March/April 2026

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Innovating While Drilling
Mitigation strategies advance as industry digs deeper into HFTO origins New insights show how bit, BHA considerations in planning phase can reduce severe vibration events while preserving drilling speed By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
New vibration dampener tool leverages internal inertia mass to fight damaging HFTO By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
No more tradeoffs: RSS innovations allow drilling speed, precision to coexist AI, self-correcting sensors, vibration-resistant bit design and integrated MWD packages move RSS performance to new levels By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
Health, Safety, Environment & Training
Multi-company analysis reveals concentrated risk patterns with serious injuries and fatalities By Atif M. Ashraf, Texas A&M University, and Erika Gwilt, DEKRA North America
2025 IADC ISP annual report: LTI, recordable rates fell, but number of fatalities edges up to 9
Petronas takes step-by-step, technology-focused approach to decarbonization of drilling By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
Hydraulic Fracturing
Deep learning model under development to predict frac treating pressures in real time By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
Surface-based pressure analysis demonstrates potential to enable real-time adaptive completions By Jessica Whiteside, Contributor
Wellbore Diagnostics
Measuring well placement, completions efficiency: Chemical tracers can fill diagnostics gap By Patrick Hayes, Tracerco
IADC Connection
Beyond the build cycle: driving rig technology innovation By Lee Womble, 2026 IADC Division VP — Drilling Services
News Cuttings Nigeria Chapter elects new leaders, engages with Petroleum Training Institute Student Chapter APU students receive first certification from WellSharp University program 2nd annual 2-gun match scheduled for April to raise funds for IADC DrillersPAC Family Day held as part of UTP Student Chapter meeting
Wirelines US relaxes sanctions to ease path for energy companies to work in Venezuela USDA Forest Service updates oil and gas leasing rule Trump administration sues California cities over oil and gas HSE regulations ConocoPhillips, Chevron CEOs to lead petroleum council
Departments
Drilling Ahead: Amid market volatility, partnership and understanding of pain points can create win-win By Linda Hsieh, Editor & Publisher
D&C News Noble set to enter Norwegian floater market Chevron signs exploration agreements for Greece Exploration well in Angola’s Block 15/06 strikes oil Equinor extends contract for West Saturn into sixth year Energy Emerger wins additional work offshore Oman
D&C Tech Digest Fervo drills hottest well to date at more than 555°F Valeura announces drilling of Gulf of Thailand’s longest horizontal interval to date New high-torque Wedge 451 connection sees success in multiple Permian wells
News Briefs: Environmental, Social and Governance Regional fragmentation, data center proliferation to heavily influence sustainability strategies in 2026 Energy transition report shows GCC growing energy exports while cutting emissions US EPA announces repeal of 2009 vehicle greenhouse gas endangerment finding
Oil & Gas Markets Transocean, Valaris deal shakes up offshore market Syrian oil, gas production set to recover in 2026
People, Companies and Products Transocean, Valaris agree to $5.8 billion merger Devon and Coterra to combine, forming US shale giant Chevron, Tenaris deals highlight Turkish E&P strategy Arabian Drilling appoints Fahad Al-Bani as CEO Brandon Pye takes on VP position at Patterson-UTI Intellicess selects Michael Behounek as new CEO Maxwell to lead Halliburton Western Hemisphere Abaco acquisition finalized by Superior Energy Services Cognite, Snowflake partner on AI technology adoption Aquaterra awarded subsea work offshore Spain Weatherford to support completions in Denmark Harbour Energy finalizes $3.2 billion buy-out of LLOG Bardasz, GEOLOG join forces on RTOC solutions Products Well construction system unifies AI, data analytics New frac fluid delivery system introduces electric actuation, automation Quartet of new technologies launched to support fracs Electric completion system delivers faster actuation
Perspectives: Peter Smith, Seadrill – Going beyond just emissions to achieve sustainability By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor