Development Of Hydrocarbon Resources Research Articles

До прогнозу освоєння вуглеводневих ресурсів східної частини ДДЗ

До прогнозу освоєння вуглеводневих ресурсів східної частини ДДЗ

Recent Framework Agreements for the Recognition and Development of Transboundary Hydrocarbon Resources

Hydrocarbon accumulations straddle international boundaries and maritime zones. Historically states dealt with this reality by negotiating unity-of-deposit clauses in maritime delimitation agreements, followed by specific agreements upon the discovery of a straddling deposit. A more recent trend is to negotiate framework agreements which are designed to put in place a set of procedures for dealing with the discovery and exploitation of transboundary hydrocarbon resources. This paper examines selected aspects of five recent framework agreements.

Bridging troubled waters: China, Japan, and maritime order in the East China Sea

Bridging Troubled Waters: China, Japan, and Maritime Order in the East China Sea. By James Manicom. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2014. Softcover: 266pp. In this book, James Manicom contests the orthodox view that the strategic rivalry between China and Japan will escalate into a full-blown military conflict. The book concedes that the East China Sea will be the likely medium for Sino-Japanese military rivalry and cyclical tensions will persist; however, it makes the compelling case that cooperation will endure. The book explores the intriguing between China and Japan, which has been paradoxically characterized by deep economic interdependence, yet beleaguered by periodic tensions over their maritime disputes, lingering strategic mistrust and even brinkmanship. The book examines the origins, nature and durability of cooperation between China and Japan despite historical and existing conflicting interests between the two countries. The author interrogates an interesting question in International Relations theory on how China and Japan have avoided conflict over their maritime disputes, notwithstanding the seemingly incessant military posturing and sabre-rattling at sea and yet managed to cooperate while resisting settlement of underlying issues. The book explores this central point in depth by comparing five attempts at cooperation in the East China Sea in the areas of disputed sovereignty, fisheries management, marine surveys, and hydrocarbon resource development. Throughout the book, Manicom makes it clear that he does not share the cynicism expressed by scholars that disputes over resource-rich maritime space are fundamentally prone to conflict. Indeed, lurking in every corner of the book is Manicom's insightful, if but slightly overarticulated, thesis that, contrary to pessimistic assessments, the two countries have been able to cooperate on contested jurisdiction when material issues have been separate from the more symbolic aspects of their relationship (p. 11). This is not to disparage the central empirical finding of the book, however. In fact, the simplicity of Manicom's proposition belies its innovation. The focus of the book on cooperation, while not an entirely novel approach, is quite refreshing in the study of China-Japan maritime relations. His thesis also leaves the reader cautiously optimistic, which is a rare commodity these days. In order to support the book's provocative core insights, Manicom presents important and interesting case studies that reveal historical commonalities worthy of sustained reflection. The first case study (Chapter 2) examines the dynamics of crisis and tension management in the context of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute, and the collapse of Deng Xiaoping's formulaic modus vivendi to focus on joint development instead of actively pursuing sovereignty claims. The second case study, in Chapter 3, assesses the China-Japan agreement on fisheries--signed in 1997 and which came into force in 2000--which illustrates an example of reciprocal cooperation over an area of mutual interest. The third case study (Chapter 4), explores the 2001 notification agreement over marine surveys in disputed waters. The fourth case study in Chapter 5, traces the confrontational dynamics of resource development in the East China Sea, principally a resource exploitation agreement in 2008, which to date has yet to be implemented. In his analysis of these case studies, Manicom's basic argument is that cooperation underwritten by mutually shared economic interests is easier to achieve compared to cooperation based on strategic issues. In this regard, putting the above cases of cooperation in a continuum, the fisheries agreement is both robust and durable, while the notification agreement is less successful relative to the 2001 resource development agreement. …

Does the EU Meet its Policy Objective of "Promoting Sustainable Use of Arctic Resources''? An Analysis from the Viewpoint of Arctic Energy Resources

