Norwegian Group (Norway)

Abstract The easy oil production is gone and current field developments require new approaches to produce oil and gas reserves in the most effective, economic and safe ways. Around the world, more than half of the wells are assisted by an Artificial Lift (AL) system. The use of these AL methods opens a range of opportunities to produce from low pressure reservoirs, low GOR, high water cuts and many others constrains that operation & production engineers are facing nowadays. Electro Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are widely used around the world as one of the most common solution for the current field development conditions. However, ESPs represents a challenge itself in terms of production management, intervention cost and run life cycle. Eventually, all ESPs will fail and the need of a workover will be present repeated times during the well life; and many causes of failure are beyond the control of either manufacturer or operator. To solve this issue, several types of ESPs deployment systems were designed and are currently in use around the globe (e.g.: standard tubing deployed, thru tubing conveyed, CTU deployed), but each one of them has its own limitations. In order to enhance ESPs installation conditions, capabilities and run life management, a new approach resulted on the design of an ESP Retrievable system that will complement current major ESP providers' equipment portfolio. This technology gives the operator the opportunity to retrieve and rerun the ESP without a rig intervention by only using WL, sucker rods or CTU equipment. The technology can be used either onshore or offshore to manage and optimize oil production by taking aside the rig need to change the ESP. This improves the oil recovery, minimizes environmental impact and increases the field safety management while reducing the overall well cost. This paper will explore the technology design, capability and constrain, cost analysis and will conclude with installation experiences and results.

Objective To compare the efficacy of surgery with disc prosthesis versus non-surgical treatment for patients with chronic low back pain.Design A prospective randomised multicentre study.Setting Five university hospitals in Norway.Participants 173 patients with a history of low back pain for at least one year, Oswestry disability index of at least 30 points, and degenerative changes in one or two lower lumbar spine levels (86 patients randomised to surgery). Patients were treated from April 2004 to September 2007.Interventions Surgery with disc prosthesis or outpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation for 12-15 days.Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was the score on the Oswestry disability index after two years. Secondary outcome measures were low back pain, satisfaction with life (SF-36 and EuroQol EQ-5D), Hopkins symptom check list (HSCL-25), fear avoidance beliefs (FABQ), self efficacy beliefs for pain, work status, and patients’ satisfaction and drug use. A blinded independent observer evaluated scores on the back performance scale and Prolo scale at two year follow-up.Results The study was powered to detect a difference of 10 points on the Oswestry disability index between the groups at two years. At two years there was a mean difference of −8.4 points (95% confidence interval −13.2 to −3.6) in favour of surgery. In the analysis of prespecified secondary outcomes, there were significant differences in favour of surgery for low back pain (mean difference −12.2, −21.3 to −3.1), patients’ satisfaction (63% (n=46) v 39% (n=26)), SF-36 physical component score (mean difference 5.8, 2.5 to 9.1), self efficacy for pain (mean difference 1.0, 0.2 to 1.9), and the Prolo scale (mean difference 0.9, 0.1 to 1.6). There were no significant differences in return to work, SF-36 mental component score, EQ-5D, fear avoidance beliefs, Hopkins symptom check list, drug use, and the back performance scale. One serious complication of leg amputation occurred during surgical revision of a polyethylene dislodgement. The drop-out rate was 20% (34) and the crossover rate was 6% (5).Conclusions Surgical intervention with disc prosthesis for chronic low back pain resulted in a significantly greater improvement in the Oswestry score compared with rehabilitation, but this improvement did not clearly exceed the prespecified minimally important clinical difference between groups of 10 points, and the data are consistent with a wide range of differences between the groups, including values well below 10 points. The potential risks of surgery and the substantial amount of improvement experienced by a sizeable proportion of the rehabilitation group also have to be incorporated into overall decision making.Trial registration NCT 00394732.

The article examines some of the assertions reported in the international literature on regional clusters of small and medium‐sized firms; that such clusters often experience job growth and are internationally competitive. These assertions are based mainly on case studies of various industrial districts and other types of regional clusters, while this article will analyze statistical material to see whether similar trends can be observed in Norway between 1970 and 1990. Thus, the article identifies different kinds of regional clusters in Norway in 1990, as well as employment trends in the clusters between 1970 and 1990. Questions are: Have the regional clusters in, for instance, the furniture industry or the electronics industry in Norway a relatively larger job growth then the average in these industries? The analysis indicates that regional clusters generally are internationally competitive, and the analysis reveals that regional clusters in Norway, with some important exceptions, experience a positive trend in employment compared with corresponding sectors nationwide.