Stewardship of offshore petroleum: Where is the value?

This paper examines the role of stewardship in offshore petroleum licensing systems, comparing Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom. These countries face similar challenges such as ageing infrastructure as production areas reach maturity, but have taken different approaches to evolving their ideas of stewardship to deal with them. One such approach is the UK's recently introduced strategy of maximising economic recovery of UK petroleum, which is indicative of a profound change to the traditional concession model on which its system is based. That model focuses on production in an individual licence area rather than achieving maximum value for the nation. This paper explores how this and other innovative approaches to stewardship can produce improved outcomes for the management of offshore petroleum and other natural resources, and in doing so suggests a way forward for countries like Australia who have relied on the concession model.     

Discussion of “Experimental investigation of impact generated tsunami; related to a potential rock slide,Western Norway” by G. Sælevik,A. Jensen,G. Pedersen [Coastal Eng. 56 (2009) 897–906]

This paper is a discussion of Sælevik et al. (2009). Their comparison between block and granular model results is described in more detail, along with a discussion of five parameters which may be in general responsible for deviations between block and granular models. New small scale physical model tests have been performed to support some of the statements made. Finally, it is argued that the use of physical model testing based on simplified geometries are justified in practice and normally produce results that are considerably better than an order of magnitude.     

Regional geology and petroleum systems of the Illizi–Berkine area of the Algerian Saharan Platform: An overview

The Berkine and Illizi basins are Palaeozoic–Mesozoic intraplate depressions that preserve an over 7000 m thick sedimentary rock record and contain world-class petroleum systems with over 39 BBOE EUR hydrocarbon reserves. Regional seismic transects and a wealth of well data are used to review the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the area. The Gondwana (Palaeozoic) and Tethys (Mesozoic) supercycles make up the bulk of the Phanerozoic succession. These 1st order cycles record extensional basin formation, followed by a protracted period of overall net subsidence, and conclude with basin inversion and regional uplift during the Hercynian and Alpine orogenies respectively. Structural styles were dictated by transpressional or transtensional reactivation of mostly NNE oriented basement structural grain of Late Proterozoic–Ea.Cambrian (Pan-African) age and vertical movement of long wavelength regional highs and lows. Local tectonism is considered to be the far-field effect of plate-tectonic processes that affected the North African plate-boundaries, such as the Caledonian and Hercynian Orogenies, the opening of the Tethys and Atlantic oceans, and the Alpine Orogeny. These were accompanied by localised thermal mantle processes.     

Space Weather and Social Instability: Verifying D.O. Svyatskii and A.L. Chizhevskii’s Research Findings as a Case Study of the 12th–17th Centuries

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - This work investigates the relationship between episodes of social instability in Europe during the 12th–17th centuries and solar activity, i.e.,...     

Discussion/comments regarding “Trends in<Emphasis Type="Italic"> p</Emphasis>CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and sea–air CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> flux over the global open oceans for the last two decades” by Y. Iida,A. Kojima,Y. Takatani,T. Nakano,H. Sugimoto,T. Midorikawa,M. Ishii

A paper by Iida et al. that was recently published in this journal (J Oceanogr 17:637–661, 2015) presented trends in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in surface seawater and the estimated sea–air carbon dioxide flux over the global open oceans for the last two decades. The purpose of the present discussion is to demonstrate that the formula used by Iida et al. in their assessments can also be employed to estimate the sea–air carbon dioxide flux based on long-term wind statistics, i.e., based on data showing how the mean wind speed 10 m above the sea surface has varied over a long period. Examples of the application of this approach are given here, based on long-term wind statistics for the northern North Sea and the North West Shelf of Australia.     

Dynamic Response Analysis of Interaction System of R.C. Gravity Single-Leg Platform

In this paper, the responses of the interaction system of R.C. gravity single-leg platform to seismic excitation are mainly analysed. A set of nonlinear equations for the interaction system are established by using the wave, one is the soil-structure interaction and the other is the fluid-structure interaction. The seismic response of the interaction system is analysed for the influence of the asymmetric structure, fluid action, etc. with the input of seismic SH waves in any direction. The numerical results are given for a simple example.     