The EU started to develop its own Arctic policy in 2008. One of the three main objectives of this policy is the promotion of sustainable use of Arctic resources. ``Sustainability'' was also a focus of the 2011 resolution of the European Parliament as a guiding principle in developing European policies toward the Arctic. Against this background, this article investigates the question of whether the EU meets its respective objective - sustainability - in regard to the development of Arctic hydrocarbon resources. The article contrasts the development of the EU's overall policy toward Arctic mineral resources with specific EU measures and examines the EU's capacity to influence sustainable Arctic hydrocarbon resource development. The article also elaborates on specific questions related to the EU's energy policy and the development of Arctic hydrocarbon resources in recent years as well as on the EU's dependency on oil and gas imports and respective tendencies to conclude on the aforementioned questions.

Hydraulic Fracturing Technology in Oil and Gas Development

Fracturing as a method to stimulate shallow, hard rock oil wells dates back to the 1860s. The first hydraulic fracturing technology was applied in the US states of Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky in 1947. Hydraulic fracture was formed by pumping the fracturing fluid into the wellbore at a sufficient rate to increase downhole pressure to exceed that of the pressure gradient of the rock. In this paper, a few key techniques including hydraulic fracturing for the development of oil and gas resources were introduced. It has become a common technique to enhance the production of low-permeability formations, especially unconventional reservoirs such as tight sands, coal beds, and deep shales. Therefore hydraulic fracturing has been considered as “killer mace” for development of unconventional hydrocarbon resources in the world.

Black bear use of seismic lines in Northern Canada

ABSTRACTThe development of hydrocarbon resources in northwestern Canada has resulted in a vast network of seismic lines. Seismic lines are a conservation concern because they are believed to alter the use of space by predators and ultimately change predator‐prey relationships. Such changes are believed to be a key factor influencing declines in boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Using remote wildlife cameras, we measured the behavioral response of a known caribou predator, the black bear (Ursus americanus), to seismic lines at 2 spatial scales. At the line scale, we compared black bear use of lines that varied in width and vegetation recovery state to undisturbed forest interior locations. At a 5‐km2 scale, we compared the probability of bear use across a continuum of seismic line density. At both spatial scales, we also tested for an interaction between bear use of seismic lines and use of upland and lowland forest types. Black bears used most types of seismic lines more frequently than undisturbed forest interior and upland forest more than lowland forest. We found no evidence of an interaction between lines and forest type, as the relative difference in seismic line versus forest interior use was the same in lowland and upland forest. At the 5‐km2 scale, we found no evidence of increased use of lowland forest in areas with greater seismic line density. Thus, seismic lines did not appear to increase black bear use of lowland forest types per se. However, bears used seismic lines more than forest interiors, which might alter their ability to locate and capture caribou and other ungulate prey, thereby creating the potential for altered predator‐prey dynamics in landscapes with seismic lines. Bears do not appear to use seismic lines ≤2 m wide more often than the forest interior. We suggest that where new seismic lines are constructed, those seismic lines should be a maximum width of 2 m to reduce the potential for altered predator‐prey dynamics in areas being developed for oil and gas extraction. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.

Does the EU Meet its Policy Objective of 'Promoting Sustainable Use of Arctic Resources'? An Analysis from the Viewpoint of Arctic Energy Resources

The EU started to develop its own Arctic policy in 2008. One of the three main objectives of this policy is the promotion of sustainable use of Arctic resources. Sustainability was also a focus of the 2011 resolution of the European Parliament as a guiding principle in developing European policies toward the Arctic. Against this background, this article investigates the question of whether the EU meets its respective objective – sustainability – in regard to the development of Arctic hydrocarbon resources. The article contrasts the development of the EU’s overall policy toward Arctic mineral resources with specific EU measures and examines the EU’s capacity to influence sustainable Arctic hydrocarbon resource development. The article also elaborates on specific questions related to the EU’s energy policy and the development of Arctic hydrocarbon resources in recent years as well as on the EU’s dependency on oil and gas imports and respective tendencies to conclude on the aforementioned questions.

