Exploration and characterization of conventional and unconventional reservoirs using seismic technologies are among the main activities of upstream technology groups and business units of oil and gas operators. However, these activities frequently encounter difficulties in quantitative seismic interpretation due to remaining confusion and new challenges in the fast developing field of seismic petrophysics. Seismic Petrophysics in Quantitative Interpretation shows how seismic interpretation can be made simple and robust by integration of the rock physics principles with seismic and petrophysical attributes bearing on the properties of both conventional (thickness, net/ gross, lithology, porosity, permeability, and saturation) and unconventional (thickness, lithology, organic richness, thermal maturity) reservoirs. Practical solutions to existing interpretation problems in rock physics-based amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis and inversion are addressed in the book to streamline the workflows in subsurface characterization. Although the book is aimed at oil and gas industry professionals and academics concerned with utilization of seismic data in petroleum exploration and production, it could also prove helpful for geotechnical and completion engineers and drillers seeking to better understand how seismic and sonic data can be more thoroughly utilized.

The use of fracking is a tremendously important technology for the recovery of oil and gas, but the advantages and costs of fracking remain controversial. This book examines the issues and social, economic, political, and legal aspects of fracking in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells-known commonly as "fracking"-has been in use in the United States for more than half a century. In recent years, however, massive expansion of shale gas fracturing across the nation has put fracking in the public eye. Is fracking a "win win" like its proponents say, or are there significant costs and dangers associated with the use of this energy production technology? This book examines fracking from all angles, addressing the promise of the United States becoming energy independent through the use of the process to tap the massive amounts of natural gas and oil available as well as the host of problems associated with fracking-groundwater contamination and increased seismic activity, just to mention two-that raise questions about the long-term feasibility of the process as a source of natural gas. The first part of the book provides a historical background of the topic; a review of technical information about fracking; and a detailed discussion of the social, economic, political, legal, and other aspects of the current fracking controversy. The second part of the book provides a host of resources for readers seeking to learn even more in-depth information about the topic, supplying a chronology, glossary, annotated bibliography, and profiles of important individuals and organizations. Written specifically for students and young adults, the content is accessible to readers with little or no previous knowledge regarding fracking. Provides readers with a complete historical review of the origins, development, and expansion of the use of fracking Explains the technical principles related to the use of fracking in clear, nontechnical language Presents an unbiased review of the arguments for and against the use of fracking for the recovery of oil and gas Supplies a summary of the history of the use of fracking in the United States

Oil and gas are important to every aspect of our economy, yet the oil and gas industry is distinguished by its combination of increasing demands and decreasing discovery volumes--and it is an industry shrouded in an environment of extremely volatile pricing. Although the profits enjoyed by the oil and gas industry are enormous, the industry remains one of the most capital-intensive in a world where rising expenses continue to threaten to squeeze profit margins. Geopolitics may continue to be the most important variable in maintaining existing assets and in successfully achieving new discoveries and carrying out their subsequent development. But finding new oil and gas reserves is becoming more challenging and the places where hydrocarbons are being found are more remote. Thus technology advances are also a key variable to enable exploration, drilling and development to become economically feasible in some of these more difficult operating environments. For the last century oil and gas additions have exceeded demand but has this industry now reached a "peak oil" situation? Some experts argue we are on the cusp of maximum oil production while others suggest we are still about a decade away. Natural gas demand however, is rising at a slightly faster rate than oil. Natural gas may be the immediate replacement fuel for oil as a source of clean and efficient electric power generation. Three out of the top ten Fortune 500 companies were oil/gas companies in 2011. This short introduction to the oil and gas industry will focus on history, operations, major companies, outside market forces, regulation and the current challenges the industry faces. Such factors as finite natural resources, the environment, economics, geopolitics, and technology will all come into play in the narrative. The book will demonstrate how the leaders of this industry, former champions of progress, are now coming under scrutiny and being depicted as the biggest culprits of environmental degradation. Yet the industry is likely to continue to grow until some form of alternate fuels is developed. The oil and gas industry will continue to have an enormous impact on life on the planet.

