry participation in Australia as the ever-increasing pressure to fast track project implementation continues, and the Australian oil and gas industry begins to receive many first of a kind applications.

Mining the air: Political ecologies of the circular carbon economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110614
Author(s):  
Holly Jean Buck
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Carbon Utilization ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Political Ecologies ◽  
Carbon Economy

Can fossil-based fuels become carbon neutral or carbon negative? The oil and gas industry is facing pressure to decarbonize, and new technologies are allowing companies and experts to imagine lower-carbon fossil fuels as part of a circular carbon economy. This paper draws on interviews with experts, ethnographic observations at carbontech and carbon management events, and interviews with members of the public along a suggested CO2 pipeline route from Iowa to Texas, to explore: What is driving the sociotechnical imaginary of circular fossil carbon among experts, and what are its prospects? How do people living in the landscapes that are expected to provide carbon utilization and removal services understand their desirability and workability? First, the paper examines a contradiction in views of carbon professionals: while experts understand the scale of infrastructure, energy, and capital required to build a circular carbon economy, they face constraints in advocating for policies commensurate with this scale, though they have developed strategies for managing this disconnect. Second, the paper describes views from the land in the central US, surfacing questions about the sustainability of new technologies, the prospect of carbon dioxide pipelines, and the way circular carbon industries could intersect trends of decline in small rural towns. Experts often fail to consider local priorities and expertise, and people in working landscapes may not see the priorities and plans of experts, constituting a “double unseeing.” Robust energy democracy involves not just resistance to dominant imaginaries of circular carbon, but articulation of alternatives. New forms of expert and community collaboration will be key to transcending this double unseeing and furthering energy democracy.

Nanoemulsions: A Versatile Technology for Oil and Gas Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nouf AlJabri ◽  
Nan Shi
Keyword(s):  
Droplet Size ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Small Droplet ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract Nanoemulsions (NEs) are kinetically stable emulsions with droplet size on the order of 100 nm. Many unique properties of NEs, such as stability and rheology, have attracted considerable attention in the oil industry. Here, we review applications and studies of NEs for major upstream operations, highlighting useful properties of NEs, synthesis to render these properties, and techniques to characterize them. We identify specific challenges associated with large-scale applications of NEs and directions for future studies. We first summarize useful and unique properties of NEs, mostly arising from the small droplet size. Then, we compare different methods to prepare NEs based on the magnitude of input energy, i.e., low-energy and high-energy methods. In addition, we review techniques to characterize properties of NEs, such as droplet size, volume fraction of the dispersed phase, and viscosity. Furthermore, we discuss specific applications of NEs in four areas of upstream operations, i.e., enhanced oil recovery, drilling/completion, flow assurance, and stimulation. Finally, we identify challenges to economically tailor NEs with desired properties for large-scale upstream applications and propose possible solutions to some of these challenges. NEs are kinetically stable due to their small droplet size (submicron to 100 nm). Within this size range, the rate of major destabilizing mechanisms, such as coalescence, flocculation, and Ostwald ripening, is considerably slowed down. In addition, small droplet size yields large surface-to-volume ratio, optical transparency, high diffusivity, and controllable rheology. Similar to applications in other fields (food industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.), the oil and gas industry can also benefit from these useful properties of NEs. Proposed functions of NEs include delivering chemicals, conditioning wellbore/reservoir conditions, and improve chemical compatibility. Therefore, we envision NEs as a versatile technology that can be applied in a variety of upstream operations. Upstream operations often target a wide range of physical and chemical conditions and are operated at different time scales. More importantly, these operations typically consume a large amount of materials. These facts not only suggest efforts to rationally engineer properties of NEs in upstream applications, but also manifest the importance to economically optimize such efforts for large-scale operations. We summarize studies and applications of NEs in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry. We review useful properties of NEs that benefit upstream applications as well as techniques to synthesize and characterize NEs. More importantly, we identify challenges and opportunities in engineering NEs for large-scale operations in different upstream applications. This work not only focuses on scientific aspects of synthesizing NEs with desired properties but also emphasizes engineering and economic consideration that is important in the oil industry.

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in the Oil Industry: Will it Take My Job?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armstrong Lee Agbaji
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Deep Dive ◽  
The Future ◽  
And Robotics

Abstract Historically, the oil and gas industry has been slow and extremely cautious to adopt emerging technologies. But in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the industry has broken from tradition. It has not only embraced AI; it is leading the pack. AI has not only changed what it now means to work in the oil industry, it has changed how companies create, capture, and deliver value. Thanks, or no thanks to automation, traditional oil industry skills and talents are now being threatened, and in most cases, rendered obsolete. Oil and gas industry day-to-day work is progressively gravitating towards software and algorithms, and today’s workers are resigning themselves to the fact that computers and robots will one day "take over" and do much of their work. The adoption of AI and how it might affect career prospects is currently causing a lot of anxiety among industry professionals. This paper details how artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics has redefined what it now means to work in the oil industry, as well as the new challenges and responsibilities that the AI revolution presents. It takes a deep-dive into human-robot interaction, and underscores what AI can, and cannot do. It also identifies several traditional oilfield positions that have become endangered by automation, addresses the premonitions of professionals in these endangered roles, and lays out a roadmap on how to survive and thrive in a digitally transformed world. The future of work is evolving, and new technologies are changing how talent is acquired, developed, and retained. That robots will someday "take our jobs" is not an impossible possibility. It is more of a reality than an exaggeration. Automation in the oil industry has achieved outcomes that go beyond human capabilities. In fact, the odds are overwhelming that AI that functions at a comparable level to humans will soon become ubiquitous in the industry. The big question is: How long will it take? The oil industry of the future will not need large office complexes or a large workforce. Most of the work will be automated. Drilling rigs, production platforms, refineries, and petrochemical plants will not go away, but how work is done at these locations will be totally different. While the industry will never entirely lose its human touch, AI will be the foundation of the workforce of the future. How we react to the AI revolution today will shape the industry for generations to come. What should we do when AI changes our job functions and workforce? Should we be training AI, or should we be training humans?

