bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CPT for Soft Sediments and Deepwater Investigations
Authors: Boggess Ron , Robertson Peter
Published: May 2011

As energy exploration moves into deeper water, there is a growing need for high quality in-situ testing of near surface seafloor sediments. The cone penetration test (CPT) has become the primary in-situ test for offshore site investigations, especially in deep water. This paper describes key features for improved accuracy for the CPT with particular emphasis on testing in deepwater. Recent developments in the design of cones and their deployment systems for deepwater and key features for interpretation are also described.

Introduction

There is a growing need for high quality in-situ testing of near surface seafloor sediments for site investigations in deepwater (>1,000m). In deepwater the near surface seafloor sediments are often very soft fine-grained soils with low shear strength. Projects in deepwater often require a variety of structures to be placed on and in the seafloor. Hence, a detailed evaluation of the soft seafloor sediments has become increasingly important. The cone penetration test (CPT) has become the primary in-situ test for offshore site investigations, although full-flow penetrometers (T-bar and Ball-cone) have also become popular in soft sediments.

To measure the in-situ characteristics of soft near surface seafloor sediments requires careful attention to details in cone design and procedures. The following sections describe the main features that are important for accurate measurements using the CPT and briefly discuss key features in interpretation.

Cone design

Lunne et al. (1997) provided a detailed description of developments in CPT equipment, procedures, checks, corrections and standards. However, there are several major issues related to equipment design and procedure that are worth repeating and updating.

Friction sleeve measurements: Sleeve friction values can be very helpful in indentifying soil behavior type (e.g. Robertson, 1990) and aiding in interpretation (e.g. Robertson, 2009). However, it has been documented (e.g. Lunne et al., 1986) that the CPT sleeve friction is generally less accurate than the cone tip resistance. The application and use of CPT sleeve friction values in soft sediments requires accurate measurements. The perceived lack of accuracy has often meant that the CPT sleeve friction values are either ignored or underutilized. The lack of accuracy in fs measurement is primarily due to the following factors (Lunne and Anderson, 2007);Pore pressure effects on the ends of the sleeveTolerance in dimensions between the cone and sleeveSurface roughness of the sleeveLoad cell design and calibration
Offshore Monitoring Campaign on Installation of Suction Piles in Deep Water Fields
Authors: De Vries Jan Pieter , van Drunen Joris , van Dijk Radboud , Zoontjes Richard
Published: May 2011

Within the offshore industry Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) is known for the semi-submersible crane vessels able to install offshore structures up to 14,000t. Over the last years HMC has also proven to be a leading player in the ultra deep water construction market by setting world records on installation of heaviest structures at the greatest water depths using the Deepwater Construction Vessel (DCV) Balder and Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel (SSCV) Thialf. The installed deepwater subsea structures include flowlines completed with flowline end structures, manifolds and risers. Due to the large lift capacity of the DCV Balder, Heerema Marine Contractors is ready to install these structures in deep water fields up to 3500m. For deployment of structures multiple steel wire hoist arrangements such as the Balder's deepwater crane hoist arrangement, mooring line deployment winch or the support vessel hoist wire are available. Some typical examples of deepwater structure installations performed are shown in figure 1 and 2.
An Evaluation of Critical Success Factors in Deepwater Oil & Gas Project Portfolios in Nigeria
Authors: Denni-fiberesima Damiebi , Rani Nazatal Shima Abdul
Published: May 2011

Deepwater project portfolios are complex and high risk with a lot of uncertainty. They present unique challenges and require capital intensity to initiate projects. Most authors argue that specific factors relevant for successful competitive performance vary from business to business and industry to industry. This study focuses on investigation of the critical success factors required for successful deepwater development offshore Nigeria.

Thirteen critical success factors were established along with project delivery schedule, project budget and portfolio management strategy as impacting on project success. A sample of 200 participants within the deepwater oil and gas project environment, were identified and issued with a set of self developed item questionnaire.

With the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool, the findings of this research show that of the thirteen critical success factors, all are of high prevalence and importance within the deepwater oil and gas project portfolios. It also identified that some critical success factors in mega construction projects can apply to deepwater oil and gas projects. Understanding local environment was identified as a core prerequisite for project success. The research also discovered that specific competency and skill sets with increased technological expertise are required for successful deepwater oil and gas portfolio development. The results of the analysis also confirms a strong positive relational congruency between prevalence of critical success factors and organizational/project portfolio strategy.

Project management is indispensable for business results, the research would help create strategic dialogue on issues of project success that reflect the realities of capital project management in, the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors, to improve efficiency and further ensure a framework of good practices is consistently applied. It is useful for deepwater oil and gas project management practitioners in the petroleum industry who will encounter issues of cost and schedule overrun, strategy and resource allocation and therefore, can make use of the recommendations in this research study. It will also bridge existing knowledge gap and enhance further success in locating extracting and transporting oil and gas to meet global demand.
New Anti H2S Layer for Flexible Pipes
Authors: Epsztein Thomas , Demanze Frederic , Lefebvre Xavier , Jarrin Jacques
Published: May 2011

Flexible pipes are extensively used for oil and gas development and thus transport the corrosive fluids of the production flow. These corrosive components (water, carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide) do not enter in direct contact with the structural steel layers of the pipe. However, they will diffuse through the pressure sheath and may induce corrosion phenomena on the structural layers. H2S gas could thus be present in the annulus. It is then necessary to use pressure vault and armour wires made of sour service steel grades instead of sweet service steel grades.