Until relatively recently, natural gas-rich shale formations throughout the United States were not considered to have significant resource value because no technologies existed to economically recover the gas. Development and deployment of advanced drilling and reservoir stimulation methods have dramatically increased the gas production from these "unconventional gas shales". The Marcellus Shale formation potentially represents one of the largest unconventional natural gas resources in the United States, underlying much of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, southern New York, eastern Ohio, western Maryland, and Western Virginia. Directional drilling and "hydraulic fracturing" are essential to exploiting these low permeability shale gas resources. Although oil and gas developers have applied these technologies in conventional oil and natural gas fields for some time, recent improvements in both technologies have allowed them to be applied effectively to unconventional gas shales on an industrial scale. This book reviews the Marcellus Shale resource, development processes, and related surface water and groundwater issues.

The global market for oil and gas resources is rapidly changing. Three major trends --the rise of new consumers, the increasing influence of state players, and concerns about climate change --are combining to challenge existing regulatory structures, many of which have been in place for a half-century. "Global Energy Governance" analyzes the energy market from an institutionalist perspective and offers practical policy recommendations to deal with these new challenges.

Much of the existing discourse on energy governance deals with hard security issues but neglects the challenges to global governance. "Global Energy Governance" fills this gap with perspectives on how regulatory institutions can ensure reliable sources of energy, evaluate financial risk, and provide emergency response mechanisms to deal with interruptions in supply.

The authors bring together decisionmakers from industry, government, and civil society in order to address two central questions:

-What are the current practices of existing institutions governing global oil and gas on financial markets?

-How do these institutions need to adapt in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century?

The resulting governance-oriented analysis of the three interlocking trends also provides the basis for policy recommendations to improve global regulation.

Contributors include Thorsten Benner, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; William Blyth, Chatham House, Royal Institute for International Affairs, London; Albert Bressand, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Dick de Jong, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ralf Dickel, Energy Charter Secretariat; Andreas Goldthau, Central European University, Budapest, and Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Enno Harks, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Wade Hoxtell, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Hillard Huntington, Energy Modeling Forum, Stanford University; Christine Jojarth, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University; Frederic Kalinke, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Wilfrid L. Kohl, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Jamie Manzer, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Amy Myers Jaffe, James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University; Yulia Selivanova, Energy Charter Secretariat; Tom Smeenk, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Ronald Soligo, Rice University; Joseph A. Stanislaw, Deloitte LLP and The JAStanislaw Group, LLC; Coby van der Linde, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Jan Martin Witte, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Simonetta Zarrilli, Division on International Trade and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, the phase of a fuel has important implications for how it can be used. In the United States approximately 20 per cent of the nation's electricity is obtained from natural gas-fired power plants, and natural gas is extremely important to residential and commercial heating markets. Hydrogen - a fuel that continues to attract a great deal of attention and research - derives its importance from the promise that it may one day be competitive with oil as a transportation fuel. ""Natural Gas and Hydrogen"" describes the technology and scale of the infrastructure that has evolved to produce, transport, and consume natural gas. It emphasizes the business of natural gas production and the energy futures markets that have evolved as vehicles for both speculation and risk management. This resource focuses on possible advantages to the adoption of hydrogen as well as the barriers that have so far prevented large-scale fuel switching. An interview with Dr. Ray Boswell of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory discusses his work in identifying and characterizing methane hydrate reserves, one of the most promising fields of energy research today.

The New Energy Paradigm provides an overview of the current energy policy debate, contextualized by the oil shock from 2000, and considers how the trends in international energy markets impact on security of supply and climate change. It includes a discussion of market design, looks at carbon and oil markets, and considers best practice for effective policy design.

Over the past six decades federal regulatory agencies have attempted different strategies to regulate the natural gas industry in the United States. All have been unsuccessful, resulting in nationwide gas shortages or massive gas surpluses and costing the nation scores of billions of dollars. In addition, partial deregulation has led the regulatory agency to become more involved in controlling individual transactions among gas producers, distributors, and consumers. In this important book, Paul MacAvoy demonstrates that no affected group has gained from these experiments in public control and that all participants would gain from complete deregulation. Although losses have declined with partial deregulation in recent years, current regulatory practices still limit the growth of supply through the transmission system. MacAvoy's history of the regulation of natural gas is a cautionary tale for other natural resource or network industries that are regulated or are about to be regulated.

