Looking back, looking ahead

An otherwise frustrating 2015 ended triumphantly when the 40-year-old ban on exports of US-produced crude oil ended as part of fiscal 2016 omnibus budget bill. But it still was possible to wonder if the US oil and gas industry was becoming a victim of its own success. Source: News


Cairn tests oil offshore Senegal

Spudded in November 2015, Cairn’s SNE-2 appraisal well was successfully tested in two intervals offshore Senegal on the Sangomar Block. Source: News


FRP crude pipeline shows thermal superiority to steel

Thermal insulation properties of fiber-reinforced (FRP) plastic crude oil pipelines are superior to seamless steel pipelines. Operating a crude oil pipeline at too low a temperature can lead to wax precipitation, a major economic and safety problem. Source: News


Swift Energy latest US producer to seek bankruptcy protection

Swift Energy Co., a Houston independent focused on the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas, filed voluntary petitions on Dec. 31, 2015, for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The action includes eight of its subsidiaries. Source: News


Feed-monitoring strategy improves hydrotreater reliability

Syncrude Canada Ltd. has devised and implemented a feedstock monitoring strategy to prevent the reemergence of popcorn coke that previously caused several production outages of a light gas oil (LGO) hydrotreater at its 350,000-b/d oil sands operations in Fort McMurrary, Alta. Source: News