With production in the Permian increasing by 93,000 barrels a day year on year and accounting for 68% of overall production in Texas, the basin is without doubt re-establishing itself as one of the most prolific areas within North America for oil & gas exploration. While high liquid rich reserves, horizontal drilling and completions techniques have played a key part in this success, the continued high ultimate recoveries being seen in the...

Latest reports show that the Eagle Ford is currently producing 1.09 million barrels of oil per day - a staggering number that is even outperforming the Bakken. However, the biggest points of contention surrounding Eagle Ford wells are not how to get them producing large volumes of oil but more critically, how to keep them producing. A recent Wood Mckenzie study shows that most Eagle Ford wells typically drop off between 70 - 80 % in the first...

Just a year ago, it was practically a no brainer to rail Bakken crude to the higher paying Gulf Coast markets, but the recent collapse of the WTI and Brent price differentials has left the industry questioning the long term sustainability of rail. To gain clarity on the future viability of rail, existing and new rail and pipeline markets need to be examined side by side, in light of accessibility and transportation costs, to enable E&P ope...

Increasing environmental consciousness and subsequent stringent regulations are driving the implementation of intelligent water strategies. Innovative water re-use technologies, low-impact disposal methods, streamlined regulatory compliance, supplying alternative industries with recycled water and public education around hydraulic fracturing and water consumption are becoming key issues that light, heavy and conventional operators need to tack...

Reports estimate that an additional 2 million mt/year of propylene will be required by 2015 to keep up with derivative market growth. With petrochemical producers continuing to adopt lighter steam cracker feedslates at a time when refineries are also adjusting production strategies in response to gasoline demand trends, propylene supplies in North America have reached unprecedented levels of shortness and price volatility continues to severely...

As we continue to grapple with the challenge of improving fleet reliability and availability with reduced maintenance budgets and an increasing demand for traffic, there has never been a greater need for TOCs and ROSCOs to drive efficiencies in rolling stock fleet maintenance. The next stage of questions that must be answered if we are to continue to increase fleet performance for the lowest cost are: To what extent can condition-based monitor...

Graphene's incredible properties have potentially game-changing implications across an enormous range of industries and applications; the possibilities for which are expanding dramatically since its discovery in a Manchester laboratory 9 years ago. Despite the opportunity, the absence of production scale-up has failed to pull graphene out of research and into mass market, leaving many to ask: how can the critical challenges and adoption barrie...