Consume thy rival may be the new law of corporate survival in the U.S. utilities industry. This book describes close to $70 billion of global utility mergers stemming from the anticipated deregulation of the U.S. gas and electrical utilities industries. Occurring from 1995 to 1997, these mergers are completely restructuring U.S. power utilities. Thirty-seven billion dollars of these mergers, a full 53 percent, occurred abroad. About two-thirds of the foreign mergers were U.S. takeovers, while the remaining one-third was mergers, defensive and otherwise, of U.K. firms with other U.K. firms. This may be the first time U.S. industrial restructuring has generated more investment abroad rather than in domestic markets.

Exploring the diversity of strategies and changes driving these mergers, the author concludes that although complex, the mergers can be explained by strategies traditionally used in domestic M&As. These very large U.S. utilities now consider themselves to be operating in a global industry of private, deregulated utilities, and they are determined to survive through mergers that help them cut costs, spread expenses, and increase profits.

This volume brings together fourteen papers by leading economists, regulators, and industry practitioners presented at a historic conference on natural gas deregulation. From the origins of gas regulation in the last century to a reexamination of the policy reforms of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over the last decade, these essays constitute a primer on today's major gas policy issues. These topics include the case for incentive regulation, the costs and benefits of mandatory open-access transportation, the methodology used for determining "workably competitive" markets, lessons from light-handed intrastate regulation, new transactions in the gas market, and private contracting to bypass regulation. Many of these issues and insights can be applied to restructuring other industries such as electric power and telecommunications. Academics and industry practitioners alike will find this book an indispensable reference guide to the history of gas regulation, the recent industry restructuring, and the options for future regulatory reform toward greater market reliance.

Since 1984, relaxed federal guidelines have allowed the natural gas industry to become far more flexible and competitive. Once gas pipelines were given the option of open access, the barriers to markets and competition dissolved. The success of open access points to the emergence and evolution of a fluid and informationally rich network of regional markets that form today's single national market for natural gas. A broad range of specialists and academics in economics, regulatory economics and economic modeling, industrial organization, and energy and natural resources will find the implications of this work important reading.

This work considers the potential effects of competition in the natural gas pipeline industry. Contrary to published studies and government reports, this study concludes that federal regulation in the industry is no longer necessary to limit the market power of current pipeline suppliers. Rather, potential entry by nearby suppliers--a competitive factor largely ignored in most economic analyses--will promote competition in most major markets. The purpose of the work is two-fold: to quantify the competitive effect of potential market entry by natural gas suppliers; and to demonstrate that any industry analysis which fails to consider this competitive factor is likely to be in error.

This compilation and analysis of market-by-market data on current deliveries by pipeline, location of nearby deliveries, and location of nearby pipelines which make no deliveries will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and industry analysts concerned with competitive, antitrust, and regulatory issues.

This work traces the development of residential natural gas markets in the United States from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. It examines how social, economic, and technological factors interrelated to bring a relatively new energy source from obscurity to general acceptance by the population. The author credits the appearance of particular appliances which helped spawn natural gas use, notes legislative developments such as the Natural Gas Act of 1938 and the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, and shows the various effects of regulation and price changes on the market. The author also demonstrates the use of a general method for performing a regression analysis when the historical data are poorly measured.

This study will be of interest to energy economists, econometricians, and industry specialists, as well as economic and social historians.

Founded in 1855, the Parisian Gas Company (PGC) quickly developed into one of France's greatest industrial enterprises, an exemplar of the new industrial capitalism that was beginning to transform the French economy. The PGC supplied at least half the coal gas consumed in France through the 1870s and became the city's single largest employer of clerical and factory labor. Representing a new form and scale of capitalistic endeavor, the firm's history illuminates the social tensions that accompanied the nation's industrialization and democratization. To study the company over its fifty-year life is to see industrializing France writ small. Using previously untapped company archives, Lenard R. Berlanstein has written a rich and detailed study that skillfully bridges the divide between business, social, and labor history.

Written by three preeminent petroleum engineers, Essentials of Hydraulic Fracturing focuses on consolidating the fundamental basics of fracturing technology with the new advances in extended horizontal wellbores and fracturing applications. It provides the essentials required to understand fracturing behavior, and offers advice on how to apply that knowledge to fracturing treatment design and application. Essentials of Hydraulic Fracturing is a long-awaited text for petroleum engineering students, industry-wide hydraulic fracturing training courses or seminars, and practicing fracturing treatment engineers.

Natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), has clear environmental benefits over other, more carbon-intensive fossil fuels. Substituting other fossil fuels by natural gas can substantially reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and of other pollutants (particulate matter, and oxides of nitrogen and sulfur) and contribute to the decarbonisation policy objectives. Regasification terminals can play a key role in ensuring security of supply, diversification of supply, as well as enabling the integration of renewable energy. This publication looks into a case study in truck loading.

With huge supplies, including from unconventional plays, and its low carbon properties as compared to oil and coal and decreasing transport hurdles, natural gas has what it takes to fulfil the escalating demand for energy. Yet, the promise that it held a few years ago as the fastest growing major source of energy appears to be fading, ironically due to abundant supplies. On the one hand, while the risk of recovering producers' costs for the high capital investments required for production and liquefaction is increasing, on the other, consumers are demanding lower prices in a market that has turned in favour of the buyer. As a result, geopolitics, which was always in play in the energy market, is growing, as gas producing and exporting countries compete for a larger share of the market, or at the very least, retain their existing ones. More importantly, the entry of new supply sources is also pushing the market from the traditional oil-indexed pricing mechanism that was prevalent in the European and Asian markets, towards a more flexible mechanism, including a hub-based one. As liquidity in the gas market is increasing, there are also signs that a global market, as against the current regional one, may be emerging. This volume looks at the evolving gas market and the various players who influence it - both as producers and consumers. However, some of the players, such as Australia and the new African producers, as well as Japan and South Korea, the two largest LNG consumers, have not been included as their approach tends to be more commercial than geopolitical in nature.

This report provides insights and guidance on developments and needs in the natural gas market. The report, drafted by the Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs for the UNECE Group of Experts on Gas, and in collaboration with a broad range of natural gas stakeholders from the UNECE region, highlights demand and supply trends for natural gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and suggests areas where policy makers can support the development of LNG infrastructure and markets that can contribute to sustainable development.

Many factors set oil and gas apart from other industries and make unique demands on its human resource management, including its global nature, the importance of safety, the involvement of governments, proactive stakeholders, a multifaceted workforce, and project focus. Managing Human Resources in the Oil & Gas Industry provides an in-depth look at human resource management for all aspects of the oil and gas sector. The authors provide a full picture of human resource management and its role in staffing, training, performance management, compensation, and labor. This book is relevant to all human resource management department employees and all managers in the oil and gas industry and is suitable for workshops, seminars, and courses in human resource management in the oil and gas industry. 

An Insightful Guide to Avoiding Offshore Oil- and Gas-Industry Disaster Designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining offshore oil and gas industry equipment and systems can sometimes result in accidents, injuries, and other serious problems. Safety and Reliability in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Practical Approach focuses on oil and gas industry equipment reliability, offers useful and up-to-date information on the subject, and covers in a single volume the most common safety and reliability engineering issues in the oil and gas industry. The book introduces the latest developments in the area, and provides relevant methods and approaches. It also presents important aspects of various case studies on major accidents in the oil and gas industry, and considers human factors that contribute to accidents and fatalities in the area of oil and gas. Additionally, this book describes: Mathematical concepts Oil and gas industry equipment reliability characteristics Accident data and analysis Mathematical models used for performing safety and reliability-related analyses in the industry Safety and Reliability in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Practical Approach covers important aspects of safety in the offshore oil and gas industry. A reference designed with engineering professionals in mind, this book can also be used in oil- and gas-industry-related courses, and serves as a guide for anyone concerned with safety and reliability in the area of oil and gas.