In addition to the cost impact, the choice of these sour service steel grades with often lower mechanical performances has a direct influence on the overall design of the flexible pipe as they will result in structures with higher weight. Such a weight increase can be a disadvantage, for example in the case of ultra deep water applications.

To prevent H2S from reaching the annulus of the pipe, a new thermoplastic material was developed. Components in the sheath material react with H2S and prevent it from diffusing and reaching the annulus.

The use of this new ‘Anti-H2S’ layer will ensure a H2S free environment in the flexible pipe annulus. Considering that the steel layers will not be exposed to H2S, no degradation linked to the presence of H2S needs to be taken into account in the choice of the structural steel layers constitutive of the annulus. Consequently, the use of high steel grades layers with reduced thickness will be possible, reducing the cost and the weight of the flexible pipe.

In addition, the ‘Anti-H2S’ layer makes it possible to propose flexible pipes for applications with high H2S contents, for which no solution could be proposed otherwise.
Aging Impact on Thermal Performance of the Aspen Wet Insulated Flowlines
Authors: Meng Weihong , Shields Daniel
Published: May 2011

Wet insulation systems have been used in deepwater development projects in the petroleum industry for many years, with various successes and failures being observed. This paper presents a case study: the Aspen wet-insulated flowline system - the original design and the thermal performance in early days, and now after 8 years in production.

Using production flow rates from the daily reports, with temperature and pressure data provided by the subsea and topsides online monitoring sensors, OLGA simulations were performed to calculate the arrival temperatures at the host and compare them against the field gathered data. Additional simulations were subsequently performed to benchmark the model thermally and determine the effective overall heat transfer coefficient of the Aspen flowline systems. This information will help the industry to better understand the performance of an aged wet insulation system.

Introduction

The Aspen field is located approximately 150 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, LA, in water depths of 3,100 ft in Green Canyon 243. The oil field was discovered in 1Q 2001 with BP as the designated operator and co-owners with Nexen Petroleum USA Inc.

The subsea well development (Wells AA1 and AA2) was brought online in 4Q 2002. Fluid is transported for processing at the Bullwinkle platform, located approximately 16 miles to the northwest in Green Canyon 65 in 1,353 ft of water. The original subsea production system consists of two PLEMS at the well location connected to the host with dual 7 inch flowlines and catenary risers. A rigid pigging jumper connects both PLEMs together to provide round trip pigging capability for hydrate management, paraffin removal, and production flexibility to accommodate the various production schemes and well testing requirements of the multi-well system, see Figure 1.

The subsea wells are controlled via an electro-hydraulic control system with an integrated umbilical running from the host facility to an umbilical termination assembly (UTA) adjacent to the subsea trees. Hydraulic connection from the UTA to the tree is via steel tube flying leads, and from the tree to each associated PLEM also via similar type flying leads. Dual redundant power and communication electrical flying leads (EFLs) are also connected from the UTA to the trees and from the trees to the PLEMs for instrumentation.

The flowlines and risers are insulated with 2.64 inches of GSPU (Glass Syntactic Polyurethane), which allows the flowline operating temperatures to be maintained above the in-situ wax appearance temperature and provides the required cooldown time for hydrate management. In order for the system as a whole to meet the required cooldown time, the field joints are constructed of solid polyurethane with a minimum of 4 mm overbuild so as to provide a similar U-value to the GSPU insulated flowlines. The subsea trees, well jumpers and PLEMs are insulated with pour-in-place GSPU foam while the jumper connectors are insulated with insulation doghouses.
Deep-water Archaeological AUV Surveys and Photo Capabilities
Authors: Church Robert , Westrick Robert , Warren Daniel J.
Published: May 2011

In January 2001, C & C Technologies, Inc. placed into full operation the first commercial deep-water Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in the Gulf of Mexico. The application of this advanced technology was immediately beneficial to the survey industry as well as having a profound impact on deep-water archaeology. Over twenty-four shipwrecks and several additional potential wrecks have been discovered and/or investigated using C & C's AUVs. Several of those surveys resulted in new discoveries and at least, thirteen of the wrecks have been confirmed to be historic vessels. The initial primary geophysical instrument payload of the HUGIN model AUV consisted of dual frequency side scan sonar, subbottom profiler, and multibeam bathymetry. In 2009, C & C added a digital still camera to the vehicle allowing relatively quick visual confirmation of seafloor targets. The photos and photo mosaics produced from the camera surveys have further advanced deep-water archaeological investigation and mapping. This paper focuses on the archaeological application of the AUVs and in particular the photographic capabilities and utilization of those photographs.

