During last years' Offshore Technology Conference, the Macondo wellhead was gushing into the Gulf. This year, however, since all the problems are over, oil prices are booming, and there is new pro-oil Congressional blood, the mood should be different. Yippee.
But the OTC says they have learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and the focus this year will be on safety. Yeah, right.
“I think people are just really ready to get back to doing what we do best,” (ed. comment... and that would be destroying ecosystems and killing people?) said Susan Cunningham, board chairwoman for the massive event, which runs through Thursday at Reliant Park in Houston.
That renewed sense of purpose, she said, may help explain why attendance at OTC is expected to be at near-record levels this year. Registrations are tracking ahead of last year, when attendance was 72,900, the second-highest ever. The record year was 1982, when an oil boom drew 108,000 people, she said.
This year, the throngs of engineers, technicians, executives, scientists and other offshore professionals from more than 100 countries will once again be in Houston to network, jockey for business and hold long panel discussions on even the most arcane aspects of offshore drilling and production.
New drilling technology usually plays a large part in the trade show, and 2011's show is no exception. Companies are trotting out huge pieces of gear designed to increase safety and efficiency.
Take Weatherford International. The Switzerland-based oil field services giant, with large operations in Houston, is featuring a “closed loop” drilling system it says will enable operators to respond more quickly to dangerous gas influxes in a well than conventional methods. It uses two technologies – called a rotating control device and microflux control system – that keep tighter control on drilling fluids and materials from the well that are circulated out while drilling.
“We essentially have our finger on the pulse of the well,” said Dave Pavel, director of business development at Weatherford’s drilling optimization services unit. “That gives us the ability to look at very, very minute fluctuations in normal drilling operations.”
If operators detect a problem, they can take action to secure a well after as little as two barrels of gas-laden fluid have entered, versus at least 25 barrels with traditional “open-air” systems, he said.
David Newman, director of oil and gas production for Emerson Process Management, said his company will be showing off a wireless downhole sensor for wells that are producing. It measures pressure and temperature in the outer ring of the well called the annulus, and sends the data back to the surface.
Not only is the wireless system less vulnerable to damage than wire-based systems, it can monitor well conditions continuously, eliminating the need to shut in a well twice a year for pressure tests required by law, he said.
“The more intelligent you can make it, utilizing the latest technologies out there, the more data you can get back onshore, the quicker you can respond to a potential incident,” Newman said.
And why does none of this optimism make me feel any safer?
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