Relationship between petroleum hydrocarbon and plankton in a mesocosm experiment

~IOXWith economic development and consumer demand, oil pollutants have been one of themain marine pollutants in the coastal regal Of China. The oil-contaminated area incrsharply to 69% in 1995 and its average criterion index reached up to 2. 17 in the ChangjiangEstuary (NBEP, 1996). TO assess the influences Of the oil POllutants on the marine ~tern, it is neceSSary to develOP a mathematical kinetic model of the tranSport, distribution andfate in the marine ~teln, espeCially to esthate …     

Signatures of different water masses in δ<Superscript>18</Superscript>O values,relative abundance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">G. Bulloides</Emphasis> and total planktonic foraminiferal assemblage across the Indian Ocean sector of the southern ocean: Initial results

Nineteen surface sediment samples, collected onboard ORV Sagar Kanya during the 199C and 200th (the pilot expedition to Southern Ocean) cruises along a north-south transect between 1.92° S to 55.01° S latitude and 67.88° E and 44.89° E longitude, were studied for total planktonic foraminiferal assemblage, relative abundance and the oxygen isotopic values of the indicator planktic species Globigerina bulloides. These profiles were compared with the latitudinal variations in the average salinity and nutrient (phosphate) contents of the top 100 meters water column. The initial results have traced the signatures of salinity linked variations of different water masses in the study region. The influence of Australian Mediterranean Water (AAMW) has been noticed in the present dataset.     

U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater pipeline construction – A review of lessons learned

The purpose of every offshore oil and gas pipeline is to transport fluid through a conduit from one point to another, but differences in field location, water depth, development strategy, time of sanction, seafloor topography, ownership and other factors means that installed mileage is expected to have complex site, time and location dependencies. The purpose of this review is to describe and illustrate the main factors that impact pipeline construction in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Understanding the nature of these dependencies and the manner in which factors interact and impact pipeline construction is the principal goal of this review. System attributes and their impact on activity drivers are described using a series of mini case studies. Lessons learned are synthesized and summarized.     

Evaluation of nutrient components of Bangia sp.

General nutrient components including moisture, ash, crude protein, lipid and carbohydrate, inorganic elements, photosynthetic pigments, amino acids and fatty acids of Bangia sp. were analyzed and compared with Porphyra yezoensis. The results indicated that the content of protein, total amino acids and free amino acids accounted for 47.2% , 42.6% and 3.3% in dried Bangia sp. , respectively, all essential amino acids were present in relatively high levels and desirable composition. Lipid was 1.8%, in which the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reached 50.5% . In per 100 g dried material, the content of chlorophyll, carotenoids, phycoerythrin and phycocyanin accounted for 766, 208, 4 600 and 2963 mg, respectively. Inorganic elements necessary for human body were found to be abundant in Bangia sp. The results showed that the nutritive value of Bangia sp. was the highest among algae reported so far, and the industry of Bangia sp. was provided with significant economic importance and developing potential.     

Reply to the comment of Talwani et al. (2017) on the Sibuet et al. (2016) paper entitled “Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal”

The northern Bay of Bengal velocity-depth profiles do not follow the velocity-depth curve for the North Atlantic volcanic margins, and only partially the Kerguelen plume velocity-depth curves. Compared with the South China Sea northern margin proxy, we still suggest that the Bay of Bengal crust is thinned continental crust intruded by post-rifting volcanics, as also shown by the interpretation of the numerous high-quality deep multichannel seismic profiles we collected there. What was supposed to be underplating might be sills intruded through the lower thinned continental crust.     

Reprint of: Diagenetic controls on evolution of porosity and permeability in lower Tertiary Wilcox sandstones from shallow to ultradeep (200–6700 m) burial,Gulf of Mexico Basin,U.S.A.

Reservoir quality is a critical risk factor in deep to ultradeep reservoirs at depths >4.5 km. Analysis of Paleogene Wilcox sandstones on the upper Texas Gulf Coast provides insight into the evolution of reservoir quality during shallow to ultradeep burial diagenesis. Reduction of porosity and permeability with burial in Wilcox sandstones was evaluated using subsurface samples from 200 to 6700 m, at temperatures of 25–230 °C. Diagenesis and petrophysical properties were interpreted from petrographic data and core analyses. Wilcox sandstones are mostly lithic arkoses and feldspathic litharenites having an average composition of Q₅₉F₂₂R₁₉. Provenance did not change significantly during Wilcox deposition in this area, nor does average sandstone composition vary among lower, middle, and upper Wilcox sandstones. However, composition does vary with sequence-stratigraphic position; lowstand slope-fan deposits contain more rock fragments than do deposits from highstand or transgressive systems tracts. Given observations from this onshore dataset, Wilcox sandstones deposited in deepwater environments in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to contain more rock fragments than their linked highstand equivalents.