Technology Focus Industry focus on high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) operations seems to go in cycles as exploration successes identify new hydrocarbon resources that can be developed commercially and as technical advances allow wells to be drilled and completed that extend prior capabilities. When production of HP/HT reservoirs becomes dependent upon the development of a particular technology, business incentives create both a substantial momentum and a sharp focus that drives technology development to a successful end. Historically, this drive has been the case with HP/HT developments. With the passage of time, some may be unfamiliar with the substantial foundation of HP/HT technologies that were created by the hard work of our predecessors. For example, the Association of American Wellhead Equipment Manufacturers (AWHEM) started work on 15,000-psi wellhead equipment in 1952. That research resulted in AWHEM Standard No. 6 in 1957, which would later become part of the API 15K wellhead standards. The first 20,000-psi wellhead system was developed in 1972, which was followed quickly with the development of the first 30,000-psi wellhead system in 1974. These developments were in response to Shell’s discovery of the Thomasville field in Mississippi, USA, in 1969. In addition to Thomasville and Piney Woods fields in Mississippi, other substantial HP/HT developments include the Tuscaloosa fields in Louisiana, USA, and the Central Graben fields in the North Sea. Currently, the industry is pursuing new generations of HP/HT fields including deeper wells in deep water and deep gas wells on the outer continental shelf (OCS). Relative to the deepwater operations, well pressures may approach 15,000 psi at the mudline, and, hence, 20,000-psi subsea equipment is being pursued. Relative to the deep gas wells on the OCS, 20,000-psi surface wellheads and trees, such as those used in Mississippi, Louisiana, and elsewhere, will again be needed, and discussions are active on 25,000-psi equipment. Just as the industry addressed the new HP/HT requirements successfully and safely that appeared in the 1950s and onward, the industry’s current engineering rigor, innovation, and advanced technical capabilities will again converge to address today’s HP/HT challenges. These challenges should invigorate our engineers as they lay the foundations and groundwork for the next generation of HP/HT capabilities. HP/HT Challenges additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org SPE 123681 • “Elgin/Franklin: What Could We Have Done Differently?” by Eric Festa, Total E&P(See JPT, January 2010, page 54) SPE 118904 • “First Application of High-Density Fracturing Fluid To Stimulate a High-Pressure/High-Temperature Tight Gas Producer Sandstone Formation of Saudi Arabia” by K. Bartko, Saudi Aramco, et al. SPE 124713 • “Depletion-Induced Stress Changes in an HP/HT Reservoir: Calibration and Verification of a Full-Field Geomechanical Model” by M.H.H. Hettema, StatoilHydro, et al.