People, Companies & Products
People, Companies
3 promoted to Apache office of the chief executive
Apache chairman and CEO G Steven Farris has formed an office of the chief executive with three executives reporting to him: Roger B Plank, CFO since 1997, was named Apache president; John A Crum, president of Apache Canada since 2007, was named co-chief operating officer and president – North America; Rodney J Eichler, general manager of the Egypt region since 1997, was named co-chief operating officer and president – international.
Boots & Coots buys John Wright Co, to integrate equipment
Boots & Coots International Well Control has purchased John Wright Company (JWC) for approximately $10 million. JWC provides a suite of relief well drilling and risk management services to the oil and gas industry. Boots & Coots will integrate the company’s proprietary technology into its Safeguard program.
Additionally, John Wright, president and founder of JWC, has accepted the position of senior vice president of technology for Boots & Coots.
Global Tubing opens coiled tubing center near Houston
Global Tubing’s manufacturing and service complex in Dayton, Texas, has begun producing coiled tubing. The five-building campus includes a corporate headquarters, two mill operations buildings with laboratories and two service operations and training facilities.
Global Tubing employs a patent-pending friction stir welding process to join strip ends. Rodney Bond, the company’s vice president – operations, explained that the technique can improve fatigue life of a string of coiled tubing. “The base material is softened by frictional heat into a plastic state and ‘stirred’ together without the necessity of filler material. Benefits of this step-change technology include improved fatigue life, better joint reliability and less susceptibility to galvanic corrosion.”
Petrobras, Schlumberger take on pre-salt reservoir research
Petrobras and Schlumberger have signed a technological cooperation agreement for pre-salt reservoir research and development. Four projects were negotiated: electromagnetic technologies to improve deep reservoir characterization; seismic data analyses technologies, also to improve reservoir characterization; nuclear magnetic resonance technologies, aimed to characterize complex reservoirs; and H2S electrochemical sensors. The agreement will be in effect for three years. Petrobras foresees it will invest some $10 million in the projects.
Petrofac awarded ADCO contract to revive Asab field
Petrofac has been awarded a US$2.3 billion, 44-month contract by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) for the development of the Asab oil field. The rejuvenation of the Asab field is central to ADCO’s overall development plan.
InterMoor project director hired
InterMoor do Brasil, an Acteon company, has named Osvaldo Lorca project director in its Rio de Janeiro office, where Mr Lorca will be in charge of project management.
GE opens facility in Moscow
GE Energy has opened a sales, services and technology center in Moscow as part of its strategy to expand operations in Russia. Separately, VetcoGray, a GE Oil & Gas business, has signed a four-year frame agreement with OGX Petroleo e Gas to supply subsea wellhead systems and casing strings for an exploratory drilling campaign that could include more than 50 wells offshore Brazil.
New Geoservices director
Oilfield service company Geoservices has appointed Erin O’Brien Link as corporate contracts director.
Craighead named senior VP, COO for Baker Hughes
Baker Hughes announced that Martin S Craighead has been appointed senior vice president and chief operating officer and is expected to assume his new duties on 30 April. Most recently, he was president of Baker’s drilling and evaluation group.
WCS hires account manager
Well Control School has appointed Kurnia Yanuarita Brillianttari as an account manager for Jakarta, Indonesia.
Falck Nutec opens training centre in Vung Tau
Falck Nutec, with partners Mermaid Maritime Vietnam and Alternative Company, is opening a training centre in Vung Tau, the rapidly expanding petroleum hub of Vietnam.
IDE provides land-based rigs
The formation of Integrated Drilling Equipment (IDE) has created a vertically integrated provider of US-manufactured, land-based drilling rigs and components. It will provide all aspects of the design, manufacturing, refurbishing, reconfiguring and field servicing of land-based drilling rigs, rig equipment, rig control systems and related parts. IDE’s subsidiaries are IEC Systems, Advanced Rig Services and IDE Hydraulics Group.
Veazey is Knight’s new CFO
Knight Oil Tools has announced Robert C Veazey, CPA, CVA, CM&AA, as its new chief financial officer. He will oversee all financial affairs of Knight’s subsidiaries and affiliates.
