Technology development, training crucial for ultra-deepwater development

摘要

While shale gas and unconventional resources technology dominated technical sessions at the 2013 Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) last month, SPE chose to kick off the event with a panel discussion on deepwater challenges, featuring a mix of officials from government, operators, and service providers. Each offered a different perspective on familiar themes of the safety issues, technical hurdles, and personnel demands involved in deepwater exploration and production. Worldwide deepwater exploration and production will form an increasingly important share of the energy mix in the years ahead, but accessing reserves in challenging environments will require that technology keep pace with growing oil and gas demand, the speakers agreed. Perhaps given that the 2013 event took place in New Orleans, much of the discussion focused on the Gulf of Mexico and exploration in its frontier ultra-deepwater trends, such as Shell's Lower Tertiary Stones prospect in 9,500-ft (2,896-m) water depths, which received a final investment decision this year. Shell is also evaluating its ultra-deepwater Appomattox and Vito prospects, said John Hollowell, executive VP, deepwater, for Shell Upstream Americas.