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Tips for Transporting Heavy Duty Oil Field Equipment – Know Before You Ship!

If you’re working in the oil & gas industry, you may occasionally need to move drilling equipment and other heavy machinery between oil fields and work areas – and whenever you’re moving such valuable equipment, you need to make sure you’re taking every step you can to keep your property safe during the transportation process. In this blog, we’ll be taking a look at a few tips and best practices you should follow whenever you’re shipping heavy-duty oil field equipment. 1. Start By Shopping Around With Different Logistics Providers First and foremost, you’ll want to make sure you use a qualified logistics and shipping provider that has previous experience in the field of shipping heavy equipment, including oil field equipment like pumps, drills, and other machinery used in the oil & gas industries. When you are consulting with a logistics provider for a heavy-duty oil field equipment shipping project, there are a few basic questions you should ask to make sure the…

The Uses of Turbine Flow Meters in the Oil and Gas Industry

The Uses of Turbine Flow Meters in the Oil and Gas Industry There are a lot of types of flow meters, and trying to find the one class that you need for your operation can be an overwhelming task to do. However, there is a versatile flow meter, which can be used to measure liquid and gas flow across multiple industries especially the Oil and Gas industry. Turbine flow meters' various applications are beneficial. For this reason, a lot of industries use this type of flow meter in their primary operations. But what is a turbine flow meter, and how does it work? What is a Turbine Flow Meter? A turbine flow meter is a type of meter that measures a gas or liquid flow by the use of a rotor. It is created with a rotor and blades that utilize the mechanical energy that the flow creates. The blades of the meter use the flow stream to transfer power to rotational energy. As the current increases its pressure, the spins proportionally get faster…

Confined Spaces: Seeing Beyond the Entry

When it Comes to Confined Spaces, There’s No Room to Skip on Safety Precautions. In January 2017, a utility worker in Key Largo, Florida, opened a manhole cover and went under a recently paved section of road to investigate why it had settled unevenly. When he stopped responding to coworkers above ground, a second worker went in to see if he needed help. When both stopped responding, The Washington Post reported, a third man entered. What none of these workers knew is that years of vegetation had been rotting underneath the surface, creating a poisonous gas. All three workers were overcome by hydrogen sulfide and methane, causing them to asphyxiate. These three men lost their lives and two firefighters sustained injury that required medical attention because the danger was not identified before entering. While many people wouldn’t consider working in a confined space as a work hazard, this situation in Key Largo — as well as numerous m…

A Closer Look At Natural Gas Generators

Natural gas generators are a viable alternative to diesel-powered generators, especially in primary power applications, or those requiring extreme emissions regulation. Though they vary slightly from diesel engines, the two have more in common than not. They share more than three-quarters of their components, including the engine block, piston rods, main bearing, crankshaft and EGR systems. It’s the elements that they don’t share that makes them so different. We will go over those aspects shortly, but first, let’s get a better idea of what natural gas is. What is Natural Gas? Natural gas is a hydrocarbon gas mixture. It consists mostly of methane but can contain small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and sometimes even helium. Over millions of years, plant and animal remains have decomposed in pockets under the surface of the Earth, exposing the gases to intense heat and pressure. Energy originally obtained from the sun is stored in the gas. It is drilled…

The Importance of Facility Safety Inspections

Mock OSHA Facility Inspections Save Worker Lives & Millions in Lost Profit When an explosion occurred in a plant in Corrigan, Texas, severely burning a man, it took four years for the courts to make their decision. When they did, the verdict was staggering. The court awarded the plaintiff $39.7 million for pain and suffering. It was April 26, 2014 when Ralph Figgs’ life changed forever. He was working at a Georgia-Pacific plant when a dust collection system failed, causing the explosion that permanently injured Figgs, killed two of his fellow workers, and injured several others. In all, three companies were held at fault. Along with Georgia-Pacific, a company called Aircon Inc., which designed and installed the dust collection unit, as well as GreCon Inc., the company that manufactures the spark suppression system, were held liable for the accident. Just some of the issues that arose during the trial were failure to perform proper safety inspections as well…

