E&P Notes (April 2016)

Abstract

E&P Notes Onshore Support for Mexico’s Deepwater Blocks Lacking Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer The deepwater blocks Mexico plans to lease to international operators in December are among the deepest, most remote, and geologically challenging in the world. But the difficulties of developing these areas will start onshore, where adequate and secure port facilities are few and far between. “This is where the issue is about deep water,” said Chris Garcia, the Mexico international account director and deepwater adviser at Schlumberger. “Logistics are going to be very challenging, much more so than on the American side.” New Technology To Cut Electric Costs, Not Production Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer Everhart Energy Technology, a startup company based in Beverly Hills, California, has developed a system it believes will help small to medium-sized operators cope with the reality that, while oil prices have fallen, their electric bills have not. Installed between a pump jack lift and its power source, the system regulates the power being transmitted to the electric motors and also captures the kinetic energy generated on the pump’s down stroke—similar to how a hybrid vehicle works. The technology was invented in South Korea for industrial and commercial equipment and Everhart, founded in 2014, has secured the rights to apply it in oil fields in the United States. Statoil Gets a Jump on Offshore Costs Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor One of the latest offshore innovations from Statoil is nothing flashy, which is the point. A drawing shows a plain, steel jacket, standing in water 110 m deep, topped with a flat metal deck. The spare design is indicative of the disciplined approach to offshore development that led to a 52% decrease in the estimated break-even cost for its Oseberg Vestflanken 2 project, of which the platform is a key part. The lower break-even made it possible to move forward with development of three small oil and gas fields at a time when depressed prices are forcing mass cancellations of offshore projects globally.