Jamie Smith of the Financial Times tells his readers of new technology that may potentially bring billions of additional barrels of oil and gas within reach of producers. Smith writes:
The electricity industry is enjoying boom times as the construction of power hungry artificial intelligence data centres lifts energy demand in the US and elsewhere. But many of the companies fuelling the first significant rise in power demand in two decades in the US — Amazon, Meta and Google — have strict net zero targets on greenhouse gas emissions designed to showcase their green credentials. […]
This week Chevron announced a technology breakthrough that could extend the production lifespan of the US Gulf of Mexico oil basin — and potentially bring billions of additional barrels of oil and gas within reach of producers globally.
The US oil major has begun pumping oil and gas at its $5.7bn Anchor deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico using specialised equipment that can operate at ultra-high pressures, about a third higher than previously deployed in the industry.
It is the first of a new wave of projects under development using so-called 20K technology, which is capable of operating in deep water at 20,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, equivalent to the pressure exerted by 650 medium-sized bulldozers. […]
Niemeyer said Chevron’s 20K technology was “safe to deploy” and had gone through rigorous testing.
“This equipment was designed. It was tested and it was qualified and ultimately signed off by the regulator. And so we’ve got high confidence in it because of the very disciplined process that we’ve gone through.” (Jamie Smyth)
Read more here.