Introduction to the Special Issue

Asian Perspective 38 (2014), 179-182 Introduction to the Special Issue GregoryJ. Moore While not new, the dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu (as they are called in China) or Senkaku (as they are called in Japan) Islands has brought the bilateral relationship to new lows and threatens to derail altogether the pragmatic SinoJapanese relationship forged between the two in the 1970s. In fact, Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo has said that China and Japan today face a situation similar to that faced by Germany and Great Britain in 1914, a statement that made some listeners acutely uncomfortable, either because they feared he was right or because they were disturbed that he sees China as analogous to Germany—or both. The islands issue has increasingly become the primary source oftension between China and Japan, or at least the place where the tension is most clearly visible. In this special issue we look at the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute as an increasingly important issue in its own right. We aim to answer the following questions: What exactly is at issue between Beijing and Tokyo, or more specifically, what do they want and why can’t they agree? Why now, after so many years, has this issue surfaced with such force? How dangerous is this dispute to the bilateral relationship and to regional peace and security? Finally, is there hope of peaceful resolution of this dispute, and if so, where does that hope lie and how might it be achieved? The seeds for this special issue were sown in December 2012, at an international conference hosted by Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. The conference included participants from China, Tai­ wan, Japan, the United States, South Korea, and the United King­ dom, among others. All of the papers in this special issue were first presented at the conference and were selected for inclusion here because of their quality, the useful perspectives they repre­ sent, and the different yet complementary tasks they undertake. Mark Valencia is to my mind the best in the business when it 179 180 Introduction to the Special Issue The Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands JAPAN Pacific Ocean PHILIPPINES^ J w C3 0 Vs Disputed Diaoyu/ Senkaku Islands comes to maritime dispute analysis, and in his article argues that China and Japan must agree on three basic issues before a more comprehensive agreement on Diaoyu/Senkaku can be achieved. They must agree, first, on the existence of a dispute (currently Japan does not agree); second, on a unified boundary accounting for China’s continental shelf claims and Japan’s claims of an Exclusive Economic Zone; and third, on the joint development of fisheries, minerals, and hydrocarbon resources. Valencia is confi­ dent that if the sides start with these, they can resolve their mar­ itime disputes. In my own article I focus primarily on the 2012 island nation­ alization issue and the Sino-Japanese fallout thereafter. My con­ clusion is that we should try to understand this specific event as well as the broader Sino-Japanese relationship from the perspec­ tive of “face politics” and domestic politics. Both governments have shown themselves to be extremely sensitive to issues of face at home and with regard to the other, and neither government has been sensitive to the face needs of the other, leading to an escala­ Gregory J. Moore 181 tion of conflict and a perceived zero-sum situation. I don’t believe a resolution of the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute is possible unless both sides’ face needs are met at various levels. Kazuhiko Togo has a long career as both a diplomat and a scholar. He puts those skills to work by identifying three agree­ ments that Chinese and Japanese policymakers can make to pro­ mote agreement on the islands dispute: first, that China refrains from entering waters claimed by Japan; second, that Japan contin­ ues its policy of three nos (“not to land, not to investigate, and not to build”); and third, that both sides develop confidence-building measures so as to avoid direct military collisions. He also con­ cludes that the two sides could learn from the Japan-USSR/Russia dialogues on the Northern Territories (Kurile Islands), claimed by Japan but occupied...

Climate Change Policies and the Potential for Energy Efficiency in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Economy