Introduction

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are built for a variety of purposes and come in many shapes and sizes with near limitless combinations of sensors and payloads. Camera systems are a relatively new addition to some of the deeper AUV systems. Currently, there are only a few companies, institutions, or government agencies (e.g. C & C Technologies Inc. (C & C), Kongsberg, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the United States Navy, etc.) that operate AUVs equipped with digital still cameras capable of survey to 1,000 meters or deeper. This paper will focus primarily on the C-Surveyor AUVs, which are HUGIN 1,000, 3,000, and 4,500 meter systems (Figure 1). All references to " AUV?? in this paper refer to one of the C-Surveyor AUVs unless otherwise specifically stated. Four AUVs have been added to C & C's fleet over the last decade as well as several payload and sensor upgrades. Although the sensor payload of each AUV may be slightly different, the basic payloads include an EM 2000 multibeam bathymetry system (Figure 2), Chip Edgtech subbottom profiler system (Figure 3), and duel frequency side scan sonar at 410 kHz and either a standard 120 kHz frequency or a 230 kHz dynamically focused sonar system (Figure 4). Three of C & C's AUVs (the 3,000 and 4,500 meter systems) are equipped with digital still cameras (George 2009a). The navigation/positioning system for the AUVs utilize a Kalman filter algorithm, which uses input data from a Simrad High Precision Acoustic Positioning (HiPAP) System, inertial navigation, and Doppler velocity speed log. The post-processed positions for the AUV are accurate to within ± 5 meters at a depth of 3,000 meters.
Dredging Technology for Deep Sea Mining Operations
Authors: Vercruijsse Paul , van Muijen Henk , Verichev Stanislav
Published: May 2011

There is little doubt that the tremendous increase in capacities of equipment is the most eye-catching development within the dredging industry. A general misperception however is that the reduced dredging costs over the last decades are simply a result of an increase in capacity only. Other equally important factors are the increase in efficiency as well as a reduction of down time resulting from a sound design philosophy in combination with the continuous improvement of key subsystems and individual components like excavation tools, high efficiency dredge pumps, robust submersible drives and integrated automation systems.

Deep sea mining operations by nature are performed (or planned) in challenging environments. Another typifying characteristic of deep sea mining operations is the relatively high investment cost. This combination challenges engineers to design configurations able to mine the desired production rate in an efficient way. As design choices made for individual systems impact other parts of the system, it is vital to follow an integral approach to establish the one optimal overall system.

Based on what is considered to be a ‘proven technology’ in the dredging industry and more particularly in dredge mining it will be illustrated how design choices made regarding the excavation and hydraulic transport system impact on other parts of the overall system. Ultimate goal hereby is to establish the desired output at minimum Capex and Opex.

Introduction

Dredging and especially dredge mining learns that the excavation system, the slurry transportation system and the processing plant cannot be considered as individual sub-systems. These systems in any ‘traditional dredge mining’ operation interrelate to such an extend that they must be developed towards an integral solution. The nominal production, peak production and variability of these figures must match for all sub-systems in the overall mining system to optimize the mining efficiency. We call this the ‘game of capacities’.

Section 1 of this paper describes two ‘traditional dredge mining’ operations. This to illustrate that dredge mining indeed shows many similarities with a deep sea mining operation. Given the lessons from dredge mining, section 2 will discuss design considerations regarding a deep sea mining configuration comprising a Seafloor Mining Tool, Hydraulic Transport System and Surface Support Vessel equipped with a (pre-) processing plant. Revealed will be how the design choices made for individual systems impact other parts of the system. This to substantiate our statement: an integral approach is vital to establish the one optimal overall system.
Asphaltene Management in GOM DW Subsea Development
Authors: Montesi Alberto , Pinnick Robert Andrew , Subramanian Sivakumar , Wang Jianxin , Creek Jefferson Louis
Published: May 2011

The asphaltene management philosophy for Chevron's Blind Faith subsea development has evolved during the project and operations phases to incorporate additional experimental data, modeling results, and field observations. Initially, the project was designed with the philosophy of asphaltene mitigation via downhole injection of dispersants. After start up, operations identified the opportunity to halt asphaltene dispersant injection to wells operating outside of the asphaltene onset pressure (AOP). Based on field data analysis - both pigging returns & temperature sensors drift relative to model predictions - it was established that the asphaltene instability trend, ASIST, (Wang and Buckley, 2001; Buckley et al, 2006; Creek et al, 2009) model provides the most accurate representation of the asphaltene tendencies for the Blind Faith produced fluids, and its predictions are currently used to manage asphaltenes. The chemical cost per barrel for the field was reduced by approximately 25% due to the reduction in asphaltene dispersant consumption. During the second half of 2010, the operating conditions for some of the wells reached the predicted onset of asphaltene precipitation. Drifting of subsea temperature sensor, plugging of level bridles on topsides vessels, and accumulation in strainers occurred as a result, providing insight into the lack of effectiveness of asphaltene dispersants to mitigate these operational issues.

