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- Volume 26, Issue 10, 2008
First Break - Volume 26, Issue 10, 2008
Volume 26, Issue 10, 2008
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Price volatility makes future oil predictions a guessing game
Now in its 41st year, the Global Upstream Performance Review published annually by IHS Herold, the petroleum research company, and Harrison Lovegrove & Company, a Standard Chartered group company, provides one of the best insights into the economic health of the world’s oil companies, the likely impact on the service sector, and the implications for oil and gas supply and demand. The report in abridged form which we present here focuses on the upstream investment performance of 232 energy companies worldwide.
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A bigger oil shock may await us sooner than we think
By P. Stevens‘The coming oil supply crunch’ published in August by Chatham House is a must read for anyone involved in the workings of the global oil and gas industry. It is a dispassionate if disturbing report on declining IOC and NOC investment in the oil sector written by Prof Paul Stevens, senior research fellow for energy at Chatham House and emeritus professor at Dundee University (where he was professor of petroleum policy and economics from 1993-2008). We publish an abridged version which hopefully does justice to a compelling thesis.*
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The need for a correct geological modelling support: the advent of the UVT-transform
Authors S. Jayr, E. Gringarten, A. L. Tertois, J.L. Mallet and J. C. DulacStanislas Jayr, Emmanuel Gringarten, Anne-Laure Tertois, Jean-Laurent Mallet and Jean-Claude Dulac of Paradigm* introduce a system for geological modelling support which allows the construction of geological structures, whatever their complexity, while honouring all available data. It is said to ensure a coherent mapping between the location of sediment particles today and their location in the original space of deposition, the parametric space.
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Defining the extent of the compacting Elgin reservoir by measuring stress-induced anisotropy
By K. HawkinsKeith Hawkins1 describes a method to define the extent of compaction in the North Sea Elgin producing reservoir by estimating the in-situ 4D anisotropy generated around the reservoir using non-vertical 4D time shifts.
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Near-surface P-velocity modelling by integrated seismic, EM, and gravity data: examples from the Middle East
Authors D. Colombo, M. Cogan, S. Hallinan, M. Mantovani, M. Virgilio and W. SoyerD. Colombo1*, M. Cogan2, S. Hallinan3, M. Mantovani3, M. Virgilio3 and W. Soyer provide some onshore Middle East illustrations of the benefits of integrating seismic, electromagnetic (EM) and gravity data to improve shallow velocity modelling.
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HSE ‘must wins’ in pursuit of Shell’s Goal Zero
Authors P.R. Wood, K. Gerber, J. Peters and S. Al-ShaqsiIn the light of continuing concern over industry work fatalities, Paul R. Wood, Kurt Gerber, Jeroen Peters and Sulaiman Al-Shaqsi of Shell International E&P, Exploration Department, Rijswijk, The Netherlands describe the steps Shell has been taking to address its HSE record in field operations with priority being given to improvement of driving standards and journey planning.
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Geomechanical behaviour of the overburden above compacting hydrocarbon reservoirs − what would we predict from coalmining experience?
By N. R. GoultyAbstract Observations of subsidence due to longwall coalmining and a time-lapse seismic profile over a longwall working have several implications for the geomechanical behaviour of the overburden above compacting hydrocarbon reservoirs. Subsidence at the ground surface or seabed is expected to amount to ~90% of the vertical compaction of the reservoir. Stress arching is unlikely to occur to any great extent in the overburden above a compacting reservoir unless the overburden contains thick beds of massive, competent sedimentary rock. The sensitivity of seismic velocity to vertical extensional strains is likely to be high in time-lapse seismic surveys because subsidence causes an irreversible disruption of the rock fabric with the development of fresh cracks and micro-cracks. Other observations consistent with the inferred behaviour of the Coal Measures during mining subsidence are difficulties experienced with extended reach drilling at Valhall, and the large differences in sonic velocity between the highly over-pressured and normally pressured intra-reservoir Jurassic shales of very similar bulk porosity on the Halten Terrace, offshore mid-Norway.
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Identification of collapse breccia pipes in coal mines based on 3D seismic interval attributes
Authors H. Quan-Ming, W. Yang and Z. Xing-PingAbstract Collapse breccia pipes are created by chimney subsidence of the overburden into dissolution voids in limestone or evaporite beds. In northern China, collapse breccia pipes are common in some coalfield areas where dissolution of an underlying limestone bed has taken place. Because of their high permeability, the collapse breccia pipes are a very serious safety hazard for underground coal mines which can be rapidly flooded if a working intersects a pipe. The threat they pose has hindered the introduction of modern mechanized longwall mining techniques to improve productivity. In recent years, some success has been achieved in the application of high-resolution seismic reflection surveys to the detection of collapse breccia pipes before mining, with detection rates of 60–70%. We have now developed a new method for the identification of collapse breccia pipes based on 3D seismic interval attributes. The results demonstrate that the technique has a resolution of less than half the dominant wavelength of the seismic signal and can map the shape of the pipes where they intersect coal seams to that level of precision.
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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)