Climate change is a problem that many municipalities in the world are facing today. Due to the fragile ecosystem, and harsh climates that are experienced by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the region has become vulnerable to a wide variety of ecosystem and climate change issues. Aside from the climate affecting the area severely, its dependence on hydrocarbons, also makes it vulnerable to climate changes. There are climate change policies adopted by the GCC region for prosperous future and sustainability. These include, policies to affect impacts of energy and carbon intensities, response measures being adopted for climate change, the mitigation potentials of the region, along with the suitability of the markets to harness potentials. This analysis focuses on utilizing Marginal Abatement Cost curves, along with econometric techniques that will assess the emissions of Green House Gases (GHGs), the potential for mitigation in the GCC region, and computable general equilibriums that invest the impacts of measures, exploring suitability of instruments that can help to harness the potential mitigation measures for the region. Main policy insights that can be concluded based on the analysis is the role that incentives play to help promote energy efficient mechanics, while reducing emissions of carbon emissions within the region, contributions made to climate policies for air quality, along with the roles that green tax reforms play to help improve the economics of welfare, while pursuing carbon policies for the domestic areas in the region. Globally, there are a lot of energy efficiency policies. The GCC has been witnessing a phenomenal amount of growth when it comes to meeting the needs of domestic households. The region is facing extreme demographic pressure, and as a result has decided to accelerate energy intensive drives. The requirements that the GCC has to meet is causing trade-offs and challenging implications regarding allocation and development of hydrocarbon resources to adhere to domestic and export demands. In conclusion, four issues that have arisen within the GCC in relations to climate change policies have been addressed in this paper. These issues include the rising amounts of energy and carbon intensities, the impacts that the response measures that are being implemented by developed countries have on developing countries, as well as the mitigation potentials that exist within the region, as a method to harness the potentials that are available. Energy efficiency is believed to be a primary candidate to deal with the challenges the GCC is facing. Detailed assessments regarding energy efficiency for the GCC economies is addressed, along with how these intensities relate to outside world economies. This analysis focuses on utilizing Marginal Abatement Cost curves, along with econometric techniques that will assess the emissions of Green House Gases, the potential for mitigation in the GCC region, and Computable General Equilibriums that invest the impacts of measures, exploring suitability of instruments that can help to harness the potential mitigation measures for the region. Main policy insights that can be concluded based on the analysis is the roles that incentives play to help promote energy efficient mechanics, while reducing emissions of carbon emissions within the region, contributions made to climate policies for air quality, along with the roles that green tax reforms play to help improve the economics of welfare, while pursuing carbon policies for the domestic areas in the region. Globally, there are a lot of energy efficiency policies and measures that are being taken. The GCC, which is an acronym for Gulf Cooperative Council, has been witnessing a phenomenal amount of growth when it comes to meeting the needs of domestic households. The region is facing extreme demographic pressure, and as a result have decided to accelerate energy intensive drives. The requirements that the GCC has to meet is causing trade-offs and challenging implications regarding allocation and development of hydrocarbon resources to adhere to domestic and export demands. Energy efficiency is believed to be a primary candidate to deal with the challenges the GCC is facing. Detailed assessments regarding energy efficiency for the GCC economies is addressed, along with how these intensities relate to outside world economies.

A new concept of developing hydrocarbon resources

The authors propose a concept that makes it possible at least to mitigate, if not to avoid, the consequences of an energy crisis, which is conceivable in the near future due to the depletion of hydrocarbon resources. This concept may either underlie the main track of negotiating the crisis or constitute a critical link in a more sophisticated strategy of providing Russia with energy resources. The authors hope that their considerations will draw the attention of the Russian government, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and ministries and departments responsible for Russia’s energy security.

INVENTORY AND PLANT DIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE NORTH- WESTERN PART OF THE GREAT CAUCASUS

The problems of floristic inventory within four floristic areas are underlined, namely for Western Ciscaucasia, Western Caucasus, Northwest, and the Western Transcaucasia. The issue questions towards taxonomy, species protection, devastation in ecosystems, and adventizion of vegetation are considered. The region has not protected psammophilous littoral natural complex which is characterized by antiquity genetically traced back to the Tethys. The reasons are: the irrational resort construction, recreation, exceeding of all acceptable norms, the search and development of hydrocarbon resources in the coastal zone, the construction of roads. The main outputs are synantropization, digression of ancient intertidal communities. We stressed that the flat steppe area is outside the protected areas. In Ciscaucasia there is no conservation area related to the conservation of steppe ecosystems. The plow of this area is unprecedented. Steppe gene pool is lost, and the little fragment of the ecosystem that still takes place on the banks of the rivers of the steppe. The steppes suffer from voluntaristic decisions of the local managers and all the humus layer shifts in degraded river.