Introduction

The Blind Faith development is composed of four subsea wells from two oil reservoirs in Mississippi Canyon Blocks 695 and 696 in approximately 7,000 ft of water depth. Wells 3 & 4 produce commingled fluids from two zones within the Pink reservoirs. Wells 1 & 2 produce from the Lower Peach reservoir. The wells are commingled into a subsea manifold with two 5 mile production flowlines tied back to a host facility located in Mississippi Canyon Block 650 in 6,500 ft of water depth. The field is jointly owned by Chevron (75% WI), and Anadarko Production Company (25% WI) with Chevron as the operator.

The Blind Faith reservoirs contain high pressure, undersaturated oils (28° to 33° API). From the discovery well, four sands were identified as potential production zones within the Pink and Peach reservoirs. Table 1 summarizes the fluid properties. Additional details and field schematic are available in a previous SPE paper. (Subramanian et al, 2009)
Accelerated Production and Increased Recovery of Remote (Offshore) Mature Fields Through Novel Methods to Design and Operate Surface Production Facilities
Authors: Swanborn Rombout , Egwim Rising Chidiadi
Published: May 2011

Today, the application of advanced (compact) processing technologies is becoming increasingly popular in de??bottlenecking the production of mature fields. Compact processing technologies have shown to provide powerful possibilities to efficiently treat the increasing water production, to prevent flaring of low pressure waste gas or to reduce the backpressure of the processing system. Their application can lead to an increase of reservoir recovery rates, accelerated production, lower CAPEX and OPEX figures and generally to improved HSE conditions. However, these applications have taken place rather component wise than system wise. Till now only a relatively small number of examples exist of processing facilities that fully consist of advanced, compact technologies. Two reasons explain why this has not happened on a larger scale:process robustness (turn down, control characteristics under transient conditions etc.) of current equipment is generally considered insufficient andtechnology characterization and qualification takes place generally under scaled down or non??realistic conditions and leaves considerable uncertainties with respect to performance to be expected under actual operation.

It will be shown in this article how the current drawbacks to a larger scale deployment of this emerging and promising technology have been tackled 1) by initiating the independent development and qualification of a number of processing components to fill the existing technology gaps and 2) by initiating the creation of a large scale high pressure three phase full hydrocarbon flow loop capable to simulate the conditions of most mature fields at actual scale.

To demonstrate the potential of compact processing facilities a project will be described, currently in preparation, that will de??bottleneck remote mature fields in the Niger Delta with miniaturized process systems.
Overcoming Black Sea Ultra Deepwater Drilling Challenges
Authors: Rocha Luiz Alberto Santos , Arduino Edgard Gurgel , Gozzi Danilo Signorini , Duarte Sandra Buzini , Azevedo Gabriel Henrique , Siarez Luis Alfonso Nieto , Bruno Jose Carlos , Pereira Bruno Murta , Pessoa Patricia Oliveira Americo
Published: May 2011

The objective of this paper is to describe the well management process which includes the design methodology and the well execution procedures utilized by Petrobras International to drill its first ultra deepwater well in a remote and challenging area of the Turkish waters in the Black Sea.

Ranked as a well of the highest complexity level, the drilling of this wildcat deepwater well has faced a number of expected hazards such as the presence of shallow gas zones, long abnormally pressurized intervals, low fracture pressure gradient sections, loss circulation zones due to the presence of fractured limestone, great potential for false kicks (breathing formation and ballooning) and the possibility of having gas migration to the riser.

In addition to the risks listed above, the well location, in the middle of a remote area of the Black Sea, has been also considered a great challenge in terms of operational logistics. This came from the fact that Petrobras had to plan all its operations from scratch, including moving a huge semi-submersible drilling rig under the bridges located on the Bosphorus Strait.

In this work it is also presented the Well Classification Methodology developed by Petrobras. Such method takes into account several factors that includes water depth, number of well drilled in the area, the existence of abnormally pressurized formations and a number of other obstacles. The main idea of this procedure is to establish the proper well design robustness and to define operations actions which should be used to mitigate operational problems that could arise.

Despite of all these challenges, the well was executed according to its original plan indicating that the methodology was successfully applied and can be repeated in other wells. A number of lessons learned during the planning and execution phases of this project are also discussed within the scope of this work.

Introduction

The depletion of old oil fields has made operators to seek for new opportunities in areas previously unexplored. The challenges of these new frontiers and the high cost of drilling rigs usually result in very expensive wells. In turn, these high costs may induce some operators to be tempted to seek for a dangerous cost reduction already in the first wells. These cuts lead to underestimated well design whose outcome is often the loss of the well and the reconstruction of another one. Thus, the cost reduction expected at the beginning becomes at the end in a huge and unexpected increase in costs.
How an Innovative Method of using Field Proven Diverless Pipeline Repair Equipment Opened Up New Ways for Connecting New Deepwater Pipelines onto Existing Producing Pipelines
Authors: Keijser Edgar , Povloski Bo
Published: May 2011

1) ABSTRACT

Over the last decade, the oil and gas industry has expanded rapidly worldwide into deep and ultra deep water. Virtually all deep water field developments are dependent on pipelines.

