Oil and gas is getting bigger, deeper,
faster and more efficient, with new technology chipping away at “peak
oil” concerns. While hydraulic fracturing has been the most visible
revolutionary advancement, other high-tech developments are keeping the
ball rolling—from the next generation of ultra-deepwater drillships,
subsea oil and gas infrastructure and multi-well-pad drilling to M2M
networking, floating LNG facilities, new dimensions in seismic imagery
and supercomputing for analog exploration.
ADVANCED SEMI-SUBMERSIBLES & 6TH GENERATION DRILLSHIPS
Rig advancements are
coming online in tandem with the significantly increased momentum to
drill in deeper waters as shallower reserves run out. For 2012, 49% of
new offshore discoveries were in ultra-deepwater plays, while 28% were
in deepwater plays. What we’re looking at now are amazing advancements
in deepwater rigs, with new semi-submersibles capable of drilling to
depths of 5,000 feet or deeper. Beyond that, though, new sixth
generation enterprise-class drillships can go to depths of 12,000 feet!
From a global perspective, there are 120 ultra-deepwater rigs in
existence—and demand is on the steep rises.
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