Editor's Letter

Lufkin Opens Moscow Office, Russia Ponders Arctic Course

Pat Davis Szymczak

   This month’s issue of Oil&Gas Eurasia looks at critical technologies to keep Russian production on the rise, and to develop new frontier areas that will...

Shell Decides To Move Forward With Groundbreaking Floating LNG

The Board of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) has taken the final investment decision on the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project in Australia (100% Shell), building the world’s first FLNG facility. Moored far out to sea, some 200 kilometres from the nearest land in Australia, the FLNG facility will produce gas from offshore fields, and liquefy it onboard by cooling.

Nord Stream Pipeline Moves Another Step Closer to Completion

The Nord Stream Pipeline takes another important step towards its target of starting to deliver gas directly from Russia to the European Union by the end of 2011. Preparations for welding together two of the three sections of the 1,224 kilometre pipeline through the Baltic Sea have now started. They will be welded together on the seabed off the coast of Finland in a complex process expected to take about two weeks.

Environmental Impact Assessment: Domestic vs. International Approach

   Energy sector, particularly oil and gas industry, is the key factor in the development of the national economy. Many upstream projects, including some major fields, run jointly with foreign partners and use foreign investment.

Geosteering Streamlines Exploration and Drilling

Oil&Gas Eurasia: What role does geosteering play in E&P? Can it boost technical and economic performance in the field?
Orlando Ramirez: Over the recent years, the existing structure of global oil&gas industry has increasingly come to rely on cutting-edge technologies in geophysics and exploration.

TNK-BP Makes Marked Progress in Improving ESP MTBF Rates

   In 2006, TNK-BP management took a strategic decision to vastly increase the company’s Electric Submersible Pump Mean Time between Failures (ESP MTBF). At the time, TNK-BP had relatively low ESP MTBF, and so, as the largest operator of ESPs in all of Russia (95 percent of TNK-BP’s oil production utilizes ESP pumps) improving efficiency was crucial to emerge as a technology leader and to realize financial savings.

Accurate Calibration of Inferred Production using Reciprocating Rod Pumps

   Abstract. It is desirable to estimate production from a reciprocating rod pumping system using the downhole pump as a meter.  This paper evaluates a common procedure which calibrates inferred production using measured production data.  It is shown that the traditional procedures for measuring and processing data from calibration periods can cause significant error in subsequent inferred production estimates.  An improved method of data processing and analysis is proposed.

Development of Russia’s Arctic Shelf is Inevitable But New Technologies are Required to Make Production Profitable

   The refrain of today’s mass media reporting on various levels of authority on the Russian Fuel and Energy Complex is: “The development of Russia’s Arctic shelf: to be, or not to be?”

Total’s New Stake in NOVATEK Gives French Access to Yamal LNG

   Late last year NOVATEK, a major gas producer, acquired a number of assets of interest to Gazprom, and Gazprom reduced its ownership in NOVATEK by half.  It became clear who was in for a surprise: after six years of waiting, Total’s desire to acquire a stake in NOVATEK came true. In addition, the French energy company now has one more project in Russia – Yamal LNG. 

Computerized Identification for Oil and Gas Processing Plants

   Modern industrial facilities are usually complex technologic structures housing a wide range of equipment, technology and engineering systems and communications. Smooth and reliable operation of these structures is important in both economic and safety terms: safety of the company personnel, the locals, and the environment.

Where Have All the Oil Men Gone? Wherever They Went, They’re Not in Top Management

   Common sense in Russia says that if Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin resigns as chair of the Rosneft board of directors, the company will loose a very powerful political heavy-weight.

Nanotechnology to Boost Oil Recovery in Russia Up to 60-65 Percent

   According to the International Energy Agency (EIA), the world will see an increase in oil consumption, which would require almost 50 percent oil production growth by 2025 [1]. The increase in global oil consumption will be linked to environmental assessments of the nuclear power industry in aftermath of the tragedy in Japan. From this point of view, oil production in Russia is becoming increasingly important.

Russia "Country of the Year" in Houston as OTC Opens

HOUSTON - The Russian Federation was honored as the "Country of the Year" as the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) opened Monday in Houston. OTC is largest oil and gas gathering in the United States, last year drawing 73,000 visitors and 2,000 exhibitors from all over the world.

Speaking of Russia at OTC: Castrol Enters Sakhalin

   Castrol Offshore expects Russia to contribute to its bottom line in a serious way as more Arctic development gets underway.

BP-AAR-Rosneft: Down To The Wire

The decision as to how the BP-AAR dispute ends has effectively now been passed to the state. While the arbitration panel has cleared the way for TNK-BP to be brought into the Arctic deal in place of BP, state controlled Rosneft has previously said that it does not favour that. This week will likely see very intense negotiations between all parties with a view to concluding a deal ahead of the May 16th deadline. While the Prime Minister’s spokesman has previously said that the state is not involved, that will surely now change. It is inconceivable that the resolution of such an important deal in the country’s mote important strategic sector will not be overseen by the Prime Minister’s office.