Failure of a pipeline due to corrosion, defect or an external event can lead to loss of production and, in the worst case, can cause pollution. However, the technology to repair pipelines both in shallow and deepwater in an efficient and cost effective manner has been greatly improved and the equipment and procedures that are presently available can be considered field proven.

The cost of installing export pipelines can have an impact on the economical feasibility of a project. For certain (marginal) fields, the economics may be greatly enhanced by the proximity of existing pipelines and the ability to share and utilize these existing pipelines for the export of the newly discovered gas or oil.

However, connecting new pipelines onto existing pipelines generally implies that the existing pipeline is prepared, during the design, with a connection link to receive the new pipeline connection.

For a specific case, an existing producing pipeline network was available nearby a new oil field discovery that could potentially shorten and significantly reduce the costs of the export pipeline.

However, since the existing nearby pipeline did not have any pre-installed pipeline connection points to receive the new export pipeline, the oil company chose to install, as an industry ‘first’, a connection point in the existing pipeline subsea using equipment and procedures that was previously used only for diverless pipeline repairs.
Development of Superior Hybrid Gas Hydrate Inhibitors
Authors: Pakulski Marek K.
Published: May 2011

Gas hydrate inhibition is a serious concern for operators who produce or transport natural gas at pressure and temperature conditions favorable for hydrates formation. As production goes into deeper water, hydrate control grows in importance. Ideally, operators want total hydrate control without the problems associated with Thermodynamic Hydrate Inhibitors (THI), mainly methanol and/or Low Dose Hydrate Inhibitors (LDHI). Past laboratory studies and field experience indicated that hydrate inhibition synergy is gained through the combination of Thermodynamic Inhibitors and Kinetic Inhibitors (KHI). This is termed a Hybrid Hydrate Inhibitor (HHI). Because of the performance, logistical and cost drivers presented by the use of methanol, any alternative approach would have to consider these three factors.

Detailed studies were performed on several mixtures of polymeric and non-polymeric KHI, and THI to find best performing combinations of hydrate inhibitors. The objective of the study was to provide all of the benefits of the existing technology with improved performance, improved logistics and at a cost not to exceed hydrate prevention with methanol. It was uncovered that some KHIs combined together supplement each other to offer synergistic performance for significantly lower cost than single KHI products. The work to be presented resulted in discovery of few KHI/KHI/THI combinations that outperformed any previously used product.

Oil and gas industry is continuously looking for more cost-efficient and safer technologies. This work offers another improvement in flow control assurance.

Introduction

Laboratory studies and past field experience indicated that hydrate inhibition synergy is gained through the combination of Thermodynamic Inhibitors (THI) and Kinetic Inhibitors (KHI) [1]. This is termed a Hybrid Hydrate Inhibitor (HHI). Because of the performance, logistical and cost drivers presented by the use of methanol, any alternative approach would have to consider those three factors. The performance has to do with hydrate dissolution in the event a hydrate formed during operations. A Kinetic Inhibitor (KHI) can prevent hydrates formation but cannot dissolve already formed hydrates. Anti-agglomerant inhibitors (AA) allow hydrates to form but keep the hydrate particles dispersed in the fluids. The logistical has to do with pump sizing; i.e. conventional Low Dosage Inhibitor (LDHI) applications require new pumps and configurations.

Potential synergy in gas hydrate inhibition between polyether amines (PEA) and polymeric type kinetic hydrate inhibitors (PHI) has been reported before [2, 3]; however, this phenomenon was not studied thoroughly. PHIs are very costly chemicals, about five times more expensive than PEAs. The cost of methanol is far less than specialty LDHI chemistry.
An Economic Study of CNG Floating Processing and Storage Platform and the Supporting CNG Carriers
Authors: Lamb Thomas , Ramoo Regu
Published: May 2011

An Economic Study of CNG Floating Processing and Storage Platform and the CNG Carriers to support it are presentenced. There are many small (Stranded) gas fields that are not economical to exploit with LNG. It has been shown by a number of researchers that Compressed Natural Gas can be an economical alternative for the stranded gas fields and even the associated gas from oil fields especially as the gas demand and price increases. Even though the carriage of CNG has been proposed over the past 10 years nothing has happened due to the economics of the carrier designs and currently abundance of gas in certain countries. However, many other countries do not have natural gas sources and as their energy demand increases natural gas is a clean and efficient fuel. There are thousands of offshore oil production platforms that currently flare off the gas. This will not be allowed in the future and they must find a way to dispose of the gas. CNG Carriers may be the answer to this problem in that they could transport the associated gas provided that gas compression capabilities were added to the oil production platforms.

