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- Volume 16, Issue 11, 1998
First Break - Volume 16, Issue 11, 1998
Volume 16, Issue 11, 1998
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Portrait of the Dutch professor worried about the future of earth science students in the oil industry
After a distinguished production geology career in Shell and a period of academic life in Delft, Professor Koen Weber reflects on his life and his concerns. One suspects that Professor Koen Weber, now in his last academic year before retirement, retains the same enthusiasm for the earth sciences as when he first became entranced by the rock collection of his grandfather. Itís that enthusiasm which leads him to worry about the prospects of the next generation. In conversation, he expresses dismay at the direction in which oil companies are moving and the likely impact on future recruitment of geoscientists to the industry. 'The way it is at the moment I would not necessarily advise my best students to pursue a career in an oil company. They would probably do better, quicker with an MBA and some kind of management job in the financial world.'
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Companies look to comfortable ride downhole as innovation continues
A study by Smith Rea Energy Analysts shows that the market for downhole equipment and services on the NW European Continental Shelf should remain buoyant despite the general prevailing gloom over low oil price. First Break reports. With the oil industry in a state of disarray over the uncertain impact of a persistently low price of oil, there is something reassuring about the latest Offshore Business Special Report from UK-based Smith Rea Energy Analysts.* It forecasts that the downhole equipment and services market in the Northwest European Continental Shelf (NWECS) is 'likely to fare better than many other sectorsí of oil-related activity in the region. The report also offers an interesting insight into trends for companies involved in oilfield services. By the end of last year Smith Rea calculated that the offshore drilling and completion services market was worth around £1ñ£1.1 billion a year, of which offshore drilling services was around £700 million with the completions market estimated at some £300ñ£400 million per year. It should be noted that the report confines itself to services other than drilling contracting and hardware other than tubulars. Oilfield mud and cementing are also excluded.
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The visualization of the pore-scale physics of hydrocarbon recovery from reservoirs
Authors R.A. Dawe and C.A. GrattoniThis paper presents some of the microscopic pore-level modelling studies carried out at Imperial College. Although we have directed our research towards hydrocarbon reservoirs, our findings are also pertinent to groundwater hydrology, soil science, wastewater disposal, etc., or other applications involving multiphase flow in porous media. Our aims are to gain the needed fuller understanding of pore-scale reservoir behaviour, including the displacement, entrapment and mobilization mechanisms involved in miscible and immiscible fluid systems, with or without mass-transfer or particle movements. The opaque nature of porous media means that it is normally impossible to observe where the fluids are, and how their distribution is modified under flow conditions. Microvisual modelling, using transparent 2D models representing the rock structure is one way that fluid distributions and movements can be observed and the physics unravelled. We have developed novel visual micromodel techniques, and in this paper we highlight a few recent fascinating examples of some of our qualitative and quantitative work. We illustrate important pore-scale events, in particular how wettability and fluid morphology affect the electrical resistivity of partially saturated rocks and various multiphase flow mechanics including low tension flow, depressurization, gel treatment (partial flow blocking) and crystal scale deposits. We also indicate how these events can affect reservoir performance. physical processes occurring at the pore scale is therefore needed in order to formulate suitable mathematical models for predicting reservoir performance.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 42 (2024)
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Volume 41 (2023)
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Volume 40 (2022)
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Volume 39 (2021)
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Volume 38 (2020)
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Volume 37 (2019)
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Volume 36 (2018)
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Volume 35 (2017)
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Volume 34 (2016)
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Volume 33 (2015)
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Volume 32 (2014)
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Volume 31 (2013)
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Volume 30 (2012)
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Volume 29 (2011)
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Volume 28 (2010)
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Volume 27 (2009)
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Volume 26 (2008)
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Volume 25 (2007)
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Volume 24 (2006)
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Volume 23 (2005)
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Volume 22 (2004)
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Volume 21 (2003)
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Volume 20 (2002)
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Volume 19 (2001)
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Volume 18 (2000)
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Volume 17 (1999)
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Volume 16 (1998)
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Volume 15 (1997)
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Volume 14 (1996)
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Volume 13 (1995)
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Volume 12 (1994)
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Volume 11 (1993)
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Volume 10 (1992)
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Volume 9 (1991)
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Volume 8 (1990)
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Volume 7 (1989)
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Volume 6 (1988)
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Volume 5 (1987)
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Volume 4 (1986)
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Volume 3 (1985)
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Volume 2 (1984)
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Volume 1 (1983)