Forum - Despite innumerable obstacles, offshore drilling has successfully evolved and prospered over the last century into its most challenging environment yet - deepwater and ultradeepwater drilling.

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Forum - A discussion of mature oil fields focusing on preventing decline. As the price of oil reached approximately USD 147 per barrel on 3 July 2008, an increasing number of mature oil fields became attractive for redevelopment. On the fifth anniversary of the highest oil price yet attained TWA asked,“What defines a mature oil field?” According to Paul Bondor, 2010–11 SPE Distinguished Lecturer, retired from Shell after 35 years of technical and supervisory service, “a mature oil field is an oil field that is considered fully developed. There may be infill opportunities but in general the field development plan has been executed. “There may or may not be secondary recovery with gas or water injection. But if there are no additional wells to be drilled, you are doing a decent job of reservoir management and your production has peaked and is on decline. For example, with a strong and active aquifer you may never put water in the ground but you will still get eventual high water cut. “To me, a mature oil field is one where you have development in place, and the field has peaked and is on decline.”

Forum - Results of a poll that sought to understand people’s “oil awareness.” The Oil Dilemma Oil is undoubtedly a lynchpin of the world’s economy. Oil is the world’s most widely used source of energy, accounting for 40% of global energy consumption and an astonishing 96% of the energy used in the transportation sector. Yet even if we were to remove all gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles from the roads, we would still be dependent on this hydrocarbon. One of the first applications of oil, dating back thousands of years, was as a medicine. Nowadays the most surprising uses include chewing gum, lipstick, and aspirin. Every barrel of crude oil holds remarkable potential: It helps keep us warm, helps keep us on the go, and provides the building blocks for countless products we take for granted. Plastics are a great example of this, with water bottles a notable illustration. Although there is a growing interest in the use of biomass as a feedstock, fossil fuels today form 99% of plastics’ raw material base.

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