Unit 3. Delivering Innovative Technology

Lead-in

Ex. 1. Working in groups, discuss the following issues.

1. How do you understand the word “innovation”?

2. What is the difference between “innovation” and “invention”?

3. Do innovations belong to the spheres of science and technology only? Can you think of other spheres where innovations are important?

4. Does innovation always mean improvement?

5. From your point of view, how long can innovation be considered something “new”?

Ex. 2. Can you name some innovations in oil and gas sphere introduced during the last 30 years? Which of the following spheres of petroleum engineering do you consider to be more prone to innovation? Why? Discuss with a partner and share your ideas in the class.

1. Geology

2. Formation evaluation

3. Reservoir engineering

4. Drilling

5. Production technology

6. Environmental protection

Reading and Vocabulary

Ex. 3. Read the text about one of Shell’s recent innovations.

Delving Deeper: Unlocking Offshore Energy

Standing on a deck larger than a soccer pitch, almost 30 metres above clear waters teeming with fish, it’s hard to believe the Ursa deep-water oil platform is floating. There’s not a hint of movement, allowing the giant structure weighing more than 57,000 tonnes – almost six times as much as the Eiffel Tower – to safely extract oil and gas from the dark, cold depths over a thousand metres below. Moored south-east of New Orleans, Ursa operates in water almost 1,160 metres deep. The onboard drilling rig can reach more than four kilometres below the seabed, grinding through thick layers of salt, rock and densely packed sand to hit targets just a few metres across. The Ursa platform shows the extraordinary efforts that oil companies are making to prolong production in the Gulf of Mexico, where reservoirs in shallower water are in decline. It also demonstrates one way that technology is helping oil companies respond to rising demand and concern over energy security: by unlocking previously unreachable deep-water oil and gas deposits everywhere from the Gulf to West Africa and Brazil. The lure of the deep is clear. Global reserves in deep water – generally meaning depths of more than about 450-500 metres – are estimated at some 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent. But working in such difficult locations requires companies to overcome a number of tough technical challenges. Some of the most difficult are finding new ways to build these vast floating factories that can venture into ever-greater depths, designing new equipment to work in the intense cold and crushing pressure of water thousands of metres deep, and finding profitable ways to tap reservoirs scattered across many miles. And they have to do all this while keeping costs under control. The platform is secured to the seabed at four corners by 16 immense steel tendons – tension legs – each weighing almost 900 tonnes, which eliminate virtually any vertical movement. This allows the platform to remain stable while supporting thousands of tonnes of equipment. Every day, Ursa produces enough oil to fill half a million cars and enough natural gas to power more than three million homes. On the production deck the heavy machinery that brings oil and gas to the surface and separates it creates a deafening whir. Workers in hard hats wear plugs to protect their ears. The living quarters above the production deck are home to the 120-strong crew, while the tendons and the pipes that bring oil and gas up from wells on the seabed disappear into the dark abyss below.  Whatever structure is used on the surface, the dark depths of today’s deep-water projects – among the lowest points on the planet so far explored by man – present another set of crucial challenges. In these dark surroundings robotic submarines, operated remotely from the surface, are indispensable. About the size of a car, they carry lights and cameras, sharing the icy environment with rarely seen species of fish while conducting the intricate work of installing the complex infrastructure of wells, pumps and pipes on the sea floor. The weight of thousands of metres of water bearing down exerts extreme pressure on equipment – up to 5,000 pounds per square inch, which is almost 350 times the average air pressure at sea level. That’s enough to crush conventional equipment, so the industry uses special equipment made from extra-thick metal to withstand the pressure. But this means it is extremely heavy, adding to the difficulty of installation. And in the case of the pipes leading to the surface, the extra weight burdens the platform above, limiting how deep it can operate. To overcome this, Shell and others in the industry are now developing ways to adapt carbon fibre and other strong, lightweight composite materials already used in other industries such as aerospace. These new, lighter materials, needed for the next generation of projects in ultra-deep water, are likely to be deployed around the turn of the decade. Keeping the oil flowing this far down is a struggle too. Near-freezing temperatures on the seabed, combined with high pressure, cause it to congeal. Gas and water mingled with oil form ice-like hydrates. Both these effects can block pipes. Companies solve this problem in a number of ways. Adding chemicals to prevent freezing is one traditionally used across the industry. Even when it flows freely, lifting the oil and the gas over two kilometres from the ocean floor to the surface requires enormous effort. So powerful pumps with more horsepower than Formula 1 racing cars will provide the necessary artificial lift. They will also reduce the backpressure on the well – generated by the weight of thousands of metres of water – that would shorten its production life.

