The recent GO-Expo oil and gas technology show in Calgary certainly illustrated how information technologies and the Internet are revolutionizing the industry.
But the show also featured numerous innovations that had nothing to do with IT. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the products and services, especially those developed in Alberta, that caught my attention.
On the IT side, Malibu Engineering and Software Ltd. (www.malibugroup.com) in Calgary launched its PAS’miner software. Developed with industry partner Anderson Exploration, the software allows users to “mine” the entire electronic well data file of the regulatory Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. PAS’miner’s search engine allows the user to scan more than 64,000 well tests and sort large batches of files into meaningful groups. It also allows for viewing of multiple wells, zones and tests at any given time.
That’s extremely valuable for companies analysing well test data to make decisions about future drilling projects, says Malibu president Garry Perry.
RigSupplies.com Inc. of Edmonton exhibited its Web-based B2B marketplace for procuring supplies for the drilling and service rig industry. The company’s security-protected Web site is “neutral,” meaning it provides firms access to a wide variety of suppliers at the best possible prices.
According to RigSupplies.com, companies can reduce their procurement costs by five to 10 per cent, showcase their products round-the-clock and eliminate a pile of paperwork.
Ideaca (www.ideaca.com), with offices in Calgary and Toronto, showcased its e-SolutionMaps software. The Web-enabled technology allows oil and gas companies of any size to review technology solutions available on the market. Users can calculate the potential profit improvement of the solution, and obtain a cost-benefit evaluation based on inputting their organization’s needs and characteristics.
Computer modelling and simulation is another fast-growing area of oil and gas-related IT applications.
AEA Technology-Hyprotech (www.software.aeat.com), with international offices including a Calgary location, markets HYSYS.Plant software that can model a proposed new oilfield plant, or a retrofit to an existing plant, before one shovel-full of earth is moved or one new piece of equipment is installed.
The company’s software line includes programs that simulate process flows, too. AEA Technology’s products can be interfaced with software from other companies, to conduct operator training and model or evaluate pipelines and other operations.
In a similar vein, SMART 4D Modelling in Calgary takes users on an interactive virtual walk through an oil or gas reservoir.
The system, licensed by United Oil and Gas Consulting Ltd., uses Windows interfaces to generate two-dimensional mapping and three-dimensional visualizations to help companies determine the best trajectories for new wells. The 4D aspect means the reservoir’s well logs and characteristics, such as porosity, permeability and pressure, can be viewed in real time.
GO Expo also featured Calgary-based Pandel Technology Corporation (www.pandell.com), demonstrating its Liquid Intelligence software suite.
The Web-based product, like a liquid that takes the shape of its container, “flows through disparate systems,” providing seamless integration between business information, operations and commerce to create and manage corporate knowledge. Liquid Intelligence is now being used by medium-sized organizations up to Fortune 500 companies.
Apart from IT technologies, Total Combustion Inc.’s portable enclosed waste gas incineration system caught my eye, given the growing public concern over oilfield flaring emissions.
Total’s system, mounted on a tractor-trailer unit, mixes and ignites air and waste gases within a burn chamber, containing the flame within the emission stack.
Independent tests show the system has a combustion efficiency of at least 99 per cent. That compares with about 65 per cent, at most, for a typical, non-enclosed flare stack.
“The burn takes place at the bottom of the tubes, so you don’t see any flame and there’s no black smoke because it’s burning very hot,” says Total’s general manager Tom Wiseman, who developed technology.
Distributed by Oilfield Production Equipment Ltd. (www.oilpro.ab.ca) in Calgary, the system can be used to test new wells, at existing wells including those with sour gas, battery sites (which separate the liquids in natural gas) and storage tank farms.
Nelson Environmental Remediation Ltd., headquartered in Spruce Grove, displayed its portable technology for cleaning up hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and drilling mud. The truck-mounted system essentially uses filters and high-temperature incineration to remove and destroy hydrocarbons, leaving clean soil onsite.
Another approach to tackling contaminated soils, as well as residues of heavy metals, paint sludge and contaminated wood waste, is “zeolite encapsulation,” developed by HYTEC Hydrocarbon Reclamation Ltd. (hytec@cadvision.com) in Calgary.
The Alberta Environment-approved technology uses porous minerals called zeolites to capture, adsorb (trap) and envelop waste in a concrete-like block. Tests show the encapsulated, stabilized product can be safely stored without the contaminants leaching out.
Finally, here’s a product that’s bound to get more attention given plans to build one or more Arctic natural gas pipelines. McKinney Industries Inc. (www.mckinneyindustries.com), a snowmaking firm in Calgary, specializes in building ice roads. These roads eliminate environmental damage caused by grader-built roads, especially in environmentally sensitive area like Canada’s northern tundra, says Michael Steen, vice-president of operations.
