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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: From (below) the ground up — Schlumberger’s oilfield services company goes far below the surface Offering a comprehensive range of oilfield and IT services, Schlumberger builds on its past and looks to the future Mara Severin PNA Contributing Writer
Douglas Stephens, manager of Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Alaska, is at the helm of a complex ship. Schlumberger’s operations in Alaska are just part of a global fleet with oilfield operations in more than 65 countries manned by more than 50,000 employees. Despite the vastness and complexity of the organization, Stephens has little trouble summing up its principles: “Our people, our technology, and our value,” he says. “For 75 years, these have been at the core of Schlumberger’s philosophy.”
An early 20th century concept leads Schlumberger into the millennium Schlumberger’s technological legacy began in 1912 when Conrad Schlumberger first conceived the idea of using electrical measurements below the earth’s surface to determine the location of oil and gas reserves. Known at first as “electrical prospecting,” and now as wireline logging, Schlumberger remains at the forefront of formation evaluation technology, says Stephens. And while wireline services are a cornerstone of the company’s oilfield business, says Stephens, they are, so to speak, just scratching the surface. “We’re there at the exploration phases,” he says, “the drilling phases and the production phases. We are part of the E&P process from beginning to end.”
Indeed, as Stephens describes the services Schlumberger provides, he sounds like a veritable encyclopedia of oil production terminology: seismic acquisition; processing and interpretation; wireline logging; directional drilling; measurements while drilling; cementing and stimulation services; well completions; reservoir monitoring; and subsurface safety systems, just to name a few.
IT services — taking information and turning it into oil Schlumberger services encompass not only physical services, but intellectual services as well. “A large part of our business is information solutions,” says Stephens. “Through our Schlumberger Sema and our Schlumberger Information Solutions groups, we connect people to data, people to people and people to knowledge”
In Alaska Schlumberger is very active in the information management field, assisting customers, managing the huge amounts of data and information produced in the complex oil and gas business. “We are able to make operators more efficient by connecting their people with the information they need to make decisions more readily.” Worldwide Schlumberger provides managed network services, infrastructure support and software products to allow oil and gas operators to more efficiently manage their reserves. These software products such as Eclipse and GeoFrame, perform various functions from reservoir simulation and visualization to economic modeling and seismic interpretation. “These are integrated software packages that simulate oil and gas reservoirs ” explains Stephens. “Basically,” he says, “we provide technical software which assists our customers in effectively exploiting their hydrocarbon resources.”
New technologies developed in the state and around the world Stephens is quick to emphasize that the range of services offered by the company will continue to grow as Schlumberger continues to develop new technologies. “It’s our business to find new and more competitive ways to do things,” he says.
For example, he explains, Schlumberger has been a pioneer of coiled tubing drilling. “This technology was really developed in Alaska,” he says. “Our clients needed an economic way to do sidetrack wells, in order to exploit smaller pockets of by-passed oil” he explains. “They needed it to be done in an environmentally friendly manner, and safely, and, obviously, it had to be done in Arctic conditions. Working with our customers such as BP and partners we have developed drilling technology specifically for coiled tubing. We now have two coiled tubing drilling rigs operating on the North Slope rigs which allow us to do sidetracks off of existing wells very, very cost effectively.” This, he says, is an example of a technology developed by Schlumberger in Alaska and exported to other parts of the world.
In addition, points out Stephens, Schlumberger has research and engineering centers in various locations including: Connecticut, Cambridge U.K., Japan, Norway, and France as well as two new research centers recently opened in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and in Moscow. So technology developed all around the world is pouring into Alaskan operations as well.
Leaving each stone unturned — finding ways to shrink the industry footprint Schlumberger’s corporate culture of development and innovation goes beyond finding economic ways to remove oil from the ground, says Stephens. It includes finding new and responsible ways to go about the business of oil exploration and production. It includes a strong sense of environmental sensitivity and an ambition to make responsible changes industry-wide.
“We recently received two awards for environmental excellence from the state commissioner of Environmental Conservation,” says Stephens with unmistakable pride.
The commissioner, Michele Brown, cited three innovations made by the company that contributed to this recognition of its “pollution prevention ethic.” Including:
The development of a hot glycol circulation system, which allowed vehicle engines to be turned off during idle periods, significantly reducing diesel fume emissions and wear and tear on vehicle engines;
A “super sacks” recycling initiative that has benefited both the company and the Native Alaska villages in northwest Alaska. This project completed in cooperation with the Alaska Materials Exchange and the Alaska Native corporations not only reduced environmental concerns but also health concerns within the Native Alaska communities; The development of a hydrocarbon recovery and disposal system for seismic operations, which enabled contaminated snow to be cleaned and recycled on site.
“It is very much at the core of what we do,” says Stephens. We’re always looking for ways to reduce the environmental footprint through more effective technology.”
In addition, Schlumberger was recently awarded a Level 7 by the International Environmental Rating System, which they believe is higher than anyone in the state in terms of environmental management systems (Level 4 is approximately equivalent to an ISO 14000). This is in addition to maintaining the Alaska GreenStar certificate for our facilities in Anchorage, Kenai and Prudhoe Bay.
There is only one picture on the walls of Stephens’ office. It is of for caribou posed gracefully on a pristine expanse of fragile tundra. The caption beneath the photo reads: “Can you see the impact Schlumberger has made on the tundra? Neither can we.”
Global resources and local involvement — Schlumberger commits to the Alaska community The company’s commitment to the Alaska environment, says Stephens, is only one of the ways in which Schlumberger strives to prove its commitment to the state. “We’re involved with the community in many ways,” he says. “We just entered into a school business partnership with the Polaris K-12 school and we’re involved with United Way Agencies as well as other humanitarian organizations in the state.”
Civic responsibility is further emphasized by the company’s employee recognition scheme. Says Stephens, “We wanted to find a way to thank our employees for the role they play in their local communities.” Stephens, who is relatively new to Alaska, is impressed with the staff’s willingness to get involved. “One of the things that I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is the tremendous enthusiasm of our employees to be involved in their community, and we want to continue to encourage that.”
He sums it up neatly, “We realize that we are members of the community. We have to be responsible members and contribute wherever we can.”
Going with the flow — adaptability in the face of slowing production This emphasis on good corporate citizenship, says Stephens, combined with Schlumberger’s wide range of services, and proven adaptability allows Schlumberger to remain optimistic in the face of slowing production in the state. “We have to come to grips with the fact that we’re producing half as much oil today as we were 10 years ago,” says Stephens. “We’re going to have to adapt ourselves — and not only adapt — we fully intend to lead into the future. We’ve been in the oilfield business for the last 75 years,” he says, “and we plan to continue to be here well into the future.”
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