Drilling Contractor | Archive

US Shales: 6,000 Tcf from Sea to Shining Sea Building a boom on $3.75 gas

Posted on 30 April 2010 in 2010, Features, Land Operations, May/June

It’s being called everything from a game changer to the new gold rush. Armed with new technologies for tapping unconventional resources, energy companies are pushing the envelope to chase plentiful and increasingly recoverable…

Frontier drilling to require a shift in paradigm

Posted on 04 February 2010 in 2010, Deepwater Operations, January/February, Land Operations

Critical D&C issues with John de Lange, BG Group. Looking at technology and the world demand for oil and gas, I see a couple of areas that haven’t been explored much and where there is potential. First, there is deepwater and ultra-deepwater. …

Automation’s learning curve must be overcome

Posted on 04 February 2010 in 2010, Automation, Global Market Trends, January/February, Land Operations, Opinion, Rig Equipment

Critical D&C issues with Ed Kautz, Ensign Energy Services. Implementing automation technologies and equipment on land drilling rigs is still not universally accepted. Are you a believer in technology and automation? …

Top drives key to better jackup performance

Posted on 04 February 2010 in 2010, Automation, Global Market Trends, HSE & Training, January/February, Land Operations, Offshore Operations, Opinion

Matt Ralls is president and CEO of Rowan Companies. He is also the 2010 IADC vice chairman. What do you see as some of the most critical technology challenges facing the drilling and completion industry today? Rowan is a jackup and…

ExxonMobil/XTO deal augurs strong promise for natural gas

Posted on 14 December 2009 in Land Operations, News, Regional Market Trends

ExxonMobil Corp and XTO Energy Inc announced on 14 December, 2009, an all-stock transaction valued at $41 billion. The acquisition agreement, which…

Drillers Outlook Panel: Challenges abound, but so do opportunities

Posted on 11 November 2009 in Global Market Trends, Land Operations, News, Offshore Operations, Regional Market Trends

It’s been said that drilling contractors are an optimistic bunch, and that certainly proved true with the three industry leaders who sat on the Drillers Outlook…

Oman KCA DEUTAG celebrates safety milestone

Posted on 11 November 2009 in HSE & Training, Land Operations, News

Oman KCA DEUTAG reached a major milestone in its 46-year history in October this year: For the first time, the company has completed one year without…

All shales are not equal: Emerging resource prompting customized completion solutions

Posted on 09 November 2009 in 2009, Completions & Cementing, Land Operations, November/December

There is new abundance in the land of plenty. This time the bounty is not in amber waves of grain, but in the vast and resource-rich plays of US land shales…

With still no declines in production, 2010 natural gas outlook remains in limbo

Posted on 09 November 2009 in 2009, Land Operations, November/December, Regional Market Trends

While the drilling industry was plowing ahead at full steam in 2008, everybody was frantic for growth. More people had to be hired and trained. More manufacturing facilities had to be…

Burden is on industry to prove it can drill Marcellus without harming environment

Posted on 03 November 2009 in 2009, IADC, July/August, Land Operations, Opinion, Regional Market Trends

As interest in the Marcellus gas play intensifies, two Pennsylvania lawyers well-versed in the state’s environmental and land use planning laws have a simple…