Technology And The Challenges Of Oil And Gas Exploration In The 21st Century

table of contents

fireword

Acknuwledgemettts

iii Executive Surtzmary

1. In t reduction

1.1 Main objectives and stnlcture of the paper 7

1.2 Some historical perspectives 7

The Present as a key to the future: a look at the last 20 years of

the upstream oil and gas industry

2.1 Strategic and organisational changes 8

2.2 World demand for crude oil arid gas 10

2.3 Spot oil prices 10

2.4 World crude oil and gas resources 12

2.5 lmprovements in discovery and recovery rates 14

2.6 Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico 19

3. Innovation in E & P

3.1 Innovation and the exploration / discovery process 19

3.2 Switching to new technologies 2 1

3.3 The oil industry's dependence on technology 22

3.4 How should oil companies access technology? 22

Seismic technology in the new milknnium

4.1 The seismic market 23

4.2 Seismic data acquisition improvements and

multi-component applications 24

4.3 Seismic data processing for cycle time reduction 26

4.4 Seismic data visualisation and interpretation 27

4.5 Seismic modelling 28

The role of information and data management technologies

5.1 E & P information technology trends 28

5.2 Integrated data interpretation and management 3 1

5.3 Data warehouses and geobanking 33

6. Technology and Deepwater Prospects

7. Forces at work in E R: P in Nigeria

7.1 Business environment

7.2 Government policies

7.3 Reaction of the operators

8. Outlook for the new millennium

8.1 Technology remains the key

8.2 Exploration strategies in the new millennium

8.3 People's expectation of the energy business in

the new miltennium

9. Concluding remarks

References

About the Author