Improved Recovery Week articles from April 1994

Improved Recovery Week archives from April 1994

DOE Wyoming center to seek industry IOR tests. (Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3, 'Teapot Dome', oil field in Wyoming made available for improved oil recovery production research, offered through Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center)
April 4, 1994... The Energy Dept. is opening up its Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 (Teapot Dome) oil field in Wyoming to industry for testing new production technologies. DOE is making the offer through its new Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center with an...

Unocal to boost Attaka output. (Unocal Indonesia forecasts production increase from Attaka offshore oil field for 1994)
April 4, 1994... A 20-slot platform, recently installed in the venerable Attaka offshore oil field, will increase production by 35,000 b/d by the middle of this year, says operator Unocal Indonesia. The company chose the site for the platform after a...

Advanced fracs cut Apache's deep gas costs. (advanced fracture stimulation technology increases yield from Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma gas formations)
April 4, 1994... Advanced well completion technologies and three-dimensional (3 -D) seismic surveys have helped Houston-based Apache Corp. maximize per-well yields from deep, expensive Anadarko Basin gas formations. W. J. Johnson, Apache president and chief...

U.N.: oil to last 75 more years. (United Nations reports on world oil reserves)
April 4, 1994... Remaining world oil reserves will last for 75 more years, a recently issued United Nations report observes. The figure is based on the 1991 production rate of 21.9 billion barrels, says the report, which estimates that the total amount of...

1,000th Sask. horizontal drilled. (horizontal oil well completed by Murphy Oil Co. in Saskatchewan province)
April 4, 1994... The 1,000th horizontal well was spudded in Canada's Saskatchewan province in January, reports Energy and Mines Minister Doug Anguish. The well was drilled by Murphy Oil Co. in the Cactus Lake North field in Western Saskatchewan....

Ivory Coast fields get second look. (United Meridian Corp. plans improved oil recovery project in offshore oil field, Ivory Coast)
April 4, 1994... Following an announcement last month of a massive oil discovery in a directionally drilled well off the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Houston-based United Meridian Corp. indicates it will drill in a nearby abandoned offshore field, where the...

Digitized ES-logs help find missed zones. (new software enables electrical survey logs to aid in location of gas-bearing zones) (Product Announcement)
April 4, 1994... Don't throw away those old electrical survey logs. They can be compu-massaged into a way to identify potential gas-beating zones behind casing. New software developed by the Gas Research Institute in Chicago, and Wait Whitman Software,...

Midway-Sunset keeps Calif. flow from diving. (California Conservation Department reports on state's oil production, evaluates Midway-Sunset oil field, San Joaquin, California)
April 4, 1994... California's oil production declined 4.2 million barrels last year, an average of about 11,500 b/d., says the state's Conservation Dept. In its preliminary report for 1993 oil and gas production, the department said total production was...

J.M. Gronseth of Exxon Production Research Co. (patents way to recover petroleum from heavy oil formations; U.S. Patent No. 5,249,844)
April 4, 1994... J.M. Gronseth of Exxon Production Research Co. has patented a method for recovering petroleum from unconsolidated heavy oil formations. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, the invention pertains to a method for recovery of bitumen...

Aussie firms plan Siberian waterflood. (Hardman Resources and Vanguard Petroleum Corp. plan water flood oil recovery project in West Siberian Basin)
April 4, 1994... Two Australian companies are planning to use water injection in Russia to step up production from Siberian wells that seem unlikely to maintain satisfactory production under natural pressure. Hardman Resources and Vanguard Petroleum control...

Congress awaits Clinton meet as producers pull back. (Congressional group plans meeting with President Clinton to discuss petroleum industry incentives; domestic petroleum producers scale down operations)
April 11, 1994... To stay alive, the ailing domestic petroleum industry is gearing down and stripping its operations, while a bipartisan group from Congress gears up to meet with President Clinton -- perhaps as early as this week -- to discuss how to help U.S....

Lab restudies rock melt drilling. (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
April 11, 1994... Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have dusted off data on rock melting as a way to drill wells. Los Alamos developed the concept in the 1960s and tested prototypes, but the petroleum industry rejected the idea. The renewed...

Shell uses coiled tubing for Calif. injectors. (Shell Western E and P Inc. uses technology for steam injection at South Belridge oil field, San Joaquin Valley, California)
April 11, 1994... Shell Western E&P Inc. recently drilled four wells with coiled tubing technology to serve as steam injectors in the South Belridge field in California's San Joaquin Valley. To date, the four-well pilot program is believed to be the most...