Implementations

2019 ◽  
pp. 180-190
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Petroleum Companies ◽  
Market Factors ◽  
Potential Methods

The distinctive feature of petroleum businesses is its wide scope. After crude oil or gas extraction, resulting semi-products undergo dozens of transformation stages in supply chains to reach the final customer. Combination of quantity and quality multiplied by external market factors produce price fluctuations that are challenging for world economics. In this regard process management might be carried out to improve supply chain performance and assure the maximum business predictability. However, for such large-scale organizations it requires big effort in operational analysis, process enhancement and process control via information systems which successfully support traditional management in function-oriented organizational structures. This chapter explores the developed engineering matrix that embraces potential methods and tools applicable for oil and gas industry. Additionally, it reveals industrial peculiarities and delivers case studies about Iranian and Hungarian petroleum companies.

Financing alternatives in a changing gas landscape

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 516
Author(s):  
James MacGinley ◽  
Brad Calleja
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Project Finance ◽  
Export Credit ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Development ◽  
Credit Agency ◽  
Global Banks

In recent years, Australia has gone through an unprecedented expansion in its oil and gas industry. The demand for capital has been enormous and has resulted in some of the largest project debt financings globally. In the coming years, the funding requirement will change dramatically as projects reach completion; become cash-flow positive; and, owners changing their funding structure from project finance debt to lower cost, lower covenant corporate debt. The development of a number of Australia’s largest oil and gas projects during the past five years coincided with a tightening of capital from the traditional project finance market. This lead to the emergence of export credit agency financing as an integral component of project development. During the past year, however, re-capitalisation of global banks are now re-entering the Australian market and are driving competition and increasing liquidity. This extended abstract covers a review of the funding approaches taken on major Australian LNG projects, including lessons from the funding of CSG projects that may be relevant to other new development markets such as shale gas. It also draws on historical lessons of funding new technologies and provide insight about funding of the next wave of LNG development: floating LNG. The National Australia Bank is one of the largest resources project finance banks globally and is well positioned to provide APPEA’s delegates with relevant insight about the future of debt funding in the oil and gas industry.

History and Evolution of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana: Worker Perspectives

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Austin ◽  
Thomas McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Early Results ◽  
History Of ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil ◽  
Southern Louisiana

The history of the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico is one of both progressive and punctuated development. New technologies, forms of work organization, and regulatory regimes have all combined over the past seventy years to influence the evolution of this industry. This paper reports early results of a multiyear, multi-team effort to document this history and its impacts on southern Louisiana. It focuses on the work of one team, applied anthropologists from the University of Arizona, to capture the history from the perspectives of the workers and local entrepreneurs who made this industry happen.

Organizational climate in large-scale projects in the oil and gas industry: A competing values perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine B. Hannevik ◽  
Jon Anders Lone ◽  
Roald Bjørklund ◽  
Cato Alexander Bjørkli ◽  
Thomas Hoff
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Gas Industry

Manufacture and Qualification of Small Diameter / Thickwall Reelable DSAWL Linepipe

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Hall ◽  
Martin Connelly ◽  
Graham Alderton ◽  
Andrew Hill ◽  
Shuwen Wen
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
External Diameter ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The North ◽  
Innovative Thinking ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Cost

Tough market conditions have seen the price of oil drop which with the subsequent uncertainty surrounding the industry have seen the oil and gas industry concentrate on reducing the cost of designing, installing and operating pipelines. A critical process for the industry is the procurement, manufacture and installation of appropriate linepipe. The method of installation is often dictated by the pipe size and the water depth that the pipe is to be laid in, however there are times when the choice of lay method is due to vessel availability and relative costs for each technique. In early 2014, Tata Steel successfully manufactured and delivered 16"OD × 0.875”WT X65 submerged arc welded longitudinal (SAWL) linepipe for installation via the reel lay method. Notable features about this fact were the size, which represents the thickest 16” external diameter UOE pipe yet delivered by Tata Steel, and that this was to be the first UOE pipe to be installed by the reel lay method in the North Sea. The ability to manufacture small diameter thickwall linepipe was only possible due to recent operational developments including an established tooling programme and a fully validated Finite Element (FE) model of the UOE process, along with years of experience of integrating these tools into the manufacturing process. This paper discusses the manufacturing challenges for small diameter thickwall linepipe, and how with the aid of modelling tools, innovative thinking and previous experience in supplying small diameter thickwall linepipe into two reel-installed projects, the pipe was manufactured and delivered with the properties shown to be compliant with DNV OS-F101 Supplementary Requirement P.

scholarly journals AREAS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ULTRAVISCOUS OIL RESERVOIRS IN THE SAMARA REGION

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
М.М. Manukyan
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Production Method ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Heavy Crude Oil ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Heavy Crude ◽  
Dynamic Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Of

The article is devoted to the study of various areas for the improvement of ultraviscous oil technologies in the Samara region. Promising technologies, as well as technologies that have already been applied in the oil and gas industry of the Samara region were considered. New technologies in the oil and gas industry in the region were identified. The analysis of methods used for the development of heavy crude oil in a sessile plate - the thermal production method (THDP or SAGD), as well as the method of dynamic stimulation of the formation with wave energy - was carried out.

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