5 10 15 20 22 25 30 35 40 45 50 54 55 60

Ex. 4. Choose the best variant, A, B, C, or D, according to the text.

1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an amazing feature of the Ursa platform?

1. environmental safety

2. size

3. weight

4. immobility

2. What does the Ursa platform demonstrate?

1. the efforts of oil companies to increase production from shallow reservoirs

2. the rising demand for oil

3. the way technology can help to reach deep-water deposits

4. the ability to estimate the deep-water reserves

3. In line 22, the word “they” refers to

1. factories

2. companies

3. ways

4. challenges

4. Which is NOT true about the work on the platform?

1. Oil and gas are separated on their way to the deck.

2. Tension legs provide stability of the platform.

3. There is a lot of noise on the production deck.

4. Tension legs are part of the underwater equipment.

5. Why are robotic submarines necessary?

1. They explore the dark-water environment.

2. They provide light for people to work in the water.

3. They install equipment on the seabed.

4. They carry oil to the surface.

6. Materials used in deep-water operations should be

1. thick

2. light

3. heavy

4. conventional

7. In line 54, the word “it” refers to

1. seabed

2. oil

3. pressure

4. struggle

8. What, according to the text, can decrease the production life of the deep-water well?

1. chemicals

2. the work of pumps

3. water pressure

4. freezing temperatures

Ex. 5. VOCABULARY. In the text above, find the equivalents to the following words and phrases. (The sequence corresponds to their occurrence in the text.)

1. футбольное поле

2. изобиловать, кишеть чем-л.

3. держаться на плаву

4. намек

5. гигантский

6. весить

7. извлекать

8. закреплять

9. буровая установка

10. морское дно

11. молоть

12. плотно

13. цель

14. продлить

15. коллектор

16. мелкий, неглубокий

17. возрастающий спрос

18. открывать

19. ранее недоступный

20. залежь

21. привлекательность, приманка

22. преодолеть трудности

23. огромный

24. рискнуть, отважиться

25. сокрушительный

26. выгодный

27. вскрыть (пласт, коллектор)

28. разбросанный

29. держать под контролем

30. закреплять, крепить

31. огромный

32. стальной

33. натяжной элемент опоры

34. устранять, ликвидировать

35. тяжелая техника

36. оглушительный

37. шум, жужжание

38. жилые помещения

39. бригада

40. бездна

41. важнейший

42. окружение

43. подводная лодка

44. дистанционно управляемый

45. необходимый

46. виды (животных)

47. сложный, запутанный

48. устанавливать

49. насос

50. оказывать давление

51. традиционный

52. не поддаваться, выдерживать

53. отягощать

54. углеродное волокно

55. легкий

56. композитные материалы

57. размещать

58. на рубеже десятилетий

59. борьба

60. застывать, сгущаться

61. смешанный

62. замерзание

63. механизированная добыча

64. обратное давление

65. сократить

66. срок эксплуатации

Ex. 6. From the Vocabulary List above, find synonyms to the following items:

1. mixed

2. discover

3. traditional

4. environment

5. goal

6. reduce

7. attraction

8. necessary

9. enormous

10. position

11. complex

12. extend

13. important

14. resist

Ex. 7. Match words from Column A to the words from Column B in order to form phrases. Translate the resulting phrases into Russian. Make up five sentences with these phrases.

Column A	Column B
soccer drilling heavy living carbon composite artificial production	quarters life rig fibre lift pitch machinery materials

Ex. 8. Insert appropriate items from the box into the following sentences, changing the form of the word if needed.

a) drilling rig	f) submarine
b) seabed	g) pump
c) reservoir	h) living quarters
d) deposit	i) artificial lift
e) crew	j) production life

1. Petroleum companies put a great deal of effort into providing comfortable living conditions for offshore workers. But outside the __________, life on an oil rig is a constant encounter with potentially deadly conditions.

