Emerson Exchange 365

Activity

Looking Forward in the Oil & Gas Service Sector

Jim Cahill

At CERAWeek 2017 , Emerson executive president, Mike Train joined a panel to discuss ways for energy service sector companies to effectively navigate a path forward after several difficult years. Here is the abstract of the session: The extreme focus of IOCs and NOCs on reducing costs, simplifying designs, and improving operating efficiency has forced service sector companies to rethink their own business models. Many…
- 7 Mar 2017
Advances in Oil and Gas Produced Fluids Multiphase Measurement

Jim Cahill

It’s encouraging to see the comeback in shale oil & gas production here in the U.S. Oil & gas producers have made great strides in lowering the costs of drilling, hydraulic fracturing & completion and ongoing well pad production. A recent CPI Financial article noted: Shale oil output in the US may grow sequentially by 600 thousand b/d from 4Q16 to 4Q17 on increased activity in oil rigs and fast productivity gains…
- 21 Feb 2017
Under Pressure: New Developments in High-Pressure Chemical Injections

Jim Cahill

Over in LinkedIn, Emerson’s Travis Stone has posted part 3, Under Pressure: Emerson Announces a New Development in High Pressure Chemical Injections , in our series on improving chemical injection processes. These posts highlight the issues associated with underinjecting chemicals and the excessive costs associated with over injection. Optimimum rates of injection help assure piping integrity by inhibiting deposits…
- 10 Feb 2017
Offshore Overdose: How Chemical Injection Systems Can Affect Your Bottom Line

Jim Cahill

Author: Edward Bourke The failure to maintain accurate control over your chemical injection program can have a substantial impact on your profitability. Flow assurance is essential in oil and gas production, and chemical injection treatments help you achieve that by mitigating threats posed by hydrates, corrosion, scale, wax, asphaltenes and emulsions. With insufficient chemical injections, these risks can impair…
- 25 Jan 2017
Multiphase Flow Measurement for Oil and Gas Well Pads

Jim Cahill

In oil and gas production well pads and offshore platforms, separators perform the work of breaking out the oil, gas and water into separate component streams. Test separators have historically taken flows from individual wells, known as well tests, to determine the percentages of these components on a periodic basis. These components are then returned into the production flow streams. The processing facility with test…
- 12 Jan 2017
Oil and Gas Storage Tank Vapor Control & Recovery

Jim Cahill

For onshore oil & gas production well pads, effectively managing and recovering vapors means improving emissions control to meet regulatory requirements, increasing saleable natural gas, and providing a safer work environment for the personnel who manage the well pad site. In one of the Produced Fluids Management recorded webinars , Tank Vapor Control and Recovery in Upstream O&G , Emerson’s Frank Goulet discusses…
- 16 Dec 2016
Times A Changing in the Oil Patch

Jim Cahill

I’m traveling and in meetings for much of this week, so posting may be lighter than normal. One of the huge events on the spring agenda for energy-related companies and policy makers is IHS CERAWeek , taking place March 6-10 in Houston, Texas. The year promises to be especially exciting given the recent announcement by OPEC to limit oil production in an effect to boost oil prices and revenues for all the member countries…
- 7 Dec 2016
Ways to Reduce Oil and Gas Lease Operating Expenses

Jim Cahill

For onshore oil & gas producers, squeezing every expense possible from the production and custody transfer process means the difference between flowing and shutting in the wells. In an RBN Energy post, LOE-Down – Understanding Lease Operating Expenses And How They Drive Production , they examine lease operating expenses (LOEs): …the costs incurred by an operator to keep production flowing after the initial cost of…
- 2 Dec 2016
Managing Oil and Gas Produced Fluids from Allocation to Sale

Jim Cahill

For onshore oil & gas producers, how accurate are your measurements from allocations at the wellhead to custody transfer? In a recorded webinar, Produced Fluids Management – Getting Paid for What you Produce , Emerson’s Michael Machuca describes the financial gains from improved measurement and control from the wellhead to the point of sale. And, how you can ensure production measurement compliance, reduce unaccounted…
- 9 Nov 2016
Biomethane Opportunities in Europe

Jim Cahill

Author: Rossella Mimmi Biomethane is a mix of gases and can be produced from both biological and thermochemical processes. The biological processes are based on upgrading biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of municipal waste streams, process residues, agriculture waste streams and energy crops such as various types of grasses as well as landfill gas, by removing the carbon dioxide and other contaminants from…
- 31 Oct 2016
Modular Multiphase Oil and Gas Well Flow Metering

Jim Cahill

With many oil and gas producers facing tighter margins due to prices, any capital and operational expenditures must be closely scrutinized. To maximize the life and production rates of the well and improve reservoir decision-making, it is important to characterize and understand reservoirs and access accurate production information. Multiphase flow meters, measure oil, gas and water cuts can aid in supplying production…
- 11 Oct 2016
Optimizing Shale Oil and Gas Production

Jim Cahill

While the news of an OPEC oil freeze increases prices, at least in the short term, they remain well below their levels of a few years ago. The focus for oil and gas producers remains on optimizing their current producing wells at the expense of new drilling. Emerson’s Michael Machuca shared a whitepaper, Optimizing Shale Operations to Prosper in Difficult Markets , about areas of the shale oil & gas production process…
- 29 Sep 2016
Pipeline Leak Detection Best Practices