Design and Performance Evaluation of a Unique Deepwater Cement Slurry

Summary The exploration and development of deepwater hydrocarbon resources necessitate the fast evolution of drilling and completion technologies for deepwater wells. To drill and complete deepwater wells successfully, sophisticated technologies need to be developed to solve various problems arising from low temperature, weak formations, shallow water/gas flow, environmental protection, and high deepwater rig rate. It is a challenge to develop a good cement slurry that can be used successfully for deepwater wells under low-temperature environment. Such cement slurry should have several distinct properties, such as a short thickening time, a fast transition from liquid to solid, a rapid development of compressive strength, and environmental friendliness. It usually takes a long time for conventional cement slurry to set and only limited compressive strength can be achieved at low temperatures. In addition, most additives used for the conventional cement have adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, it is of upmost importance to design an environmentally friendly and low-density cement slurry that is appropriate for deepwater wells. In this paper, a new deepwater cement [sulfur polymer cement (SP-C)] was designed and tested for the first time. This new deepwater cement combines the advantages of the sulfoaluminate cement and Class G oilwell cement. Green cement additives including cement dispersant, fluid-loss-control agent, and accelerator were also developed. Consequently, a unique low-density cement slurry was obtained for deepwater-well applications. Laboratory tests showed that the low-density slurry exhibited favorable properties including the nonexistence of free fluid, an excellent fluid-loss-control capability, a short waiting-on-cement time at low temperatures, and a shortened transition time of critical gel strength. This new cement slurry can be easily prepared and applied in deepwater wells without adverse impacts on the marine environment.

Chapter 29 The potential for hydrocarbon resource development on the Russian Arctic Ocean Shelf

AbstractThe dramatic rise in the world oil and gas demand has led to concerns about the energy future for mankind. In the twenty-first century the sedimentary basins of the Arctic Ocean will play a leading role as petroleum provinces, including its Russian shelf areas. This article deals with the characteristics and assessment of resources in the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean offshore areas. One can predict with 0.90 probability that the Arctic Ocean initial in-place hydrocarbon resources exceed 90 billion tons oil equivalent (toe). The assessments lead to the conclusion that during these years a petroleum production industry will develop on the Arctic Ocean Shelf.

A geomorphological mapping approach for the assessment of seabed geohazards and risk

Exploration and development of offshore hydrocarbon resources has advanced into remote deepwater regions over the last decade and poses significant technical challenges for the design and installation of wells and facilities at extreme water depths. Seafloor and shallow subsurface processes and conditions in these areas are complex and generally poorly understood, and the geohazards to development are larger scale and fundamentally different to those encountered onshore; consequently the geohazard risk to deepwater development projects is potentially significant and requires careful evaluation and mitigation during the front-end planning and engineering design stages of projects. There are no established industry standards or methods for the assessment of geohazards and engineering-quality geophysical data at the scale of development. The paper describes an integrated and systematic map-based approach for the assessment and mitigation of seabed geohazards and risk to proposed deepwater development. The approach employs a multi-disciplinary team working with engineering-quality field calibrated data to accurately map and assess seafloor ground conditions and ensure that development proposals are not exposed to intolerable geohazard risk. The approach taken is very similar to the practice of establishing geological models for land-based engineering projects, in which the complete geological history of the site is used to characterise and predict the performance of the ground. Such an approach is routine for major projects on land but so far does not seem to be common practice in the offshore industry. The paper illustrates the seafloor geomophological mapping approach developed. The products are being used to optimise development layouts to avoid geohazards where possible and to support site-specific engineering design of facilities based on a detailed understanding of the potential geohazard loadings and associated risk.

