E&P Notes (March 2017)

Abstract

E&P Notes Industry Finding Solutions Through Use of Data Analytics Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor As big data analytics becomes more intertwined with the operations of some of the biggest names in upstream, this tech space is beginning to deliver the industry some compelling applications. The most recent data were highlighted in a discussion led by Satyam Priyadarshy, Halliburton’s chief data scientist, who declared that big data analytics “will transform the industry.” That transformation is to be realized by using analytics to identify and eliminate hidden inefficiencies. According to Priyadarshy, that means that solving known problems is not enough; to achieve a higher order of innovation, oil and gas companies must discover and answer problems they never knew about in the first place. Renewable Energy Tech is Now Priced To Reduce Upstream Spending Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor Could it be that the upstream industry has an unlikely ally in renewable energy? The two sectors are often framed as being at odds—one is supposed to eventually replace the other, after all. But in the meantime, the falling price of renewable technologies has opened the door for oil and gas companies to reduce the cost of electrifying their fields, according to one US energy expert. “In many locations, solar and wind are now cost-competitive with other forms of electricity generation, so it just makes economic sense to be incorporating them into your industrial operations.” said Jill Engel-Cox, the deputy director of the US Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA). Fossil Fuels Importance To Rise Under New US Administration Joel Parshall, JPT Features Editor Fossil fuels will probably be at the fore-front of energy and environmental policy under the new Trump Administration, said Charles D. McConnell, executive director of Rice University’s Energy and Environment Initiative, in a recent talk hosted by the Norwegian Consulate General in Houston. McConnell served 2 years as an assistant Secretary of Energy in the Obama Administration before taking his current position. He has spent 35 years in the energy industry, which includes a 31-year career at Praxair followed by serving as a vice president at Battelle Energy Technology.