Regular Features
- OGJ Newsletter
  - OGJ Newsletter
- Letters
  - Warming letter reply
    You know you are being effective when people complain about you. The letter in the Sept. 8, 2008, p. 12).
- Journally Speaking
  - Musings on ‘M’
    Symbology is a big word that refers to a simple process—a shorthand of symbols or abbreviations to stand for longer words, phrases, concepts, calculations, and so forth.
- Equip/Software/Lit
  - Equipment/Software/Literature
    The latest version of rig activity scheduler (RAS) software—Version 3.0—promises to help take the guesswork out of assigning rigs to wells and enables upstream operations to utilize drilling, completion, and workover rigs more efficiently.
- Services/Suppliers
  - Services/Suppliers
    Houston, has named Mark Weber president and Dr. Luiz Braga vice-president, global business development.
- Advertisers’ Index
- Editor's Perspective
  - Supply cuts key to how far oil prices plunge
    With equity markets gyrating and economies in peril, attention gravitates to demand in questions about oil prices.
- Market Journal
  - OPEC regains market attention
    Although the faltering economy has been driving down energy prices in recent months, the November US crude contract rebounded $2 to $71.85/bbl Oct. 17 on the New York Mercantile Exchange in anticipation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production at its Oct. 24 meeting in Vienna.
General Interest
- Editorial: Makings of a new mess
  A sobering aspect of the global financial crisis is comprehensive failure of officials and experts, first, to see the problem coming and, next, to appreciate its severity until full-blown calamity was at hand.
- Economics on Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-liquids method updated
  Montana’s Crow Nation and Australian-American Energy Co. reported in August that they will jointly construct a $7 billion coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels plant in southeastern Montana.
- USGS estimates ANS holds 85.4 tcf of gas hydrates
  There are 85.4 tcf of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas resources in gas hydrates on the Alaskan North Slope, reported the US Geological Survey on Oct. 18.
- Watching Government: Energy debate in final weeks
  As the 2008 election campaigns entered the home stretch, the two major presidential nominees left discussion of energy issues to surrogates.
- Alaska to get $80 million in coastal impact aid
  Alaska will receive as much as $80 million of coastal impact assistance authorized under Section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005), said the US Minerals Management Service on Oct. 16.
- DOE generates electricity from producing well’s hot water
  Electricity has been generated successfully from a producing oil well’s geothermal hot water for the first time, reported the US Department of Energy’s Fossil Fuel Office on Oct. 16.
- FACTS: Iran needs timely completions in South Pars
  Iran’s natural gas production from South Pars gas field Phases 6, 7, 8, and 9—all expected to be completed this fall—could prevent another massive energy crisis in Iran this winter, according to Siamak Adibi in a September FACTS Global Energy Energy Briefs report.
- IEA: Rising demand threatens long-term gas supply security
  Over the last 18 months, natural gas prices have continued to rise steadily in both established and new markets “not only a reflection of higher demand, but also of a delayed supply response,” said Nabuo Tanaka, executive director of Paris-based International Energy Agency, in his introduction of the 2008 Natural Gas Market Review, released last week.
- Pertamina under increased parliamentary scrutiny
  Indonesia’s state-owned PT Pertamina has come under increased parliamentary scrutiny for further alleged irregularities in its importation of foreign oil products.
- Indonesia awards contracts, opens new bidding round
  Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced the award of 22 new oil and gas blocks to investors, out of the 25 it offered for bids.
- Indonesia expects E&P investment to reach $375 million
  Indonesia expects investments to reach $375 million for the 22 oil and gas blocks it awarded on Oct. 17, according to Evita H. Legowo, director general for oil and gas.
- Pertamina moves in on Kodeco, CNOOC
  Indonesia’s state-owned PT Pertamina, in line with the country’s developing policy of resource nationalism, is vying with partner Kodeco Energy Ltd. to become the operator of the offshore Madura oil and gas block.
- Watching The World: Will Russia join OPEC?
  Much has been said over recent months about the possibility of Russia joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Exploration & Development
- Ecuador’s giant Pungarayacu to see heavy oil appraisal
  Ecuador’s state-owned Petroecuador and Petroproduccion have signed a 30-year contract with Ivanhoe Energy Ecuador Inc., a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Latin America, to explore and develop Block 20 on the western edge of Ecuador’s Amazon basin.
- BC’s Beaver River field flows gas from shales
  The life of Northeast British Columbia’s Beaver River field may be extended if initial flows from shale and siltstone formations prove out in the Liard basin field.
- Pluspetrol starts up Pagoreni gas-condensate field
  The Peruvian government reported that the six-member Consorcio Camisea has begun production of natural gas at Pagoreni field on Block 56 in the Cuzco region and part of the Camisea gas-condensate project.
- Continuing high oil, gas prices drive world drilling
  Crude oil prices hovered below $100/bbl in fourth-quarter 2007, keeping drilling crews busy and motivating operators to invest in capital-intensive projects.
Drilling & Production
- Special Report: Canadian drilling activity continues to slow
  Canadian drilling continues its decline, but Canadian drillers are diversifying, sending rigs to the US and abroad, purchasing US rig fleets, and continuing to upgrade equipment.
- Special Report: September hurricanes hit gulf rigs
  Hurricane Gustav moved through the Gulf of Mexico Sept. 1-5, causing rig and platform evacuations.
Processing
- Effective risk evaluations prevent refinery shutdowns
  An Asian refinery instituted an aggressive, comprehensive risk-based asset integrity management program to reduce substantially unplanned releases, shutdowns, and regulatory fines.
Transportation
- FRACTURE PROPAGATION— Conclusion: Prediction steel grade dependent
  Battelle’s two-curve method (TCM) fracture arrest predictions for X70 grade steels and higher requires a correction factor for the predictions to be accurate and useful for selecting pipe steels.