A New Energy Age in Pacific Russia: Lessons from the Sakhalin Oil and Gas Projects

A noted British specialist in Russia's economic geography and the Far East region presents a comprehensive account of the development of the onshore and offshore oil and gas deposits of Sakhalin. Following a review of early multinational activity in geological surveying and exploration during the 1970s, he charts subsequent changes in the entities formed to develop and exploit the deposits (Sakhalin-I and -II) later in the Soviet period and during the first two decades of Russian independence. These changes have responded to improved knowledge of the geology of the deposits and changing relations between the Russian central government and Sakhalin regional authorities. Also analyzed are efforts by the Russian side to overturn or otherwise modify terms of previous agreements deemed unfavorable, and maneuvering by China and Japan to secure increasing sources of supply for their markets. With Sakhalin's two core projects now entering the active production phase, the author distills a number of key issues that have shaped the development of the island's offshore hydrocarbon resources and will have a bearing on prospects for a future generation of less spectacular new projects (incremental development); he also outlines wider lessons that have been learned over the life of Sakhalin's projects. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F210, L710, L950, P330, Q400. 4 figures, 2 tables, 45 references.

Evaluating lateral compaction in deepwater fold and thrust belts: How much are we missing from “nature's sandbox”?

Deepwater fold and thrust belts offer unique opportunities for evaluating deformation in sedimentary successions with unrivalled seismic imaging of fold-thrust structures. A regional seismic line through the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia, reveals a classic paired, gravity-driven deformation system, over 100 km across, with extension high on the submarine slope and contraction toward the toe of slope. A mismatch between the minimum estimate of extension (44 km) and slip on thrusts (18–25 km) requires an additional longitudinal strain component of 18%–25% to be distributed across the system, most plausibly as lateral compaction and volume loss. Strains of this magnitude raise issues for understanding deformation in partially lithified strata, with implications for the applicability of theoretical fold-thrust models and the development of hydrocarbon resources in deepwater settings.

Moderate-to-large seismicity induced by hydrocarbon production

It is well known that various human activities have the potential to generate seismic activity. Examples range from subsurface waste injection and reservoir impoundment in the vicinity of large dams to the development of mining, geothermal or hydrocarbon resources. Recently, induced seismicity in connection to geologic carbon sequestration projects has emerged as a new field of interest. This review discusses seismicity induced by hydrocarbon production. In particular, I focus on published cases for which earthquakes of moderate-to-large magnitudes-in other words earthquakes that can be felt on the surface-have been reported. I also discuss current theoretical approaches to model this phenomenon. The emphasis on moderate-to-large magnitudes is intended to complement the other contributions in this issue which focus primarily on microseismicity. Evidently, it is important to understand the conditions under which hydrocarbon production may induce seismic activity in order to ensure that field operations can be performed safely.

Legal complications in the Caspian Sea

After the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Caspian states have been negotiating to achieve a common resolution of the territorial delimitation dispute regarding the Caspian Sea. The only progress in the resolution of this dispute belongs to the series of bilateral agreements between the littoral states and the Framework Convention on Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, 2003 signed by all Caspian littoral states. Both Iran and the Russian Federation still recognise the valid status of the Treaty of Friendship between the Socialist Federate Republic of Russia and Persia on 26 February 1921 and the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Iran on 25 March 1940 with supplements. According to these treaties, the Caspian Sea is under the regime of condominium among the littoral states. The question at issue is the size of the zones or sectors which could be obtained by the littoral states and their sovereign rights over the territory. Although no common agreement declaring the sovereign rights of the littoral states over the territory of the Caspian Sea and resources in it was concluded, development of Caspian hydrocarbon resources has already started.