Jim Cahill

A recent LinkedIn post, Leak Detection Market for Oil & Gas worth 2.71 Billion USD by 2020, at a CAGR of 7.1% highlights the purpose of these leak detection systems: …to assist the pipeline operators and monitors in detecting and localizing the leakage. This leak detection system can detect the leakage at all stages of oil & gas industry such as upstream (exploration & production), midstream (pipeline networks), and…
- 27 Sep 2016
Reducing Unaccounted Oil and Gas Production Uncertainty

Jim Cahill

Author: Michael Machuca Management of well pad inventory, allocation and custody transfers encompasses multiple operations that contribute to overall production management uncertainty. The accumulated measurement errors and variability in operations within a storage system can quickly add up to a significant level of uncertainty. Higher levels of uncertainty reduce the prospect for timely insight into problematic…
- 7 Sep 2016
Improve Costs and Operational Performance in Oil and Gas Production

Jim Cahill

Emerson’s Sudhir Jain shared an interest McKinsey & Company article, The next frontier for digital technologies in oil and gas , describing how this industry historically and today, embraces technologies to improve business performance. This was true even 30 years ago when I started in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil & gas industry. Hurricane mode operations were already well established with production continuing when…
- 1 Sep 2016
Rugged Downhole Pressure and Temperature Measurement

Jim Cahill

I saw a recent news item , Emerson introduces digital, +175°C, high-precision pressure and temperature transmitter designed for corrosive harsh downhole measurements, and wanted to find out more about the application for this technology. I caught up with Emerson’s Joe Kitzman to learn more. When drilling for oil and gas, downhole pressure and temperature measurements are used: …to improve oil and gas production…
- 24 Aug 2016
Natural Gas Liquids Fractionation Optimization

Jim Cahill

Maximizing the recovery of natural gas liquids from natural gas improves margins for midstream oil & gas producers. In an earlier post, Optimizing the Process of Purifying Natural Gas Liquids we highlighted the role of advanced process controls and expertise in producing the right mix of hydrocarbons based on current market conditions. Today in part two, Emerson’s Lou Heavner identifies the factors for improving the…
- 22 Aug 2016
Optimizing Well Pad Production and Storage

Jim Cahill

Where new production was once the major focus, optimizing existing oil & gas well pads and production facilities is now high on the priority list to reduce operating costs. In an American Oil & Gas Reporter article, Production Optimization: ‘Systems’ Approach Optimizes Pad Production And Storage Operations , Emerson’s Michael Machuca describes the importance of taking a holistic approach to this effort. Michael opens…
- 8 Aug 2016
Flexible Operations for Changing Ethane Market Conditions

Jim Cahill

In an RBN Energy blog post, The Yellow Rose Of Texas: Battle Of Texas Ethane Begins As Cargo #1 Departs Morgan’s Point , it not only gives a great history lesson on the origins of the Yellow Rose of Texas, but also the market dynamics for ethane production. It highlights the challenge that shale gas production has created for midstream producers: That’s because the Shale Revolution led to huge increases in wet natural…
- 5 Aug 2016
Remote Monitoring Gas Production and Hub Compression Sites from LNG Facility

Jim Cahill

As technologies continue to advance, so do the opportunities to remotely monitor production sites, even from great distances. At the Emerson Exchange conference in Brussels earlier this year, Emerson’s Stuart Chisholm team with Dipak Sagar of Industrial Video & Control (IVC) on a presentation, Remote Monitoring of LNG Facilities. Their presentation described an Australian LNG development with multiple geographically…
- 1 Aug 2016
Optimizing the Process of Purifying Natural Gas Liquids

Jim Cahill

Author: Chuck Miller It is no secret that the oil and gas producers attraction to the shale fields has been the high BTU wet gas that contains a significant volume of heavier hydrocarbons known as Natural Gas Liquids or NGLs. The purpose of the Natural Gas / NGL Recovery plant is to recover the methane and send it to interstate pipelines. However, its primary role is to maximize the recovery of high-value NGLs. In this…
- 26 Jul 2016
Accurate Multiphase Flow Measurement

Jim Cahill

Many industries, such as oil & gas production, require flow measurement for fluids with gas and liquid phases. In this quick 1:49 video, 5700 with Advanced Phase Measurement , Emerson’s Kevin Borden describes how advanced phase measurement (APM) technology provides multiphase Coriolis flow measurement for challenging gas or liquid applications. APM technology is available in the Micro Motion Model 5700 advanced field…
- 21 Jul 2016
Automatic Gauging for Onshore Oil and Gas Small Lease Tanks

Jim Cahill

Author: Michael Machuca Manual tank gauging is very prevalent in onshore oil and gas facilities located in the United States. It is viewed as a low-cost, effective solution to manage tank inventory and custody transfer measurements. The API 18.1 standard governs the procedure for how these measurements are made, but there is increasing concern around accounting accuracy, production losses and safety. Operators are also…
- 20 Jul 2016
Surge Relief for Oil and Gas Liquids Pipelines-Part 2

Jim Cahill

Authors: Rossella Mimmi and Dave Seiler In part one of our series, Surge Relief for Oil and Gas Liquids Pipelines , we provided background on surge conditions in pipelines transporting liquids, their effects on pipelines and why these effects matter to pipeline operators. We’ll conclude this two-part series with a closer look at ways to prevent surge, methods of protection, surge systems and the need for pipeline…
- 18 Jul 2016
Advanced Automation Drives Project and Operational Cost Certainty

Jim Cahill

Author: Chuck Miller One of the most transformational cost-reduction trends in the automation industry is the application of configurable I/O. Based upon the projects standards premise, reduced installation and commissioning time – along with the inclusion of late stage project changes without cost – configurable I/O is a technology that is critical to the optimization of project execution strategies. However, not…
- 14 Jul 2016