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The Ultimate Oilfield Guide
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Featured Articles
COVER STORY
Rig Availability
By: Andy Maslowski
May/June 2009
One hundred dollars and more than 1,500 rigs. That’s the change the oil and gas industry has experienced in less than a year. Last July oil prices passed the $140/barrel mark. About six months later, this January, they were $100 lower. A similar thing occurred with rig counts, which also fell precariously during this period of time.
CURRENT FEATURES
Frac Tank Explosions - Static Electricity
By: Ronald “R.J.” Goodman
May/June 2009
Over the past several years there have been a number of isolated, seemingly inexplicable reports of frac tanks exploding during flowback operations. For years natural gas production companies generally have attributed these explosions simply to bad luck. While this explanation had no scientific merit it seemed to be accepted since these explosions were single, isolated events that could not be explained or recreated.
Tracking Nuclear Sources
By: Randy Walker
May/June 2009
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working with academia, the U.S. Government, and commercial companies to apply advanced secure Web 2.0 technologies to the tracking and monitoring of nuclear sources in the international supply chain. You ask, “What is Web 2.0?” There is no rigid agreement on what Web 2.0 is, but Tim O’Reilly says it best when he defines Web 2.0 as “the recent web innovations that have facilitated communication, information sharing, interoperability and collaboration.”
Land Conservancy
By: Andy Maslowski
May/June 2009
Even though millions of Americans think the U.S. economy is in the tank, so to speak, they continue to fill their fuel tanks every day with precious gasoline or diesel, both derived from underground oil wells. While the recession has taken its toll and many are driving less, as a nation we are still consuming more than 500 million gallons of these liquid fuels on a daily basis.
API’s Worksafe Program Sets New Standard for Onshore E&P Safety
By: John Modine/American Petroleum Institute
May/June 2009
Ask anyone who has worked on an oil or gas well — from weevil to veteran toolpusher — and they’ll tell you it’s demanding, physically grueling and dangerous work. Despite the risks in onshore oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) work, the U.S. onshore E&P industry typically fares pretty well in any comparisons of safety records among various industries. And the E&P industry globally continues to make progress in bettering its safety record.
International Contracts for the Sale and Purchase of Goods
By: Randy Burton/Burleson Cook LLP
May/June 2009
As a rule, it is important for an attorney to review all agreements of any significance (you set the risk threshold). This is especially true with the contractual terms and conditions for any sale or purchase of goods — international or otherwise. Even a seemingly inconsequential agreement can become a major headache if another party’s terms and conditions trump yours.
Building a Safety Culture Through Communications
By: Wayne Broussard/Production Services Network and Frank Stoltz/Medic Systems/PSN
As the graying members of the energy sector edge closer to retirement, an entire generation of new workers is stepping in to take their place, creating in the interim, a complex and complicated intergenerational workforce. This workforce includes Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964; Generation X’ers who entered the world between 1964 and 1982; and the trickling in each year of Gen Y’ers, born between 1980 and 1995.
Jaw System for Pulling Pipe Saves Time and Money
By: Mark Crawford
May/June 2009
Working on a rig is a challenging job that has its share of risk. For years there has been a need for more reliable pipe-handling tools that increase safety and productivity. “The standard’s always been the gear-driven, openmouth tubing tong,” says Bob Nelson, an engineer and one of original owners of Oil Country Manufacturing (OCM), a Weatherford International subsidiary and leading oil and gas industry innovator that design and manufactures the tong. “The only downfall is that you have to turn the jaws over to select for make or breaking out pipe. Over the years we have received lots of requests from well servicing companies for a jaw system for the Oil Country tong that doesn’t require manual jaw rotation.”
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Best Practices for Administering Employee Terminations
By: Rachel Smith/Baker Hostetler LLP
May/June 2009
The old song title, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” — could not be truer than in the context of employee terminations. Whether the termination is the result of poor performance or insubordination, or of no fault of the employee but rather the consequence of a reduction-in-force attributable to an economic downturn, the process is not an easy one. Deciding that the employment relationship must end for a given employee, or group of employees, and ultimately notifying them of that decision, is a difficult task and should be carried out after thought has been given to a few key considerations.
The Voice of Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association
By: Al Pickett
May/June 2009
If there is one message Chris John, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, could give to those in the well servicing segment of the oil and gas industry, it is “We are all in this together.”
Steel to Wheels Rig Chassis
By: Al Pickett
May/June 2009
At its facility in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Kimble Manufacturing Company has a building that is 750 feet long and 210 feet wide. “On one end, we bring in structural material,” explains Jim Cahill, president and chief executive officer of Kimble Manufacturing. “On the other end, we ship a finished chassis, and we do it in 20 working days. We call it ‘steel to wheels.’ We take raw material and convert it into a finished chassis that we can drive away.”
Insurance Stability
By: Phillip M. Perry
May/June 2009
Imagine a worst possible scenario: Fire destroys your business tonight. Or someone slips and falls on your premises and files a lawsuit. Will your insurance company pay off fully and promptly?
Technology in the Service Sector – Protective Wrapping Keeps Idle Equipment Safe
By: Mark Crawford
May/June 2009
Dropping oil prices and the economic recession have made it pretty rough on the oil industry lately. Since August 2008, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. has dropped more than 20 percent and as much as 50 percent in some places like Texas and Colorado. Hundreds of rigs are sitting idle for the first time in more than a decade, which creates a new challenge for service companies — how do they protect this expensive equipment from the damages of lengthy inactivity and prolonged exposure to the elements?
Eleven Ways to Help Yourself Stay Sane in a Crazy Market
By: Kurt Poe/Morgan Keegan & Company Inc.
May/June 2009
Keeping your cool can be hard to do when the market goes on one of its periodic roller-coaster rides. It’s useful to have strategies in place that prepare you both financially and psychologically to handle market volatility. Here are 11 ways to help keep yourself from making hasty decisions that could have a long-term impact on your ability to achieve your financial goals.
Personality Profile
Personality Profile: Jerry Don Denton
By: Mark Crawford
May/June 2009
I have a pretty interesting job,” admits Jerry Don Denton. “I help save lives, which is always a good thing.”
Jerry Don is a fall-protection representative for Stoehr Wire Rope Company in Odessa, Texas, a subsidiary of CERTEX USA, one of the world’s leading distributors of lifting products and services. He works with well servicing companies to install fall protection equipment and provides training on how to properly use the equipment. Stoehr Wire Rope/Certex USA sells DBI-SALA self-retracting lifelines (SRLs) and harnesses and also has a repair department for DBI SRL blocks of all sizes. DBI-SALA is well known for its self-retracting lifelines, which extend and retract easily and automatically to allow workers to do their jobs at their normal speeds while using their natural motions. SRLs can range from lightweight 8-foot lengths to 175-foot sealed SRL blocks.