Oil Exploration (oil + exploration)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Crystal Geyser , Utah's cold one

GEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 1 2001
Tony Waltham
A cold geyser appears to be a contradiction in terms. But a combination of carbon dioxide, effervescing groundwater and a fortuitous oil exploration well can create a very spectacular water fountain. [source]


Scheduling activities at oil wells with resource displacement

INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2008
Arnaldo V. Moura
Abstract Before promising locations at petroliferous basins become productive oil wells, it is necessary to complete development activities at these locations. The scheduling of such activities must satisfy several conflicting constraints and attain a number of goals. Moreover, resource displacements between wells are important and must also be taken into account. The problem is NP-hard, as can be seen by a simple poly-time reduction from the Job Shop problem. This paper describes Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures (GRASPs) for the scheduling of oil well development activities with resource displacement. The heuristics were tested on real instances from a major oil company, recognized for its expertise in offshore oil exploration. Computational experiments over real instances revealed that the GRASP implementations are competitive, outperforming the software currently being used by the company. [source]


STRATEGY AND SHAREHOLDER VALUE CREATION: THE REAL OPTIONS FRONTIER

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2000
Martha Amram
The current interest in real options reflects the dramatic increase in the uncertainty of the business environment. Viewed narrowly, the real options approach is the extension of financial option pricing models to the valuation of options on real (that is, nonfinancial) assets. More broadly, the real options approach is a way of thinking that helps managers formulate their strategic options,the future opportunities that are created by today's investments,while considering their likely effect on shareholder value. But if the real options framework promises to link strategy more closely to shareholder value creation, there are some major challenges on the frontier of application. In the first part of this paper, the authors tackle the question, "What is really new about real options, and how does the approach differ from other wellestablished ways to make strategic decisions under uncertainty?" This article provides a specific definition of real options that relies on the ability to track marketpriced risk. Using examples from oil exploration and pharmaceutical drug development, the authors also show how specific features of the industry and the application itself determine the usefulness of the real options approach. The second part of the paper addresses the question: Given the many differences between real and financial options, how should a real options application be framed? The authors examine the use of real options in the valuation of Internet companies to demonstrate the required judgment and tradeoffs in the framing of real options applications. The case of Webvan, an online grocer, is used to illustrate the inter-action between strategy, execution, and valuation. [source]


TURBIDITE, SLUMP AND DEBRIS FLOW DEPOSITS AT THE KALCHINSKOE AND ZIMNEE OILFIELDS, WEST SIBERIAN BASIN

JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
S. F. Khafizov
This paper discusses specific facies associated with Cretaceous deep-water slumps and sandstone intrusions in the West Siberian Basin. The slumps were formed during sea-level falls when storms caused sediment masses to be discharged into deep-water areas where they imposed a significant load on the underlying semi-consolidated black shales, deforming and partially destroying them. Multiple slump / avalanche events are observed at the boundary between the Lower Cretaceous (Neocomian) and Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) sequences and form potential targets for oil exploration. High-resolution sequence stratigraphic analyses show that both slump and distal fans are genetically related to lower slope/basin floor sediments and were deposited during regressions and subsequent lowstands. Two key depositional environments are recognized: the proximal parts of fans, where the most prospective potential reservoirs are found; and the more distal parts of slumps, which are principally composed of deformed shale clasts in a silt-mudstone matrix. A third facies ("slump head") is only observed on seismic profiles and is probably related to horizontally displaced "shingled" semi-consolidated black shales. [source]


Knowledge auditing and mapping: a pragmatic approach

KNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 1 2004
Simon Burnett
Increasingly the knowledge and skills of employees are seen as valuable assets that may be utilised in order to gain competitive advantage at an organisational level. This paper seeks to describe the process, methods and resulting outcomes of a knowledge audit and map carried out within a tax department in a multinational oil exploration and production company. Although the department had employed systems for managing information, there was a desire to build on this to develop and apply systems and processes to manage and exploit knowledge embedded in staff. By using questionnaires and interviews, the audit and map process aimed to provide a critical first step in introducing knowledge management into the department, and establishing a plan of action. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Government perspective, statutory protection and the direction of future research and co-operation in the context of the marine environment

AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2002
T.W. Eggeling
Abstract 1.The Falkland Islands Government is proud of the successful development of its commercial fishery and sees no reason why it should not continue to be managed in a responsible and sustainable way. However, it recognizes that the fishery is vulnerable to over-fishing, changes in the migration patterns of the principal commercial species and the health of world markets. 2.To widen its economic base, the Falkland Islands Government is seeking to promote farm diversification and eco-tourism, to further develop its commercial fishery, and to encourage offshore oil exploration and development in areas under its jurisdiction. 3.It recognizes the value and importance of its wildlife populations and habitats but sees no reason why economic development and environmental protection should be mutually exclusive, provided that suitable measures are adopted to control development and protect the environment, a precautionary approach is applied, all potential risks to the environment are carefully assessed and remedial measures taken to avoid or minimize any adverse impacts. Extensive new legislation has already been enacted, baseline survey work undertaken and further environmental research commissioned. 4.The Government accepts that additional wildlife habitats and populations need to be afforded environmental protection through designation as National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Marine Nature Reserves (MNR) and thereafter managed effectively. It recognizes that much more environmental research needs to be carried out and, to that end, is willing to seek expert guidance on the future direction of that research, to co-operate with other governments or organisations in the carrying out of that research and to contribute financially to further environmental research in and around the Falkland Islands. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Geographies of knowledge, practices of globalization: learning from the oil exploration and production industry

AREA, Issue 2 2005
Gavin Bridge
In this paper we initiate a dialogue between work on the geographies of globalization and knowledge economies, areas of inquiry that have tended to develop in isolation. We argue for a critical harnessing of these two bodies of work to (1) understand how and where different types of knowledge are acquired, produced and mobilized by firms as they seek to ,go global', (2) map the multi-scalar geographies of knowledge that enable practices of globalization and (3) examine the ways in which networks of knowledge structure emerging geographies of production. We demonstrate the potential of this move using oil exploration and production as an example. [source]


Space technology in the oil industry

ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 5 2010
Article first published online: 17 SEP 2010
The troubles flowing from BP's Macondo oil well in Gulf of Mexico have focused attention on the technological demands of safe deep-water drilling. European Space Agency research presented in a Space and Energy Seminar in August offers spin-off technologies that could support oil exploration and production in extreme environments, from corrosion control to better robotics. [source]