Japanese Association Promotes Upstream Technical Education

Editor's note: SPE seeks to develop strong relationships with other oil and gas societies worldwide. Many of these societies partner with SPE and other organizations on conferences, workshops, and other programs, at both the local and international levels. This series offers an overview of some of these societies. This installment in the series spotlights the Japanese Association for Petroleum Technology, known as JAPT. The Japanese Association for Petroleum Technology (JAPT), founded in 1933, sees its mission as one of collecting the latest technical and academic information pertaining to the exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources and disseminating that information to the oil industry. JAPT also provides a forum for the exchange of technical information among its members, promoting the multidisciplinary activities of geologists, geophysicists, and engineers. The association conducts meetings and workshops; publishes a journal, monographs, and books; recognizes industry excellence through awards; and exchanges information with related societies. Membership currently totals just under 1,700, with most members involved in the disciplines of exploration, production, and drilling. Membership is open to qualified individuals in the industry as well as to those in academia with a background in petroleum technology or science. Association member-ship is further divided into the categories of full member, emeritus member, student, honorary member, and corporate member. JAPT's flagship publication is the Journal of JAPT, which is published six times a year. It contains technical papers and commentaries in exploration and development and production, includes information about new technologies, and provides coverage of JAPT meetings and symposiums. Other publications of the association include monographs, glossaries, and reports by JAPT's technical committees on important issues. JAPT has published several books over the past 2 decades, including the Well Data Handbook, Exploration and Development of Hydrocarbon in Japan, Steel Tubes for Pipelines and Wells, Ultra-Deep Drilling, Drilling Manual, Guidelines on Safety and Environmental Protection Regulations, and Inclined Well Drilling Technology. JAPT annually recognizes excellence through its Distinguished Paper Award and its Distinguished Contribution Award. The association also conducts several meetings and workshops. Two large meetings take place—the annual Fall Meeting and the annual Spring Meeting. These include technical sessions and discussions on upstream topics, special presentations by both members and nonmembers, and joint seminars with other technical associations. Technical workshops cover exploration and drilling topics. Recent ones have covered sandstone formation, carbonate formation, geophysics, emerging technology, methane hydrate, and the association's drilling manual. JAPT has three standing technical committees, representing exploration, drilling, and reservoir and production. The committees promote the advancement of technology in their discipline, and exchange research with the other committees. JAPT and SPE have a longstanding relationship. JAPT has supported several SPE events in Japan, including three Applied Technology Workshops and the 2000 Asia Pacific Conference on Integrated Modeling for Asset Management. In addition, JAPT was an endorsing organization at the 2008 International Petroleum Technology Conference—which is organized by SPE and several other major societies—as well as the 2002 SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and the Environment, both in Kuala Lumpur.

The potential for increased atmospheric CO 2 emissions and accelerated consumption of deep geologic CO 2 storage resources resulting from the large-scale deployment of a CCS-enabled unconventional fossil fuels industry in the U.S.

Desires to enhance the energy security of the United States have spurred renewed interest in the development of abundant domestic heavy hydrocarbon resources including oil shale and coal to produce unconventional liquid fuels to supplement conventional oil supplies. However, the production processes for these unconventional fossil fuels create large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and this remains one of the key arguments against such development. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies could reduce these emissions and preliminary analysis of regional CO 2 storage capacity in locations where such facilities might be sited within the U.S. indicates that there appears to be sufficient storage capacity, primarily in deep saline formations, to accommodate the CO 2 from these industries. Nevertheless, even assuming wide-scale availability of cost-effective CO 2 capture and geologic storage resources, the emergence of a domestic U.S. oil shale or coal-to-liquids (CTL) industry would be responsible for significant increases in CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. The authors present modeling results of two future hypothetical climate policy scenarios that indicate that the oil shale production facilities required to produce 3 MMB/d from the Eocene Green River Formation of the western U.S. using an in situ retorting process would result in net emissions to the atmosphere of between 3000 and 7000 MtCO 2, in addition to storing potentially 900–5000 MtCO 2 in regional deep geologic formations via CCS in the period up to 2050. A similarly sized, but geographically more dispersed domestic CTL industry could result in 4000–5000 MtCO 2 emitted to the atmosphere in addition to potentially 21,000–22,000 MtCO 2 stored in regional deep geologic formations over the same period. While this analysis shows that there is likely adequate CO 2 storage capacity in the regions where these technologies are likely to deploy, the reliance by these industries on large-scale CCS could result in an accelerated rate of utilization of the nation's CO 2 storage resource, leaving less high-quality storage capacity for other carbon-producing industries including electric power generation.