The basis of this paper is a new containment tank which offers significantly improved volumetric efficiency and deadweight coefficients for the carriers and the FCNGPSO. It is believed that this new tank offers a breakthrough that provides a design and economical acceptable solution for the collection, storage and transportation of CNG.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

While there are no CNG carriers currently in operation, several design solutions have been proposed:SEA NG Coselle CNG Carrier,EnerSea -Volume Optimized Transport and Storage (VOTRANS),Gas Transportation Module (GTM),Knutsen PNG,TransOcean Gas- Cassettes,Statoil/Tee Kay/Høegh- Consortium Compressed Gas Shuttle, andIFP - GAS CONTAINERS.Cubic Doughnut Tank System (CDTS)

A number of alternative technologies exist that have the potential to make the development of small fields - of under five tcf in size - economically viable. None of these however, has yet been developed and proven on a commercial scale, though they have each proven themselves viable on technical parameters. The most advanced among these alternative technologies include:floating LNG processing and storage offshore,GTL(gas-to-liquid) floating production storage and offloading(GTL-FPSO),natural gas hydrates, (NGH)

These technologies have been developed to a point where commercial scale deployment is not too far away, in the case of GTL and NGH, and demonstration plants have been in operation for several years. What remains to be seen is whether these technologies can run on a commercial scale and still be economically viable.
Coupled Dynamic Analysis of Stinger and Pipeline
Authors: Suschitz Luca , Taylor Leland
Published: May 2011

This paper presents recent developments in the methodology to address the structural integrity of stingers and pipelines during pipelay submarine installation. Specific attention is given to the comprehensive coupling of kinematics of a single or multiple articulated segments of stinger interacting in synchrony with sea loading, vessel motions and in combination with buoyancy and inertial forces. This in conjunction with the pipeline engaging from the seabed through the unilateral action of roller supports allotted between the barge and several stinger segments. A time domain dynamic and fatigue analysis is conducted utilizing nonlinear finite element solver. In a classical structural code the computed wave loads are based on the stinger's position remaining fixed. The nonlinear approach presented allows the stinger to rise and fall as the wave passes. For articulated types, the finite free rotation at the hinges respects the kinematics of the assembly. This new method has been applied to the design of new stingers and capitalizes on history of lesson learned in their construction spanning many decades. Establishing the structural demand on a dynamic system is a blend of deterministic and stochastic loading conditions. These conditions often occur simultaneously and for a new design are mainly forecasts. The prognostic usage shares the stinger between pipelay and transit or abandonment mode and differential exposures to wave directions from head sea to quartering and beam seas. This new approach offers a detail determination of response patterns of the stinger sections such as bending in the surge-sway plane, torsion in the roll direction and inertial effects in the surge-heave plane. These patterns address the tension-compression time histories expected for all stinger structural members to allow its fatigue life prediction as well as providing insight in the estimation of accumulated fatigue damage in the pipeline during installation. The method provides the ability to capture anisotropies, transitions, field joints and pipeline ancillary mechanical equipment often incorporated in the pipeline on board the vessel as the line is laid.
When Mother Nature Smiles - Multi-year Analysis of Currents at the Macondo Well Site
Authors: Brickley Peter , Coholan Patrice D. , Sharma Neha , Cadwallader Matthew L.
Published: May 2011

Contrary to popular belief, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout and oil spill could have been far more environmentally and economically catastrophic. Relatively benign metocean conditions persisted in the Gulf of Mexico during the spill response efforts at the Macondo site. Statistical evidence indicates that metocean conditions could have been far worse, making the response efforts significantly more challenging and the economical repercussions orders of magnitude greater. Analysis of historical data and statistical trends over the past 26 years enumerates 22 separate incursions of the Loop Current or Loop Current Eddy into northern Mississippi Canyon. Such conditions can vastly complicate the scale of response efforts. Here we are presenting the possible impacts of worst-case environmental scenarios on response efforts at the Macondo site and the potential repercussions of strong Loop Current events during the oil spill. This study will help outline effective metocean risk management strategies for deepwater operators to mitigate the effects of oil spills in the future.

Introduction

The activities of the offshore oil & gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) have intensified and extended farther offshore in recent decades, creating new challenges for marine resource and environmental management. The occurrence of oil spills in such an environment is fundamentally a matter of probability. Although not the first, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has proved to be the largest and most catastrophic in U.S. waters. The semi-submersible offshore drilling rig was operating in 1500m of water when it experienced a fatal explosion on 20 April 2010. The explosion resulted in the prolonged expulsion of oil from the sea floor and the broken riser before the well was finally capped on 15 July. Final estimates of the oil released into the water column range from 798,000 gallons/day (USGS, 2010) to 4 million gallons/day (BP maximum estimate, 20 June 2010). Early reports on 23 April indicated that the oil spill had already formed a surface slick 1.6 km wide by 8 km long. By 25 April aerial surveys reported sheen spreading over a surface area of 32 km2 (NOAA 2010). Within two days, the edge of this slick approached within 40 km of coastal Louisiana. Response efforts to contain, collect, disperse, or burn the surface oil slick and landed oil fraction involved the efforts of some 48,000 people over the Gulf coast region, with the majority along the coastlines and shelf waters of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and the northwestern coast of Florida. Damage assessment and recovery effort continue to this day.
Application of Geophysical Technologies and the Impact on Shell
Authors: Douma Jan , Hewett Benjamin , Kohli Madhu
Published: May 2011

The application of a wide range of geophysical technologies (ranging from Narrow-Azimuth (NAZ), Wide-Azimuth (WAZ) streamer and Ocean-Bottom-Seismic (OBS) node acquisition, to anisotropic seismic imaging) has resulted in considerable business impact on Shell's GOM field development. In this paper, results will be shown for several GOM deepwater fields.

