Just Plain Cool/Odd
Saudi Arabia is looking to Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon to build tech hub, Aramco CEO says
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest energy company, is aiming to break into the cloud computing and data analytics market, and it’s looking to Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon as potential partners to build a tech hub, according to the oil giant’s chief executive. A partnership with the tech titans would advance Saudi Arabia’s goal of diversifying its oil-dependent economy and boost the kingdom’s domestic computing muscle as it expands use of data analytics in its legacy energy businesses. “I think both Google and Amazon and other companies are major players when it comes to cloud computing, and Aramco’s definitely looking at all of these companies and looking at investment and growth in these markets in cloud computing,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC in an interview ...
Buying or Selling? – Map could prevent earthquakes from Texas fracking
According to a recent study in the Leading Edge authored by the Stanford University, Department of Geophysics, a new map highlights areas of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico that could be at greater risk for future earthquakes resulting from oil and gas operations. Previous research has shown that wastewater injected as a step in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) underlies an increase in seismic activity in parts of the central and eastern US, particularly in Oklahoma, starting in 2005. While none of these small-to-moderate earthquakes has yet caused significant property damage or injury, they represent an increased probability of larger earthquakes. Now, Texas is poised to take center stage as the Permian Basin is becoming the country’s most important oil- and gas-producing regio...
Stoned on an Oil Rig: Legal Weed Puts Canadian Companies on Edge
(Originally on Bloomberg) — Once recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada, Garnet Amundson says it will get a lot harder to find the workers he needs at Essential Energy Services Ltd. And he isn’t the only employer who’s worried. Essential Energy provides services to oil and natural-gas drillers across Canada, and its employees handle volatile chemicals, operate heavy equipment and work with high-pressure pipes and valves. In short, it can be a dangerous job if safety procedures aren’t followed to the letter. That’s why the Calgary-based company only hires people who pass a drug test. The problem — one that many companies are wrestling with — is that the active ingredients in marijuana can remain in a person’s bloodstream for weeks, long after the high is gone. At the moment, th...
Machine Learning Roadblocks in Oil and Gas | Automation World
Artificial intelligence can help shale oil drillers reduce expenses, increase productivity and improve work methods, but trusting the logic inside… AI can provide immediate impact for oil and gas companies—reduced expenses, increased productivity, improved work methods—but energy companies have been slow to adopt the technologies available. This might have to do with security concerns, cost, or even just a lack of understanding about the benefits to be gained. But it also could have a lot to do with humans’ inability to understand what’s going on inside the black box… Read Full Article Here: https://www.automationworld.com/machine-learning-roadblocks-oil-and-gas
DUG Eagle Ford: Marathon Oil Leverages The Digital Oil Field
The company’s technology director discussed how digital technology and innovation acts as a competitive differentiator. Marathon has adopted video surveillance, real-time notifications and decision-making capabilities to its field operations. Suarez noted that once those new process improvements were added to the company’s control center, it was able to introduce a safer and more efficient way of operating. “Thanks to the digital oil field enhancements in our Eagle Ford assets we’re adding two to three barrels of production to every well per day, which could ultimately result in several thousands of additional barrels annually at virtually zero cost,” Suarez said. Read Full Article Here: https://www.ugcenter.com/dug-eagle-ford-marathon-oil-leverages-digital-oil-field-1671186
How O&G Makes Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Possible.
This is a great image about the impact of the O&G industry on our every day lives.
Chemists synthesize a new catalyst for oil and gas processing
A team of scientists from the Research Institute of Chemistry (RIC) of RUDN University and colleagues from major scientific centers have created a new catalyst, a substance that activates oxidation processes in low-reactive components of oil and gas. The new method of hydrocarbon processing will efficiently produce valuable organic substances such as acids and alcohols using a reaction that requires only minor heating and no increased pressure. The results of the team’s work were published in the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-chemists-catalyst-oil-gas.html
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