Petroleum Review - March 2012
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Perspective – Optimising talent and technology
Martin Gough, Managing Director, Cal Gavin
SEISMIC – ROUND-UP
Call for better margins
Andrew McBarnet provides a commentary on some of the main developments in the E&P seismic business, in which the balance between technology and economics is sometimes at odds.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT – DEMERGERS
Avoiding demerger downfalls
Corporate spin-offs are on the rise in the oil and gas sector, driven largely by the capital requirements for very large E&P projects. Ben Tye, Head of Energy Practice at programme management consultancy PIPC, argues that in their haste to obtain the decree absolute, demerging businesses are threatening their long-term viability.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT – PROCUREMENT
Procurement beyond price
Accenture’s Matthew Havens and Sourav Niyogi discuss how the procurement organisation in leading energy companies is evolving from a transactional function to strategic enabler.
IP WEEK – LUNCH
Working together to secure energy supplies
Addressing this year’s IP Week Lunch, UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry talked about the importance of the UK’s oil and gas industry in maintaining security of supply for the UK energy market, and how government and industry can work together over the coming years.
IP WEEK – DINNER
Good practice and professionalism
Energy Institute President Joan MacNaughton CB HonFEI, addressed the 98th IP Week Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London and discussed the EI’s role in supporting the energy sector as we face the challenges of increasing demand, riskier operations, environmental pressures, and the need to gain public trust and acceptance in the deployment of new technologies.
IP WEEK – DINNER
Playing to our strengths
Robert W Dudley, Group Chief Executive, BP, was the Guest of Honour and speaker at this year’s IP Week Dinner. He discussed BP’s recovery post-Deepwater Horizon, and the importance of strengthening the relationship between industry and society in the future.
MIDDLE EAST – E&P
The changing face of the Middle East
Recent geopolitical changes have confirmed the world’s continued reliance on Middle Eastern oil reserves. Whatever happens in the future, this will continue. Over 90% of the growth in global crude production in the next two decades is expected to come from the region, according to the International Energy Agency). Iraq, fresh from the US withdrawal of troops, is a significant example of an individual Middle Eastern country’s influence on global supplies, writes Chris Spear, Vice President for New Growth Countries, Honeywell Process Solutions.
MIDDLE EAST – E&P
Middle East complexities
The European Union’s oil embargo on Iran and ongoing political problems in the Middle East, leave unresolved oil and gas supply issues, writes Maria Kielmas.
Israel ponders natural gas exports
It is not often that a country that has serious energy security issues gets to choose whether it wants an energy export industry – but the state of Israel is in this relatively happy situation, write Paul Cochrane in Beirut, Helena Flusfeder in Jerusalem and Keith Nuthall.
MIDDLE EAST – SYRIA
Sanctions take their toll
The Syrian energy sector is currently reeling from the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and the US in the last quarter of 2011 in response to Damascus’ severe crackdown on protests that began in March last year. Oil production has since slumped by 35% according to the Syrian government, the country lacks storage capacity, there have been attacks on pipelines and the regime is struggling to find buyers for its heavy crude, reports Paul Cochrane in Beirut.
IP WEEK – REVIEW
New frontiers, new future
‘In with the new’ was very much the order of the day for International Petroleum Week 2012 (IP Week 2012). Not only was the programme focused on ‘New frontiers, new future’, it also featured a new streamlined format designed to allow delegates to dip in and out of the various parallel sessions and create a programme best tailored to their needs and interests. The event was also held at a new venue – the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel, London.
EI TECHNICAL – MICROBIOLOGY
Microbes in oil E&P
The 17th annual Reservoir Microbiology Forum (RMF) attracted a variety of delegates interested in sharing and discussing their experiences in microbiological issues in the oil and gas industry. The RMF was held at the Energy Institute on 22–23 November 2011, the highlights of which are summarised in the article.
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