Introduction

Whereas seismic processing for large Gulf of Mexico (GOM) exploration projects typically focuses on imaging the unseen (often imaging below complex salt structures), seismic processing for development projects often has to focus on adding further fine detail to the seismic data.

Typical business drivers demanding such details for development are:–Well-Positioning requiring enhanced lateral and vertical positioning–Reservoir Modeling requiring enhanced seismic resolution to enhance stratigraphic details–Reservoir monitoring requiring time-lapse signal

To address these challenges, respectively, a variety of seismic processing techniques like anisotropic velocity model building + PreStackDepthMigration (PreSDM), High Definition Seismic imaging, and 4D TimeLapse processing are commonly applied in our development projects. Hereby, various seismic acquisition methods are used (ranging from Narrow-Azimuth (NAZ), and Wide-Azimuth (WAZ) streamer, to WAZ Ocean-Bottom-Seismic (OBS) node acquisition).

The application of all these geophysical technologies has resulted in considerable business impact on Shell's GOM field development. In this paper, results will be shown for several GOM deepwater fields.

Geophysical Technologies

Anisotropy and Pre-Stack Migration

Anisotropy impacts the positioning and focusing of subsurface events. Taking anisotropy properly into account in PreSDM can significantly reduce subsurface uncertainties, improve the seismic to well match, and impact well positioning. In the GOM with its many salt structures embedded in sediments, we especially recognize the effect of differential anisotropy: isotropic salt bodies next to anisotropic sediments. This can easily lead to false structures next to and below salt. The typical velocity model building procedure used here has been described in detail by Stopin et al. (2008) and consists of several migration and update cycles where the velocity and the anisotropy parameters (d and (or ?)) are inverted for. Final acceptance criteria are PreSDM results with flat image gathers and small seismic to well misties (typically not more than 100 ft).

It should be noted that this anisotropic velocity model updating procedure is a highly integrated iterative effort involving processing, interpretation, and well-positioning staff.
IL-6 Mediates the Susceptibility of Glycoprotein 130 Hypermorphs to Toxoplasma gondii
Authors: Silver Jonathan S. , Stumhofer Jason S. , Passos Sara , Ernst Matthias , Hunter Christopher A.
Published: May 2011

IL-6 and IL-27 are closely related cytokines that play critical but distinct roles during infection with Toxoplasma gondii. Thus, IL-6 is required for the development of protective immunity to this pathogen, whereas IL-27 is required to limit infection-induced pathology. Paradoxically, these factors both signal through gp130, but little is known about how the signals downstream of gp130 are integrated to coordinate the immune response to infection. To better understand these events, gp130 Y757F mice that have a mutation in gp130 at the binding site for suppressor of cytokine signaling 3, a critical negative regulator of gp130 signaling, were infected with T. gondii. These mutant mice were acutely susceptible to this challenge, characterized by an early defect in the production of IL-12 and IFN-γ and increased parasite burdens. Consistent with the reduced IL-12 levels, IL-6, but not other gp130 cytokines, was a potent antagonist of IL-12 production by gp130 Y757F macrophages and dendritic cells in vitro. Moreover, in gp130 Y757F mice, blocking IL-6 in vivo, or administration of rIL-12, during infection restored IFN-γ production and protective immunity. Collectively, these studies highlight that a failure to abbreviate IL-6–mediated gp130 signaling results in a profound anti-inflammatory signal that blocks the generation of protective immunity to T. gondii.
Mast Cells and Neutrophils Release IL-17 through Extracellular Trap Formation in Psoriasis
Authors: Lin Andrew M. , Rubin Cory J. , Khandpur Ritika , Wang Jennifer Y. , Riblett MaryBeth , Yalavarthi Srilakshmi , Villanueva Eneida C. , Shah Parth , Kaplan Mariana J. , Bruce Allen T.
Published: May 2011

