It is said the ancient Chinese had a curse: "May you live in interesting times."
Few would deny that we are living in interesting times today. Negative people might emphasize those components of our lives that could be construed as elements of a curse-things such as wars, crime, poverty, disease, pollution, job stress, political adversaries, and, of course, morning traffic.
But what else constitutes "interesting"?
Our times are interesting for the balancing positives as well as the negatives. Positives give us the opportunity to live longer, work more effectively, increase our knowledge tremendously, produce more, create new inventions, and develop ideas.
In fact, if we were living in boring times, complacency would generate little need for change or growth, and every day would be a déjà vu Groundhog Day. Although many people abhor change, problems require human thought to range afield in order to beget solutions.
If it ain't broke...
Even our traditionally conservative industry has moved away from the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset to the continuing investigation, creation, and use of new methods for exploration, drilling, production, processing, transportation, sales, and marketing. Each of these areas is dynamic with interesting possibilities.
Competition and political intervention are the curses that prompt inventive action, and a healthy profit motive provides the balance. Consequently, this industry is profuse with new ideas and invention.
Therefore, we have countless opportunities to be the innovators who profit from anticipated turning points. Here are some current trends that bear watching because they are making times much more "interesting" for this industry:
- Drilling. Ancient Egyptians used rotary drilling mechanisms to drill into the Earth as far back as 3000 BC, and Leonardo da Vinci developed a design in 1500 that is very much like the drilling rigs in use today. Rotary drills bore about 85% of the wells drilled today, so the technology "ain't exactly broke."
Nevertheless, the industry is always looking for cheaper ways to produce oil and gas, and Buck Rogers is standing in the doorway, waiting.
Researchers at US Department of Energy, Gas Technology Institute, and four other entities are now running tests and studying the feasibility of using lasers to drill wells (OGJ Online, Feb. 26, 2001).
DOE said lasers have the potential to save time and eliminate the need for drill bits and steel well casings, among other things. There are difficulties to overcome, however, so the technology may not prove feasible, but it bears watching, especially if you drill wells or provide equipment or supplies for them.
- Production. DOE's National Petroleum Technology Office is overseeing and funding a program to recover oil previously deemed unrecoverable. Using 3D, computer-aided new techniques for visualizaing the subsurface, the University of Utah, Aera Energy LLC, and ARCO Western Energy Co. (now a part of BP) recently completed a 5-year test that resulted in the recovery of more than 1 million bbl of heavy oil once thought unrecoverable in central California (OGJ Online, Mar. 28, 2001).
- Processing-transportation. The industry is in a constant state of flux, with the internal combustion engine, it seems, not exactly sacrosanct.
Already bedeviled with having to produce and transport unleaded gasoline and "boutique" fuels (and soon, new reduced-sulfur fuels), refineries and pipelines may in the future be faced with the curse (or the opportunity, for those whose minds work that way) of formulating and moving a new gasoline for the fuel cells that automobile manufacturers are currently developing (OGJ Online, Mar. 21, 2001).
Although the price of such vehicles is now high, API Pres. Red Cavaney believes that it will eventually drop. Cavaney and API are promoting the fuel-cell gasoline. Because the refining-marketing industry already has infrastructure in place, he said, a gasoline formulated for fuel cells should be the next progression for both auto and energy industries.
- Communications. The internet plays a major part in enabling energy companies to assimilate necessary business data, promote their interests, and sell assets.
And now, all data on the OGJ Online web site is available free to every Oil & Gas Journal magazine subscriber. Access includes full entrée to all daily industry news and archived issues, as well as a wide range of statistical data and other editorial content exclusive to the site but not found in the magazine.
To register, go to www.ogjonline.com and click on "Subscribe"; Print subscribers need only to give a subscription number and a password they create.
Keeping up with OGJ daily enables industry participants to be the first to know both the "curses" and the opportunities inherent in these very interesting times.