RigNet promotes VP, global engineering
Morten Hagland Hansen has been promoted to the position of vice president, global engineering for RigNet. He is responsible for the global engineering group, which oversees RigNet’s global MPLS, IP, satellite, and SOIL networks, including all supporting applications and related infrastructure.
Microsoft moves oil/gas leadership to Dubai
Albrecht Ferling, managing director, worldwide oil and gas industries for Microsoft, announced that leadership for the company’s worldwide oil and gas business is now located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He previously directed the company’s global industry initiatives from Vienna, Austria.
BP awards FMC orders for subsea systems
FMC Technologies has received orders, valued at approximately $82 million in revenue, from BP for the manufacture and supply of subsea systems for Gulf of Mexico projects. FMC’s scope of supply will consist of nine subsea trees, including controls, an installation and workover control system and other related equipment. All equipment will be designed and manufactured at FMC’s Houston facility. Deliveries will commence in mid-2009 and continue through 2011.
Johnson Screen licenses water treatment technologies
Johnson Screens, a Weatherford International company, has licensed the CoMag and BioMag technologies from Cambridge Water Technology. The license provides exclusive use of their ballasted floculation and sedementation processes for the treatment of process and produced water in the oil and gas, mining and aggregate, and hydrocarbon processing industries. The technologies were first developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Products
BJ Services offers deepwater cementing unit
BJ Services has developed a new-generation, high-performance Seahawk cementing unit for installation onboard the PS1 drillship for BP operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The new drillship from Pride International is expected to begin operations in the ultra-deepwater sector in Q3 2010.
The dual-skid cementing unit features automated twin-mixing capabilities and 2,300 brake horsepower, ensuring precise density control and zonal isolation across long, complex intervals. Slurry consistency is maintained with two independent automatic cement control systems, Coriolis mass metering technology and hydraulically driven recirculating blending systems. This power unit and pump combination also enables the unit to be configured as a temporary replacement for mud pumps for selected displacement operations.
Thern improves air winch design
Thern Inc has redesigned its BIG RED TA Series Air Winches. For easier control and more flexibility, the winches now feature a reversible air control valve that may be placed on either side of the winch. An extended handle was added to the line guide to allow for easier access when the auto disc brake option is installed. Additionally, a “neutral” lockout mechanism was added to the control valve to prevent accidental start-up of the winch while in the neutral setting. Crossover air plumbing assemblies for automatic brake units feature improved corrosion resistance for saltwater environments, with an epoxy finish on all control network plumbing components. All fasteners have also been upgraded to stainless steel construction to further prevent corrosion.
Halliburton develops 7-in., 30,000-psi perforating gun
Halliburton has added a perforating gun with a 7-in. outside diameter to its suite of perforating technologies. The tool can perform at pressures of up to 30,000 psi – the highest pressure-rated gun system available on the market today at that size. It addresses the need for extreme high-pressure capabilities in large borehole casings, specifically in deepwater environments. Additional gun systems and firing heads in varying sizes are being designed to operate at 30,000 psi.
Logan Oil Tools introduces 15,000-psi casing patch
Logan Oil Tools’ patent-pending 15,000-psi High Pressure Casing Patches are designed to simply, quickly and economically repair damaged casing in high-pressure environments. The patch can seal internal and external pressure without restricting the bore’s internal diameter. Once installed, it restores integrity to the damaged casing and becomes a permanent part of the string. The tool incorporates the same easy-to-set and release features as the Logan Type L Packer Type Casing Patch.
Major load bearing components are manufactured of alloy steel. A top sub, bowl and cut-lipped guide and optional extensions make up the outer components of the assembly. Internal components include a basket grapple control, basket grapple, four Type L high-pressure packer sets, and a packer protector with shear pins. A longer-than-standard basket grapple engages more of the casing to provide additional pull load. High-pressure packers are made of a blend of synthetic rubber and Kevlar material compatible with most drilling and completion fluids. Two inverted packers are covered by a packer protector to guard against damage when engaging the casing into the patch. The packer protector is secured by shear pins that break when subjected to the stress caused when the casing comes into contact with the packer protector. Typically, the seal assembly is a two-piece device consisting of a seal and a non-extrusion ring.
