Comment
December 2014
David Bizley, Assistant Editor
December
2014
Oilfield Technology
|
3
Contact us
Subscription
Editorial
Managing Editor:
James Little
Editor:
Cecilia Rehn
Assistant Editor:
David Bizley
Design
Production:
Sophie Awcock
Sales
Advertisement Director:
Rod Hardy
Advertisement Sales Executive:
Ben Macleod
Advertisement Sales Executive:
Henry Wilson
Business Development Manager:
Chris Lethbridge
Website
Website Manager:
Tom Fullerton
Website Editor:
Callum O’Reilly
Digital Editorial Assistant:
Joseph Green
Marketing
Circulation Manager:
Victoria McConnell
Subscriptions Manager:
Laura Cowell
O ce Administrator:
Jo Repton
Reprints:
Publisher
Nigel Hardy
Palladian Publications Ltd,
15 South Street, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7QU, UK
Tel:
+44 (0) 1252 718 999
Fax:
+44 (0) 1252 718 992
Website:
Oilfield Technology subscription rates:
Annual subscription
£80 UK including postage/£95/
e
135 overseas (postage airmail)/
US$ 150 USA/Canada (postage airmail). Two year discounted
rate £128 UK including postage/£152/
e
216 overseas (postage
airmail)/US$ 240 USA/Canada (postage airmail).
Subscription claims:
Claims for non receipt of issues must be
made within three months of publication of the issue or they will
not be honoured without charge.
Applicable only to USA & Canada:
OILFIELD TECHNOLOGY
(ISSN No: 1757‑2134, USPS No: 025‑171) is published monthly
by Palladian Publications, GBR and is distributed in the USA
by Asendia USA, 17B S Middlesex Ave, Monroe NJ 08831.
Periodicals postage paid New Brunswick, NJ and additional
mailing offices.
Postmaster:
Send address changes to Oilfield Technology, 701C
Ashland Ave, Folcroft PA 19032.
L
ast month, the European Space Agency (ESA) concluded
its 10‑year ‘Rosetta’ mission when it landed an unmanned
spacecraft, Philae, on the surface of a comet with the rather
clunky name of 67P/Churyumov‑Gerasimenko situated some
28 light minutes away from Earth. To stretch an analogy to breaking
point, making this landing wasn’t simply a case of finding a needle
in a haystack; it was more akin to using a pair of binoculars to find a
needle in an entire hay
field
situated a few miles away.
What might this have to do with oil and gas? Well, there are more similarities than you
might think. The most obvious parallel is that, like ESA, the oil and gas industry uses advanced
technology to work in incredibly harsh and unforgiving environments, often far removed from
the comforts and conveniences of modern civilisation. In order to feed the world’s insatiable
appetite for hydrocarbons as the ‘easy oil’ runs out and established, mature basins decline in
productivity, operators are forging new frontiers in ever deeper waters and ever more hostile
locales.
It is the Arctic that has arguably the greatest potential of these new frontiers. With an
estimated 90 billion bbls of oil, 1670 trillion ft
3
of natural gas and 44 billion bbls of natural gas
liquids believed to be technically recoverable
1
the potential rewards are huge. However, as
with space exploration, there are also significant challenges. The Arctic is almost the epitome
of a hostile environment (space only just wins this prize by being devoid of an atmosphere),
with temperatures being recorded as low as ‑70˚C, extensive areas of sea ice, unpredictable
weather, and perpetual night for six months of the year in latitudes above 66˚30’ N.
Despite the daunting nature of these harsh environments, developments in subsea
processing technologies, ultra‑deepwater drilling, exploration technologies, EOR and many
other areas will see them gradually overcome.
Another parallel can be seen in the launch date of the Rosetta mission: 2 March 2004. As
the ESA spacecraft soared upwards, so too did the oil price; around this time, a complicated
series of geopolitical events drove global oil prices to rise from their earlier average of under
US$ 25/bbl and eventually reach (and subsequently break) the US$ 100/bbl level that the
industry has since become comfortable with.
In recent months though, the price has declined, with Brent Crude under US$ 70/bbl
at the time of writing. Understandably, this has worried both operators and countries
whose long‑term plans were based on an oil price of around US$ 100/bbl. However, like the
operational lifespan of the Philae lander, which was sadly cut short by levels of sunlight
insufficient to charge its batteries, all the signs point to this current dip in oil prices being a
short‑term phenomenon.
2
The world continues to need oil and gas (in massive quantities) and
will do so for the foreseeable future, despite economic slowdowns in Europe and China. Indeed,
China (as noted in this month’s Regional Report on p. 12) is still investing heavily in boosting its
oil and gas production.
There is also the fact to consider that a period of lower oil prices can actually contribute
to a subsequent, hefty upswing, as resurgent industrial demand (driven by said lower prices)
starts cutting heavily into supply. Panicking unnecessarily about a short‑term trend helps
nobody – so, as the British wartime saying goes: ‘Keep calm and carry on.’
The
Oilfield Technology
team would like to thank all our readers, authors and
advertisers throughout the industry for their ongoing support. We hope you have all
had an excellent year, and we look forward to seeing you in 2015 in print and on our
new website:
1. US Geological Survey,
2. Halligan, L., ‘Why black gold’s low prices won’t last long’
oilprices/11262690/Why-black-golds-low-prices-wont-last-long.html