The Importance of Drug Testing In The Oilfield

Testing current or potential employees for the presence of illegal substances or alcohol is common among the oil and gas industry, for a number of different reasons regarding a variety of situations or circumstances. Why though, when many other industries don’t do so, is drug testing in the oilfield so common? Why Drug Testing Is Important Drug tests aren’t just important – they are necessary. The oilfield comes with its fair share of dangerous work environments. Oilfield workers are often dealing with heavy-duty machinery, high-pressure pipelines, toxic liquids and gasses, etc. These can make for dangerous situations even with a fully capable and alert individual running things – imagine the added dangers these tasks and situations may present if the individual in question was under the influence of drugs or alcohol? In fact, the safety concerns associated with many of these oilfield related jobs (especially in booming areas like Texas) are the only reaso…

Oilfield Products That Focus On Cleaning

No, we aren’t talking about what type of detergent works best on dirty covies or which style of pressure washers are used on muddy rigs – we are talking about cleaning products designed with only one purpose in mind: to keep oilfield equipment and operations running efficiently and safely. When it comes to these specific products, there are two categories that play larger roles than the others: the products that are used to clean the pipelines and those that are used to clean the oil itself. Below, we’ll give you a little insight on the types of oilfield products that focus on cleaning both the pipelines and the oil itself, and why these products are so important. Cleaning the Pipelines Without the pipelines themselves, we would have no way to transport the oil we work so hard to extract. If this were the case, we would have no oil to heat our homes, fuel our vehicles, or manufacture the petroleum made products we use everyday. Pipelines are crucial to our day-t…

Vertical Oil Wells Are Still Worth The Investment

Oklahoma's oil and gas operators haven't completely abandoned drilling vertical, or "straight hole" wells, Corporation Commission records show. It reported that 197 wells of the 1,003 completed in 2016 were straight hole wells. Granted, that's down from a recent high of 858 vertical wells permitted in 2011 and completed by June the following year, when that represented about 42 percent of the 2,082 that year. But while an industry analyst and a driller are quick to agree that much of the media and general public focuses their attention now on horizontal drilling and production, they add that the tried and true process of drilling and producing vertical wells won't become extinct anytime soon. Russell Evans, an economics professor who directs the Steven C. Agee Economic Research & Policy Institute, regularly analyzes trends in the state's oil and gas industry for trade groups and banking officials. He said continued drilling and production of vertica…

Is Natural Gas Vapor Recovery Profitable ?

Average Daily Recovery Rate of 70 MCF Assume 2,000 BTU vapor at $8/MCF Daily= 70 MCF ×2 (accounting for BTUs) ×$8/MCF = $1,120 daily Monthly= $1,120/day ×30 days = $33,600 monthly Annually= $33,600/month ×12 months = $403,200 annually Is Recovery Profitable? Financial Analysis for a Conventional VRU Project Peak Capacity(Mcf/day) Installation & Capital Costs1 ($) O&M Costs ($/year) Value of Gas2 ($/year) Annual Savings ($) SimplePayback (months) Internal Rate of Return 25 $35,738 $7,367 $42,203 $34,836 13 94% 50 $46,073 $8,419 $84,406 $75,987 8 164% 100 $55,524 $10,103 $168,812 $158,709 5 286% 200 $74,425 $11,787 $337,625 $325,838 3 438% 500 $103,959 $16,839 $844,062 $827,223 2 796% 1 – Unit cost plus estimated installation of 75% of unit cost 2 – $9.25 x ½ peak capacity x 365, Assumed price includes Btu enriched gas (1.289 MMBtu/Mcf)

Staying Relevant During a Oil Industry Down-Turn

When an industry is in a down-turn, companies start thinking of ways to save money. It comes with the territory. All of us in the oil and gas industry are dealing with this right now. The first budget cuts are usually made to advertising and marketing. But did you know that cutting back on advertising is actually one of the worst things you can do for your company? Sure, you're saving money in the short-term, but it's not benefiting you in the long run. Just because an industry is in a down-turn, doesn't mean that consumers magically disappear and go away. They're still there and they're more selective than ever. They're going to be looking for alternative companies to do business with as companies are closing their doors and going out of business. The oil and gas industry is slowing, but it's not stopping. The existing wells and rigs are still going to need parts, supplies and services. The consumers are going to be shopping around and looking for ways to save m…