A new, free software tool created by Stanford researchers could help operators identify the likelihood of wastewater injection wells causing fault slips

Although routine, the disposal of wastewater from hydrocarbons production carries risk – most notably that the injection of water into the disposal formation could trigger earthquakes. Although many pose no problems, seismicity has trended upwards...

China is stepping up its shale development efforts, with a new centre reportedly planned at Fuling and new partnership agreements between key regional players

China’s biggest shale gas producer, Sinopec, is reportedly seeking to raise long-term production by investing almost US$50 million in a research base near Fuling, its biggest operational shale project.
Last year, output from Fuling, which is...

The oil and gas industry’s shift towards automation and digitisation in order to improve efficiency is starting to yield results, writes Anna Kachkova in Houston

What: The oil and gas industry has started to recognise the need for automation and other technological advances.
Why: Such technology is being found to bring down costs and increase efficiency.
What next: Bringing about a culture change a...

Laser drilling has long been touted as the industry’s next great leap, but Ros Davidson explores whether this futuristic technology is set to remain just that.

Within just a few years, high-powered lasers may be used for slicing through rock – like a knife through butter – deep underground during commercial oil and gas drilling.

In essence, lasers are an old technology. They derive from the concept...

Danish firms collaborate on development of new heave compensation-enabled drillship

The growth of offshore wind necessitates a more flexible fleet of vessels – but that flexibility can pay dividends to oil and gas too. The latest evidence of that comes in the form of a new collaboration between engineering consultancy Geo and the shipping company NCT Offshore.

The two firms have just launched Freja...

New backing for Aberdeen-based Exnics will see its Hot Rings system developed into a thermoelectric power generator

Getting power to the seabed is notoriously tricky. Typically facilities are powered from the surface via tieback, which is expensive. Reducing this financial burden could lower the overall costs of production by a sizable margin. The solution, as many see it, could be to site power ge...

We produce InnovOil as a Digital Magazine each month and send it out to our database when each new issue is ready.

Sign up and receive InnovOil directly into your inbox, it's completely FREE

The Digital copy can be read in all is glory here

Although engineers and designers may spend months, years – even entire careers – working to solve or improve a particular problem, they may rarely stop to ask more fundamental questions about what they do, or how they do it. But very occasionally, such questions do come up, and they present their own challenges.

At the ITF Technology Showcase in early March, perhaps the youngest-ever CEO to speak...

A progress update from Norwegian robotics firm Eelume on its snake-like underwater robot for IMR

Valentine’s Day is typically an opportunity to celebrate love and romance. For Trondheim-based Eelume, it was an opportunity to show off the development of its robotic sea snakes.

The firm gained worldwide attention last year – not least in InnovOil itself – on the back of an agreement with Statoil and:...

Baker Hughes’ TerrAdapt bit system has variable and adaptable cutting elements, helping to reduce stick slip and increase drilling efficiency

Different drill bits and bit configurations are often used to tackle different formations, but the advantages of doing so may be outweighed by the time and cost of removing a drill string, replacing the bit, and re-tripping. As a consequence, drillers may opt...

Wood Group-led JIP to investigate subsea reliability enters its next phase

February saw global energy services company Wood Group announce the beginning of a new phase in its Subsea Equipment Australian Reliability Joint Industry Project (SEAR JIP). The goal of the collaborative project is to develop a better understanding of the reliability of subsea equipment for use in offshore Australia.

Led by...

New consortium will explore how a mixture of human and robot-controlled techniques can help monitor cables and perform other tasks in the offshore industry.

Advances in automation and sensing are changing the debate over offshore safety. As technical capabilities increase, industry thinking is moving away from discussions about mitigating risk and towards ways to minimise the need for personnel to...

ITF’s annual Technology Showcase explored how to create a “culture of innovation” in oil and gas, by way of racing, rapid prototyping and more.

The first few months of 2017 have likely left anyone involved in oil and gas technology in Aberdeen struggling for breath. A stream of announcements from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), the ever-popular Subsea Expo conference and the opening of the new Oil...

A team at Argonne National Laboratory has developed Oleo Sponge – a revolutionary, re-usable material which can adsorb hydrocarbons in the water column

Oil spill response has a range of chemical and material tools at its disposal. However, skimmers and booms can only attempt to contain hydrocarbons as best as possible, or move it towards separators, while surfactants are used for dispersal. Althoug...