Plugging the holes—new Canadian and US regulations to reduce upstream methane emissions

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-313
Author(s):  
Allan Ingelson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Negotiated Settlement ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
The Usa

Abstract In the USA and Canada where most of global shale oil and gas development has occurred, due to concerns about climate change the national governments have adopted new regulations to further significantly reduce national methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry. The 2016 US Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards and 2018 Canadian methane regulations build on decades old oil and gas conservation schemes to further reduce the volume of methane that is released from facility equipment leaks and venting. In Canada, venting methane at new oil and gas well sites is now prohibited. Operators are required to capture and use a much larger volume of natural gas than in the past. A negotiated settlement of the first US emissions reduction enforcement action was reached in April 2018. The facility operator agreed to pay a civil penalty of US $610,000 and spend a minimum of $2 million to install new technology at its facilities to further reduce methane emissions. The creative settlement agreement contains a comprehensive set of conditions to provide for a reduction in upstream industry emissions.

Consideration of Geopolitical Challenges within the Analysis of Geoenvironmental Risks for Oil and Gas Development of the Russian Arctic

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
O. P. Trubitsina ◽  
V. N. Bashkin
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Optimal Operation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Geopolitical Risks

The article is devoted to the consideration of geopolitical challenges for the analysis of geoenvironmental risks (GERs) in the hydrocarbon development of the Arctic territory. Geopolitical risks (GPRs), like GERs, can be transformed into opposite external environment factors of oil and gas industry facilities in the form of additional opportunities or threats, which the authors identify in detail for each type of risk. This is necessary for further development of methodological base of expert methods for GER management in the context of the implementational proposed two-stage model of the GER analysis taking to account GPR for the improvement of effectiveness making decisions to ensure optimal operation of the facility oil and gas industry and minimize the impact on the environment in the geopolitical conditions of the Arctic.The authors declare no conflict of interest

Wet Compression: Performance Test of a 3D Impeller and Validation of Predictive Model

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Ferrara ◽  
Lars E. Bakken ◽  
Stefano Falomi ◽  
Giuseppe Sassanelli ◽  
Matteo Bertoneri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Test ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Mechanical Damage ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Compression Performance ◽  
Laboratory Setup ◽  
Wet Compression

In the last few years wet compression has received special attention from the oil and gas industry. Here, the development and implementation of new subsea solutions are important focus areas to increase production and recovery from existing fields. This new technology will contribute to exploitation of small and remote fields and access in very deep water. In this regard liquid tolerance represents a viable option to reduce the cost of a subsea compression station bringing considerable simplification to the subsea process itself. However, the industry may experience some drawbacks: the various levels of liquid presence may create operational risk for traditional compressors; the liquid may cause mechanical damage because of erosion and corrosion of the internal units and the compressor performance might be affected too. The experimental investigation conducted in the study considers dry and wet conditions in a laboratory setup to understand how the presence of liquid influences the stage performance. The test campaign has been carried out at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, in Trondheim, to assess the performance and operating range of a tridimensional impeller when processing a mixture of gas and liquid phases. Experimental results allowed validating the OEM internal prediction code for compressors’ performance in wet conditions. Finally, the effect of liquid on machine operability has been assessed through a left-limit investigation by means of dynamic pressure probes readings in order to evaluate the stall/surge behaviour for different values of liquid mass fraction.

Logic Sequence Prevents Launching Devices Downhole Out of Sequence

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo de Lepeleire ◽  
Nicolas Rogozinski ◽  
Hank Rogers ◽  
Daniel Ferrari
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Logic Control ◽  
Drilling Operations ◽  
Common Operation ◽  
Increasing Demand

Within the oil and gas industry, significant costs are often incurred by the operating company during the well-construction phase of drilling operations. Specifically, the operators cost to drill a well can cost tens or hundreds of millions of USD. One specific area where significant changes in drilling operations have occurred is in the offshore environment, specifically operations from mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). With the ever-increasing demand for oil and gas, operators globally have increased drilling budgets in an effort to meet forecasted demand. However, the increased budgets are often eroded or offset by increasing drilling costs. Therefore, operators are continually in search of new technology, processes, or procedures to help improve drilling operations and overall operational efficiencies. One Latin America operator identified a common operation as a possible area where operational cost could be easily reduced through the implementation of systems that allow the manipulation of valve manifolds remotely. Additionally, operating such valve manifolds remotely enhanced operational safety for personnel, which was an equally important consideration. This paper details the evaluation of existing equipment and procedures and a process used to develop a new remote-control system using a machine logic control (MLC) that has been designed, built, tested, and deployed successfully on MODUs operating in Latin America.

