Exploration • Drilling • Field Services
15-well drilling contract tender being published with a early 2011 closing date.
Outlook and implications ExxonMobil and Shell are some of the first companies to show that what a lot of the industry suspected about the Iraqi upside oil reserve potential is indeed true. Modern development and reservoir assessment techniques are able to firm up reserves at a much higher level than previously though, while modern drilling and production technologies are able to produce from layers that Iraq’s national oil industry has not been able to reach. Apart from adding to the country’s total oil reserves — which it announced in early October — this means that the project economics for the IOCs involved can improve further, as the incremental cost of adding some additional production capacity is likely to be far outweighed by the incremental earnings from the per (incremental) barrel fee produced that the companies will earn. At the same time, this adds to Iraq’s massive ultimate production goal yet further. If all its awarded oilfields are developed according to plan, Iraq’s production capacity would—when the latest West Qurna-1 increment has been added — stand
at about 13 million b/d sometime after 2017, and it is highly uncertain that all this would be demanded by the world markets. Tere is after all no reason to assume that the existing OPEC members would like to continue keeping all of their production capacity shut in should Iraq’s production levels be very high, meaning that the world market would have to be able to swallow a lot more than Iraq’s 10.5 million- barrel increment by then if oil prices are not to fall substantially. Few seem to believe Iraq will achieve its full target HIS Global Insight, for example, only sees a best-case scenario of 6 million b/d by 2020, perhaps making that question moot, though IOCs investing heavily in adding production capacity might put themselves at risk of overinvesting and then not being able to produce and earn enough to cover their costs. Alternatively, everyone is counting on massive bottlenecks in the Iraqi project and development sector over the coming years, giving the companies and Iraq ample time to scale back their plans in the face of mounting costs and equipment shortages. ●
Samuel Ciszuk is Senior Middle East Energy analyst with IHS Global Insight. For more information, visit
www.ihsglobalinsight.com
Video technology passes rigorous testing for use on offshore drilling platform
I
ndigoVision’s complete IP Video technology has been used to upgrade real-time monitoring onboard
the Polar Pioneer exploration rig, having passed an extensive and rigorous testing programme in a harsh and challenging environment. The new IP-CCTV system monitors the platform drilling operation to ensure safe and efficient operation at all times and provides the rig with a scalable solution for future expansion. “Using IP-CCTV technology onboard a drilling
platform is a major breakthrough for us,” said Mr Per Jogeir Karlsbakk, Fugro Oceanor’s CCTV Project Engineer. “We demonstrated that IndigoVision’s system exceeded their demanding specification and now the rig benefits from the operational flexibility that IP Video delivers.” Offshore drilling platforms have traditionally relied on
analogue CCTV due to the need for full frame-rate video with minimum latency. Having proved, through a successful pilot installation, that the IP Video system guaranteed no dropped frames and delivered excellent quality video at very low latency, IndigoVision’s partner, Norway-based Fugro Oceanor AS, deployed the system throughout the rig. The driving force behind the CCTV upgrade was the continuing problems of supporting an ageing analogue system and the lack of expansion capability. Based in the North Sea, Polar Pioneer is operated by
Fig. 1. The Polar Pioneer Offshore exploration platform. Image courtesy of Transocean.
StatoilHydro, one of the world’s largest oil companies. The rig is a semi-submersible drilling platform, capable of operating in harsh environments in water depths of up to 500 metres and is able to drill to an amazing depth of 7000 metres. Operational running costs for a platform of this kind
are high, so any downtime from technical problems is unacceptable. Reliability is therefore a fundamental requirement for the CCTV system. Unlike analogue systems that use a central switching
matrix, IndigoVision’s IP Video solution is distributed and doesn’t have a single point of failure. Its multi-way racks that house the MPEG-4 transmitter/receiver modules have built-in redundancy with dual network connections and power supplies. The operators use ‘Control Centre’, IndigoVision’s
Security Management Software, to view live video from 24 cameras around the rig. The analogue cameras are fitted in specialist housings manufactured from 316L stainless steel by Fugro Oceanor and are designed to handle the harsh environment caused by corrosion, mud and oil. Many of the cameras are EX rated for use in hazardous areas. Fugro Oceanor has also developed a special cable for the harsh environment that carries power, digital video and telemetry. “As the IP Video system is distributed, video
management workstations can be located anywhere on the network” added Karlsbakk. ●
For more information, visit
www.indigovision.com
www.engineerlive.com 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56