Comments: Oil and Gas Facilities
Authors: Donnelly John 
Published: February 2015

Editor's column

SPE will launch a new publication in February titled Oil and Gas Facilities. This new bimonthly magazine will cover all aspects of the increasingly important Projects, Facilities, and Construction (PFC) technical discipline.

Several years ago, SPE organized many of its activities along six primary technical disciplines, of which PFC was one. And while SPE workshops, conference sessions, study groups, articles in JPT, technical papers, and other SPE outlets have addressed some of the major issues surrounding this sector, it has become clear that the increase in technical complexity and economic importance of this discipline demands even more attention.

Facilities engineering is a broad specialty that encompasses all the traditional engineering professions, including petroleum, civil, chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering, as well as the expertise of project planning, execution, and management. It includes offshore projects, deep water, subsea systems, platforms and floating systems, flow assurance, measurement and control, and gas storage.

It was not until the 1950s that facilities engineering began to be recognized as an important factor in the technical and economic success of field development projects. It developed over the next several decades as heavy oil, Arctic, deepwater offshore, high-pressure, and remote projects became more common. Now, new developments are pushing the envelope further, increasing the recognition of facilities engineering as a critical component in operations involving unconventional gas, ultradeepwater developments, sour hydrocarbons, gas to liquids, floating LNG, and IOE/EOR activity.

The new magazine, with guidance from leaders in the oil and gas industry, is a response to this greater need for technical information and knowledge exchange in this discipline. Oil and Gas Facilities will focus on the important projects, systems, and technologies of facilities engineering with articles and reports on major PFC-related developments and projects, significant trends, and technical advances. It will replace the peer-reviewed journal SPE Production, Facilities, & Construction, but each issue will feature peer-reviewed technical papers in a special section. 

Guiding the editorial direction of the magazine will be some of the most distinguished professionals in this sector. The Editorial Board includes Ian Ball, Technology Director, INTECSEA, UK, chairman; John Walsh, Chemical and Process Engineer, Shell Exploration and Production and SPE’s Technical Director for Projects, Facilities, and Construction; Paul Jones, Technology Center Manager, Chevron; Kenneth E. Arnold, Senior Technical Advisor, WorleyParsons; Joseph Lee, Director, Process Solutions Group, Process System Division, Cameron; Howard Duhon, Systems Engineering Manager, Gate LLC; Simon Richards, Senior Facilities Consultant, Procyon Oil and Gas; and Jim Collins, Principal Development Engineer, ConocoPhillips (Peer Review Editor).

Oil and Gas Facilities promises to be the industry’s most important periodical serving production, facilities, and construction professionals.