Although there has long been oil and gas activity in Africa, there has been a recent renewal of interest in the continent - particularly in jurisdictions without existing production. Countries with established industries continue to mature, develop and indigenise. However, many problems (eg, security concerns, corruption, political risk and environmental issues) constrain production levels and have resulted in acquisition and disposal activity as companies rebalance their portfolios to reflect these risks. Beyond these established players, the pool of African producing nations is expanding and the next few years will see countries with no or limited production becoming an important source of global supply. Much of this new activity is taking place in East Africa - particularly oil production in the north (Kenya and Uganda) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas projects in the south (Tanzania and Mozambique). Other countries such as Namibia and Somalia are exploring for their first significant discoveries. This book discusses the opportunities and challenges. Chapters describe the production sharing contract (PSC) and economic terms governing regional exploration and production activity. Although PSCs are not an exclusive host government instrument, they are of growing importance for countries looking for greater control over, and societal benefits from, petroleum production. The book also covers financing, M&A, valuation, local content, state participation, security and decommissioning issues in an African context. Additional chapters deal with OHADA - an attempt to harmonise business laws across 17 countries in West and Central Africa - and natural gas and LNG projects. The book has been authored by leading industry participants, petroleum consultants, lawyers and security advisers with experience of working in Africa. It will benefit other industry participants and advisers pursuing oil and gas opportunities across the continent.

Oil and Gas explores the business and politics of this complex industry from a regional perspective. This book combines theory, practice and a range of international case studies to provide a comprehensive overview of energy management.

Joint operating agreements (JOA) are well-accepted standard agreements in the oil and gas industry. The basic aim of a JOA is to regulate the relationship between the parties to the joint venture: the operator and the non-operators. The former is responsible for performing the operations on the behalf of the consortium, while the latter share in the costs of the joint venture. The main goal of the consortium is to provide joint operations to share the risks and costs of such an enterprise. Exclusive operations, by contrast, provide for independent operations rather than joint operations. If these independent operations are successful, the ultimate consequence is the creation of a sub-consortium with different rules and parties; that is why this provision is so complex. There are no standard JOA models presenting clear and safe guidance on how to structure and implement independent operations. For example, it is unclear how the parties decide whether and how these will affect the joint operations; what the consequences are if the operator for the joint operations refuses to be the operator for the exclusive operations; what happens should the government reject such a proposal (if the government is involved); what this provision should look like if a national oil company is a partner; and which provisions of the main JOA should apply to the exclusive operations. This title examines the most complex provision of the JOA, explaining everything that individuals working in the petroleum industry should know about exclusive operations and their consequences. It begins by explaining what exclusive operations are, the rationale (including pros and cons) behind them, and the parties to which they will be of interest. It goes on to conduct the most extensive practical analysis available on the market, with over 10 JOAs analysed from all regions of the world, together with historical models that are no longer available for consultation. It then compares how joint development zones and unit operating agreements deal with exclusive operations, as they share the same concept as a JOA, but with parties from different blocs or jurisdictions. It finally provides clear guidance on international best practices and their main flaws, along with suggestions for existing and future JOAs. In short, it offers a complete analysis of the most complex clause of the JOA, from its concept to its final implications. International oil companies, independents, national oil companies, consultants, legal advisers and consultants will be interested to learn how they could perfect their JOAs and understand the risks and issues that they might face in the future.

Written by the leading expert in UK petroleum economics, this study provides a new, unique, in-depth analysis of the development of British policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Drawing on full access to the UK Government's relevant archives, Alex Kemp examines the thinking behind the initial legislation in 1964, the early licensing arrangements and the events leading up to the boundary delimitation agreements with Norway and other adjacent North Sea countries. He explains the debate in the later 1960s about the appropriate role of the state in the exploitation of the gas and oil resources, the prolonged negotiations resulting in the early long-term gas contracts, and the continuing debate on the role of the state following the large oil discoveries in the first half of the 1970s resulting in the formation of BNOC (British National Oil Corporation). The debate leading up to the introduction of, and subsequent increase in, the Petroleum Revenue Tax is fully explained as is the introduction of Supplementary Petroleum Duty. The author also outlines the debates around interventionist depletion policies and on how the oil revenues should best be utilised. The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas will be of much interest to students of North Sea oil and gas, energy economics, business history, and British politics, as well as to petroleum professionals and policymakers.

This book offers the first set of quantitative analyses of the results of deregulation of the gas wellhead process coupled with partial deregulation of pipeline transportation and product storage. This complex process - which involves taking pipelines out of the field markets as product purchasers, and creating spot gas and pipeline space markets - has changed the nature and extent of services for gas at the burner tip, and the level as well as volatility of prices for these services. Using econometric tools of analysis, the authors concentrating on these changes uncover surprising findings in contrast to what regulatory reform was supposed to accomplish.