IL-17 and IL-23 are known to be absolutely central to psoriasis pathogenesis because drugs targeting either cytokine are highly effective treatments for this disease. The efficacy of these drugs has been attributed to blocking the function of IL-17–producing T cells and their IL-23–induced expansion. However, we demonstrate that mast cells and neutrophils, not T cells, are the predominant cell types that contain IL-17 in human skin. IL-17+ mast cells and neutrophils are found at higher densities than IL-17+ T cells in psoriasis lesions and frequently release IL-17 in the process of forming specialized structures called extracellular traps. Furthermore, we find that IL-23 and IL-1β can induce mast cell extracellular trap formation and degranulation of human mast cells. Release of IL-17 from innate immune cells may be central to the pathogenesis of psoriasis, representing a fundamental mechanism by which the IL-23–IL-17 axis mediates host defense and autoimmunity.
Mass Spectrometric Characterization of Circulating and Functional Antigens Derived from Piperacillin in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Whitaker Paul , Meng Xiaoli , Lavergne Sidonie N. , El-Ghaiesh Sabah , Monshi Manal , Earnshaw Caroline , Peckham Daniel , Gooi Jimmy , Conway Steve , Pirmohamed Munir , Jenkins Rosalind E. , Naisbitt Dean J. , Park B. Kevin
Published: May 2011

A mechanistic understanding of the relationship between the chemistry of drug Ag formation and immune function is lacking. Thus, mass spectrometric methods were employed to detect and fully characterize circulating Ags derived from piperacillin in patients undergoing therapy and the nature of the drug-derived epitopes on protein that can function as an Ag to stimulate T cells. Albumin modification with piperacillin in vitro resulted in the formation of two distinct haptens, one formed directly from piperacillin and a second in which the dioxopiperazine ring had undergone hydrolysis. Modification was time and concentration dependent, with selective modification of Lys541 observed at low concentrations, whereas at higher concentrations, up to 13 out of 59 lysine residues were modified, four of which (Lys190, Lys195, Lys432, and Lys541) were detected in patients’ plasma. Piperacillin-specific T lymphocyte responses (proliferation, cytokines, and granzyme B release) were detected ex vivo with cells from hypersensitive patients, and analysis of incubation medium showed that modification of the same lysine residues in albumin occurred in situ. The antigenicity of piperacillin-modified albumin was confirmed by stimulation of T cells with characterized synthetic conjugates. Analysis of minimally modified T cell-stimulatory albumin conjugates revealed peptide sequences incorporating Lys190, Lys432, and Lys541 as principal functional epitopes for T cells. This study has characterized the multiple haptenic structures on albumin in patients and showed that they constitute functional antigenic determinants for T cells.
Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease: Navigating the Evidence
Authors: Tedla F. M. , Brar A. , Browne R. , Brown C.
Published: May 2011

Hypertension is both an important cause and consequence of chronic kidney disease. Evidence from numerous clinical trials has demonstrated the benefit of blood pressure control. However, it remains unclear whether available results could be extrapolated to patients with chronic kidney diseases because most studies on hypertension have excluded patients with kidney failure. In addition, chronic kidney disease encompasses a large group of clinical disorders with heterogeneous natural history and pathogenesis. In this paper, we review current evidence supporting treatment of hypertension in various forms of chronic kidney disease and highlight some of the gaps in the extant literature.
Feasibility of Predicting MCI/AD Using Neuropsychological Tests and Serum β‐Amyloid
Authors: Luis Cheryl A. , Abdullah Laila , Ait-Ghezala Ghania , Mouzon Benoit , Keegan Andrew P. , Crawford Fiona , Mullan Michael
Published: May 2011

We examined the usefulness of brief neuropsychological tests and serum Aβ as a predictive test for detecting MCI/AD in older adults. Serum Aβ levels were measured from 208 subjects who were cognitively normal at enrollment and blood draw. Twenty‐eight of the subjects subsequently developed MCI (n=18) or AD (n=10) over the follow‐up period. Baseline measures of global cognition, memory, language fluency, and serum Aβ1–42 and the ratio of serum Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 were significant predictors for future MCI/AD using Cox regression with demographic variables, APOE ε4, vascular risk factors, and specific medication as covariates. An optimal sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 86.5% for predicting MCI/AD was achieved using ROC analyses. Brief neuropsychological tests and measurements of Aβ1–42 obtained via blood warrants further study as a practical and cost effective method for wide‐scale screening for identifying older adults who may be at‐risk for pathological cognitive decline.
Marketing Multicultural en España, primer país europeo en nuevos inmigrantes
Authors: Arroyo Almaraz Isidoro , Van Wyck Ors Cliff
Published: May 2011

Las diferencias culturales de los inmigrantes hacen necesarias diferentes estrategias por parte de los responsables de marketing. Esta investigación define el  marketing multicultural, explica  cómo ha sido estudiado y tratado con éxito por empresas líderes. Se combinan dos métodos de investigación, uno heurístico que utiliza datos secundarios y otro cualitativo que utiliza datos procedentes del estudio del caso. El estudio de las diferencias culturales pone de manifiesto que las diferencias se agrandan según sea el perfil de la cultura de acogida; el perfil de la identidad de cada colectivo de inmigrantes; los medios de comunicación. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que  los individuos no viven la vida con tan solo una referencia cultural, entran y salen de distintas culturas, por lo que la publicidad tiene que plantearse como campañas integradas.