2. Russia has discovered a new large oil __________ with estimated reserves of over 150 million metric tons (1.1 billion barrels) in East Siberia

3. __________ is needed in wells when there is insufficient pressure in the reservoir to lift the produced fluids to the surface, but is often used in naturally flowing wells as well.

4. Oil and gas __________ can be used not only to identify geologic reservoirs but also to create holes that allow the extraction of oil or natural gas from those reservoirs.

5. The crude oil found in oil __________ forms in the Earth's crust from the remains of living things.

6. __________ were first widely used in World War I, and feature in many large navies.

7. The fully automated drilling rig for ultra deepwater is being designed to sit on the __________, thereby eliminating the need for dynamic positioning and manned personnel.

8. An offshore platform can comprise for up to 30 wells, production facilities, and accommodation for a production __________ of 50 workers.

9. ExxonMobil Production Company today announced a project to prolong __________ of the Hawkins Field in northeast Texas to recover the equivalent of an additional 40 million barrels of oil.

10. One common misconception about __________ is the thought that they create pressure, whereas they only displace fluid, causing a flow.

Ex. 9. Match the verbs and adjectives from the text with the nouns they are often used with to make collocations.

Verbs

extract	car, door, gate, key, mystery, secret
grind	hunger, injustice, need, plan, possibility, poverty, problem, risk
prolong	attempts, pressure, temperature
unlock	coffee, pepper, powder, teeth
secure	length, life, period, season, time
eliminate	benefit, data, information, oil, tooth, water
install	contract, deal, future, job, place, position, seat, support, victory
withstand	equipment, programme, software, system, technology, telephone
shorten	agony, life, period, time, war

Adjectives

giant	attack, blow, defeat, pressure
shallow	part, equipment
vast	depth, lake, pool, sea, water
crushing	aspect, decision, difference, factor, importance, issue, moment, point, question, role, stage, step, time
profitable	corporation, leap, planet, slalom, step, tree
immense	approach, medicine, method, treatment, view, way, weapon
crucial	network, pattern, scheme, system
indispensable	amount, area, improvement, increase, majority, range, sum
intricate	business, company, firm, investment, market, venture, year
conventional	amount, benefit, difficulty, popularity, power, pressure, relief, satisfaction, size, value, variety, wealth

Ex. 10. Make up 10 sentences with verbal collocations and 10 sentences with adjectival collocations.

Ex. 11. Translate the following sentences into English, using vocabulary from the text. (The items are underlined.)

1. Чтобы закрепить буровую установку на морском дне, нужно преодолеть ряд технических трудностей.

2. Срок эксплуатации этого оборудования для механизированной добычи может сократиться из-за неправильной эксплуатации.

3. Стадион буквально кишел фанатами, которые наблюдали за борьбой на футбольном поле.

4. При использовании традиционных технологий извлечения нефть иногда смешивается с замерзшей водой.

5. Новые месторождения Сибири, которые позволят продлить добычу нефти, являются приманкой не только для российских компаний.

6. Стальные натяжные элементы опоры являются необходимой частью конструкции платформы.

7. Важнейший вопрос эффективности добычи с морских платформ – насколько они экономически выгодны.

8. На этой гигантской морской платформе тяжелая техника и жилые помещения для бригады расположены на разных уровнях.

9. На платформе установлена сложная система контроля, которая может своевременно ликвидировать мелкие неполадки.

10. Новые технологии позволяют разрабатывать ранее недоступные месторождения.

11. На рубеже десятилетий было открыто несколько крупных залежей нефти и газа.

12. Насосы, используемые на морских платформах, должны выдерживать сокрушительное давление.

13. Возрастающий спрос на нефть привел к поиску новых коллекторов.

14. Чтобы избежать замерзания и сгущения нефти, используют особые химикаты.

15. Углеродное волокно и легкие композитные материалы изначально были предназначены для авиационной промышленности.

16. Удивительно, как платформа, которая весит 50 тысяч тонн, может держаться на плаву.

17. Буровое оборудование управляется дистанционно с помощью особой подводной лодки.

18. Несмотря на то, что здесь море довольно мелкое, вода оказывает огромное давление на оборудование.

Speaking and Communication Skills: Presentation (Part 1)