The natural gas industry: equipment, materials, and corrosion

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 175-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Valdez ◽  
Michael Schorr ◽  
Jose M. Bastidas
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Municipal Networks ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Natural Gas Industry ◽  
The Usa

AbstractCorrosion is a crucial worldwide problem that strongly affects the oil and gas industry. Natural gas (NG) is a source of energy used in industrial, residential, commercial, and electric applications. The abundance of NG in many countries augurs a profitable situation for the vast energy industry. NG is considered friendlier to the environment and has lesser greenhouse gas emissions compared with other fossil fuels. In the last years, shale gas is increasingly exploited in the USA and in Europe, using a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique for releasing gas from the bedrock by injection of saline water, acidic chemicals, and sand to the wells. Various critical sectors of the NG industry infrastructure suffer from several types of corrosion: steel casings of production wells and their drilling equipment, gas-conveying pipelines including pumps and valves, plants for regasification of liquefied NG, and municipal networks of NG distribution to the consumers. Practical technologies that minimize or prevent corrosion include selection of corrosion-resistant engineering materials, cathodic protection, use of corrosion inhibitors, and application of external and internal paints, coatings, and linings. Typical cases of corrosion management in the NG industry are presented based on the authors’ experience and knowledge.

scholarly journals Experimental study of circular inlets effect on the performances of Gas-Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone separators (GLCC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (SI1) ◽  
pp. First
Author(s):  
Ho Minh Kha ◽  
Nguyen Thanh Nam ◽  
Vo Tuyen ◽  
Nguyen Tan Ken
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Cylindrical Cyclone ◽  
Inlet Geometry ◽  
Petroleum Companies ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The One

The gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) separators is a fairly new technology for the oil and gas industry. The current GLCC separator, a potential alternative for the conventional one, was studied, developed, and patented by Chevron company and Tulsa University (USA). It is used for replacing the traditional separators that have been used over the last 100 years. In addition, it is significantly attracted to petroleum companies in recent years because of the effect of the oil world price. However, the behavior of phases in the instrument is very rapid, complex, and unsteady, which may cause the difficulty of enhancing the performance of the separation phases. The multiple recent research shows that the inlet geometry is probably the most critical element that influences directly to the performance of separation of phases. Though, so far, most of the studies of GLCC separator were limited with the one inlet model. The main target of the current study is to deeply understand the effect of different geometrical configurations of the circular inlet on performances of GLCC by the experimental method for two phases flow (gas-liquid). Two different inlet configurations are constructed, namely: One circular inlet and two symmetric circular inlets. As a result, we propose the use of two symmetric circular inlets to enhance separator efficiency because of their effects.

New Technology Allows for Hands-Off Intervention During Cementing Operations Increasing Safety and Operational Efficiency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ramon ◽  
Tony Wooley ◽  
Kyle Martens ◽  
Amy Farrar ◽  
Seth Fadaol
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Cement Line ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Hands On

Abstract The culture of safety within the oil and gas industry has undergone an evolution since the advent of significant E&P operations in the late 1800s. The initial focus on safety was to protect property, not people. This mentality has shifted over time to include a greater focus on the safety of personnel, in parallel with technology developments that have pushed the limits of operators’ and service providers’ abilities to drill and complete more complicated wells. The safety efforts introduced to date have yielded results in every major HS&E category; however, falls and dropped objects continue to be areas in need of improvement. During cementing rig up and operations there are still many manual activities that require working at heights in the derrick. New technological advances have allowed the industry to reduce the number of hands-on activities on the rig and operators have moved to eliminate these activities by automating operations. Man lifting operations are recognized as a high-risk activity and, as such, many rigs require special permitting. During cementing operations, not only are personnel lifted into hazardous positions, but they are usually equipped with potential dropped objects. Some of these objects, if dropped, reach an impact force that could seriously injure or, in worst cases, result in a fatality. During these operations, personnel are also hoisted along with a heavy cement line in very close proximity. This introduces other dangers such as tangling, pinch points, and blunt force trauma. These risks are heavily increased when working in adverse conditions, such as high winds or rough seas. By utilizing a wireless cement line make up device, along with wireless features on a cement head to release the darts/plugs/balls and operate the isolation valves, an operator can eliminate the need for hands-on intervention. This paper will discuss current cement head technologies available to the operator that allow them to improve safety and efficiencies in operational rig time. Three field studies will be presented that detail running cement jobs with all functions related to the wireless attributes of the cement head. The field studies will present the operational efficiencies achieved by utilizing the wireless features compared to the standard manual method. Before the recent introduction of a wireless cementing line make-up device, a wireless cement head still required hands-on intervention to rig up the tools, putting people in high-risk situations.

