TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractTwo challenges facing operators as the energy industry moves into the next century are accessing of new reservoirs that currently cannot be reached economically and maintaining profitable production from older fields. Recent advances in one of the oldest and most fundamental areas of exploration and production, namely tubular technology, will play a key role in meeting these challenges.A method has been developed whereby the diameter of solid tubulars can be expanded downhole. This paper will describe the process and how this significant technological breakthrough provides cost-effective solutions to several tubular problems that have loomed as obstacles to comprehensive reservoir exploitation. In deepwater and subsalt environments such as the Gulf of Mexico, the ability to expand casing and tubing in-situ enables hole-size maintenance and conservation of internal tubular diameter for increased efficiency. Hence, operators are less likely to run out of hole diameter before evaluating all pay zones. Operators can now use smaller holes to drill deeper vertical wells or to extend the reach of deviated wells to access untapped reservoirs. In older fields, existing wellbores can be retrofitted with expanded tubulars for repair purposes or to increase strength and integrity. In the latter case, deeper high-pressure objectives can be supported, and thus, new in-fill wells can possibly be reduced in number or even eliminated.In addition to a description of the process employed to expand solid tubulars, the paper will present applications of expandable tubular technology and results of large-scale testing that has been conducted in support of the applications. Potential commercial applications are also presented.

The results of a 1981 survey of 302 Caribbean sugarcane cutters who were temporary immigrants in Florida are presented. The focus is on remittances to the islands of origin. The results provide "no evidence that seasonal stateside employment expands agricultural output, or enhances the productive capacity of small farmers in the Caribbean."

An estimated 10 million students in the United States have dyslexia and of those students, 2.5 million are estimated to have auditory processing disorder.  There is an ongoing debate on whether auditory processing disorder causes or contributes to dyslexia or the disorders are just co-morbid. This paper examines dyslexia and auditory processing disorder and then considers current research on the nature of the relationship between the two disorders.

fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThis paper discusses test results of material properties along the length of a coiled tubing (CT) string that was manufactured in 1997. The 1.50-in. OD, 0.102-in. WT, 9,052-ft CT sting was made from 80-ksi yield strength material. The new string was manufactured with conventional procedures and was cut into 362 25-ft segments. The segments were properly numbered, protected against corrosion, and stacked. Among them, 128 segments were chosen for testing.Samples from the test segments were prepared for fatigue testing and tensile testing. Fatigue testing was performed with a bending machine having a 48-in. bending arch and 4,000-psi internal pressure. Tensile testing was performed with full-body specimens to determine yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, elongation, and reduction of area.A total of 252 samples were tested. Test data are statistically analyzed, and their distributions along the length of length of the CT string are plotted. The results are compared with correspondent specifications and standards.

No abstract

No abstract

Expansion of temporary worker programs has figured prominently in recent proposals to reform United States immigration policy. The Florida sugar cane industry has been using foreign workers from the English-speaking Caribbean since 1943. The 8000 to 9000 workers annually admitted under section H-2 of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act to cut cane constitute the largest legal nonimmigrant labor force in the United States. Examination of the Florida H-2 program reveals that existing temporary worker policy is ambiguous, if not contradictory, on the issues of the displacement of domestic workers; the characteristics and value of H-2 workers; their impact on local communities in the United States; and the effects of seasonal labor migration on the migrant and his country. Suggestions for improving policy include strengthening of statutory guidelines and administrative agencies, adoption of a more market-sensitive adverse effect wage rate, making farm labor more attractive to American workers, removing distinctions between foreign and domestic workers, and measures to improve the lot of the migrant and his home society.

No abstract