The aim of the study described in this thesis is to contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the professional activities of the offshore medic, in particular, their professional position and current status. The study had three stages. Stages one and two were the pilot and main questionnaires. Stage three was an interview survey. The study also sought to place the professional position of the offshore Medic against a background of sociological literature, outlining the characteristics of both the established and semi-professions. The questionnaire and interview surveys sought to obtain the Medic's personal perceptions with other offshore personnel. The study strongly suggests that Medics do not perceive their professional position and status among colleagues, both onshore and offshore as being very high. While Medics do not seem to leave offshore employment readily, many would prefer to be in another form of employment. Most were committed because of the higher salaries paid offshore. All respondents were involved with administrative duties which have very little connection with emergency care or the prevention of ill-health. In some cases, these duties were almost full time occupations. Medics felt that these non-medical tasks tended to erode away professional status. There was also a constant effort to protect patient confidentiality which created tensions. There was little evidence for the frequently supposed total autonomy given to medics to regulate their day to day activity. There was a strong feeling that counselling and health promotion activities were necessary in the offshore situation. Respondents felt strongly that onshore management should encourage active health promotion and counselling by formulating appropriate policy and ascribing health promotion work to the offshore Medics.

by Fung Wai-kan, Kai Siu-lung. / Abstract also in Chinese / Bibliography : leaves 106-108 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1982

No description available.

Diss.-- ESCP-EAP Europäische Wirtschaftshochscule, 2008. / Inlcudes bibliographical references and index.

Jacket platforms are fixed base offshore structures used to produce oil and gas in relatively shallow waters worldwide. Their pile foundation systems seemed to perform better than what they were designed for during severe hurricanes. This observation has led to a common belief in the offshore oil and gas industry that foundation design is overly conservative. The objective of this research is to provide information to help improve the state of practice in designing and assessing jacket pile foundations to achieve a consistent level of performance and reliability. A platform database consisting of 31 structures was compiled and 13 foundation systems were analyzed using a simplified foundation collapse model, supplemented by a 3-D structural model. The predicted performance for most of the 13 platform foundations is consistent with their observed performance. These cases do not preclude potential conservatism in foundation design because only a small number of platform foundations were analyzed and only one of them actually failed. The potential failure mechanism of a foundation system is an important consideration for its performance in the post-hurricane assessment. Structural factors can be more important than geotechnical factors on foundation system capacity. Prominent structural factors include the presence of well conductors and jacket leg stubs, yield stress of piles and conductors, axial flexibility of piles, rigidity and strength of jackets, and robustness of foundation systems. These factors affect foundation system capacity in a synergistic manner. Sand layers play an important role in the performance of three platform foundations exhibiting the largest discrepancy between predicted and observed performance. Site-specific soil borings are not available in these cases. Higher spatial variability in pile capacity can be expected in alluvial or fluviatile geology with interbedded sands and clays. The uncertainties in base shear and overturning moment in the load are approximately the same and they are slightly higher than the uncertainty in the overturning capacity of a 3-pile foundation system. The uncertainty in the overturning capacity of this foundation system is higher than the uncertainty in shear capacity. These uncertainties affect the reliability of this foundation system. / text

Decommissioning and abandonment is a relevant issue in the petroleum industry because of the complex operations involved and the results after the decision has been made. Several factors could lead to abandoning wells and decommissioning platforms, among others hurricanes, production decline, economic limit, etc. Decommissioning and abandonment operations have a great impact in the revenue stream which is either lost or temporarily deferred depending on the situation. Every year between 100-150 platforms are decommissioned and approximately 620 wells are abandoned in the Gulf of Mexico. A case-by-case scenario should be revised on an annual basis and all the possible options to be considered and submitted to the Government. This thesis presents an overview of the topic and an analysis on when decommissioning and abandoning alternatives are recommended for the optimization of the economical resources. / text

In this work, we present methodologies for optimization of hydraulic fracturing design under uncertainty specifically with reference to the thick and anisotropic reservoirs in the Lower Tertiary Gulf of Mexico. In this analysis we apply a stochastic programming framework for optimization under uncertainty and apply a utility framework for risk analysis. For a vertical well, we developed a methodology for making the strategic decisions regarding number and dimensions of hydraulic fractures in a high-cost, high-risk offshore development. Uncertainty is associated with the characteristics of the reservoir, the economics of the fracturing cost, and the fracture height growth. The method developed is applicable to vertical wells with multiple, partially penetrating fractures in an anisotropic formation. The method applies the utility framework to account for financial risk. For a horizontal well, we developed a methodology for making the strategic decisions regarding lateral length, number and dimensions of transverse hydraulic fractures in a high-cost, high-risk offshore development, under uncertainty associated with the characteristics of the reservoir. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer, nonlinear, stochastic program and solved by a tailored Branch and Bound algorithm. The method developed is applicable to partially penetrating horizontal wells with multiple, partially penetrating fractures in an anisotropic formation.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.