Evolution of Completion Techniques in the Lower Shaunavon Tight Oil Play in Southwestern Saskatchewan

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Schlosser ◽  
M.. Johe ◽  
T.. Humphreys ◽  
C.. Lundberg ◽  
J. L. McNichol
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Point Energy ◽  
Horizontal Drilling ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
Coiled Tubing ◽  
Open Hole

Abstract The Oil and Gas industry has explored and developed the Lower Shaunavon formation through vertical drilling and completion technology. In 2006, previously uneconomic oil reserves in the Lower Shaunavon were unlocked through horizontal drilling and completions technologies. This success is similar to the developments seen in many other formations within the Williston Basin and Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin including Crescent Point Energy's Viewfield Bakken play in southeast Saskatchewan. In the Lower Shaunavon play, the horizontal multistage completion era began in 2006, with horizontal divisions of four to six completion stages per well that utilized ball-drop sleeves and open-hole packers. By 2010, the stage count capabilities of ball-drop systems had increased and liners with nine to 16 stages per well were being run. With an acquisition in 2009, Crescent Point Energy began operating in the Lower Shaunavon area. The acquisition was part of the company's strategy to acquire large oil-in-place resource plays. Recognizing the importance that technology brings to these plays, Crescent Point Energy has continuously developed and implemented new technology. In 2009, realizing the success of coiled tubing fractured cemented liners in the southeast Saskatchewan Viewfield Bakken play, Crescent Point Energy trialed their first cemented liners in the Lower Shaunavon formation. At the same time, technology progressed with advancements in completion strategies that were focused on fracture fluids, fracture stages, tool development, pump rates, hydraulic horsepower, environmental impact, water management, and production. In 2013, another step change in technology saw the implementation of coiled tubing activated fracture sleeves in cemented liner completions. Based on field trials and well results in Q4 2013, Crescent Point Energy committed to a full cemented liner program in the Lower Shaunavon. This paper presents the evolution of Crescent Point Energy's Lower Shaunavon resource play of southwest Saskatchewan. The benefits of current completion techniques are: reductions in water use, increased production, competitive well costs, and retained wellbore functionality for potential re-fracture and waterflooding programs.

Monitoring of Methane Emissions in Oil and Gas from Space: Matching Needs with Satellite System Capability, and Advantages of High Resolution Monitoring

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
The World

Abstract Satellites are a powerful tool in monitoring methane emissions around the world. In the last five years, many new systems have been both announced and deployed, each with different capabilities and designed for a specific purpose. With an increase in options also comes confusion as to how these systems can and should be used, especially in meeting the needs of the oil and gas industry. This paper will examine the different satellite systems available and explain what information they are best suited to provide. The performance parameters of several current and future satellite systems will be presented and supported with recent examples when available. For example, the importance of factors like frequency of revisit, detection threshold, and spatial resolution will be discussed and contrasted with the needs of the oil and gas industry in gaining a more complete understanding of its methane emissions and enabling action to mitigate them. Results from GHGSat's second generation of high-resolution satellites displaying measurements of methane plumes at oil and gas facilities around the world will be presented to demonstrate some of the advantages of the technology. These two satellites, GHGSat-C1 and C2 (Iris and Hugo), were launched in September 2020 and January 2021 respectively and have started delivering a tenfold improvement in performance after incorporating the lessons learned from their predecessor, GHGSat's demonstration satellite Claire. Finally, the ability of these systems to work together and complement each other's capabilities to provide actionable insight to the oil and gas industry will be discussed.

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