CAODC stands by well forecast. (Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors maintains 1994 oil well drilling forecast for Canada)
April 11, 1994... Despite continued declines in oil prices, the Canadian Assn. of Oilwell Drilling Contractors is holding to its 1994 drilling forecast of 10,000 wells, a prediction that was revised upward from 9,800 only recently. The Calgary-based CAODC...

Sect. 29 tax credits rise for 1993. (for tight sands gas and coalbed methane wells)
April 11, 1994... The new rate for Sect. 29 tax credits for tight sands gas and coalbed methane wells during calendar year 1993 is 97.9[cents] per million Btu, says the Internal Revenue Service. The rate for the previous year was 95.3[cents]/mmBtu. ...

Ohio surpasses 200-well mark for Rose Run. (report of oil and gas wells drilled in Ohio in 1993)
April 11, 1994... There were some drilling slowdowns in Ohio last year, but new Ohio Oil & Gas Div. statistics show deep Rose Run wells kept rigs moderately active in the Buckeye State throughout 1993. The division estimates that 822 oil and gas wells were...

Fracmaster, Zeeland set joint pact. (Canadian Fracmaster Ltd. forms joint venture with Zeeland Ltd. for combined integrated petroleum services)
April 11, 1994... Canadian Fracmaster Ltd. and Zeeland Ltd., both of Calgary, Alberta, have formed a joint venture to offer combined integrated petroleum services. In a news release, Fracmaster said the pact is intended to allow the companies to focus on...

Loss causes firm to quit at Giddings. (Clayton Williams Energy Inc. discontinues drilling of horizontal oil wells in Giddings oil field, Texas)
April 11, 1994... Due to a fourth-quarter 1993 loss, Clayton Williams Energy Inc. says it has stopped drilling horizontal wells in the prolific Giddings field in the Austin Chalk trend of southwest Texas. Clayton Williams, Jr., chairman of the Midland,...

Okla. house sets oil and gas subcommittee. (leaders of Oklahoma legislature create Oil and Gas Regulatory Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources)
April 11, 1994... In Oklahoma, where oil and gas production was once king and now represent a flagging source of tax revenue, state house leaders have created a new legislative subcommittee on oil and gas production and regulation. The new body will focus on the...

300-well addition prompts Moxa Arch EIS. (Bureau of Land Management requires environmental impact statement for Moxa Arch gas field, Wyoming, before drilling of new wells)
April 11, 1994... The proposal by a number of oil and gas producers to drill 300 new wells in Southwest Wyoming' s Moxa Arch gas field has prompted the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to call for an expanded environmental impact statement. A scoping notice...

C.I. Beattie and J.R. Korol, both of Exxon Production Research Co. (patent technique and apparatus for increase of heavy oil and bitumen reservoir recovery; U.S. Patent No. 5,238,066)
April 11, 1994... C.I. Beattie and J.R. Korol, both of Exxon Production Research Co., have patented a method and apparatus to increase heavy oil and bitumen reservoir recovery over that achieved in the later stages of cyclic steam stimulation operations. Two...

H.S. Lu of Mobil Oil Corp. (patents conduction-assisted steamflooding process for secondary oil recovery; U.S. Patent No. 5,215,149)
April 11, 1994... H.S. Lu of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a single horizontal well-assisted steam drive process for heavy oil removal. The heavy oil is removed from the reservoir by using a horizontal well in combination with conduction-assisted steamflooding in...

W.B. Vail III of Para Magnetic Logging, Inc. (patents technique for measurement of resistivity changes during secondary oil recovery; U.S. Patent No. 5,187,440)
April 11, 1994... W.B. Vail III of Para Magnetic Logging, Inc. has patented a method for measuring resistivity changes from within a first cased well to monitor fluids injected into oil-bearing geological formations from a second cased well while passing...

Unocal takes $25 million charge for IOR spill. (sued by state of California for negligence in underground contamination of Guadalupe oil field, San Luis Obispo, California)
April 18, 1994... In Los Angeles, Unocal Corp. said recently it will take a $25 million after-tax charge against first-quarter 1994 earnings in response to charges in connection with millions of gallons of underground pollution in a coastal oil field in central...

Commerce to study oil imports. (Department of Commerce to investigate impact of oil imports on national security)
April 18, 1994... The Commerce Dept. has agreed to a request by independent producers to study the impact of oil imports on national security. The Independent Petroleum Assn. of America led an effort last month to have Commerce open an investigation, saying...

Syncrude, Suncor post production hikes. (Syncrude Canada Ltd., Suncor Inc. report earnings for first quarter 1994)
April 18, 1994... Both Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Suncor Inc. have recorded production increases from their Canadian heavy oil and oil sands operations. From its Fort McMurray, Alberta, headquarters, Syncrude said it produced a record 16.9 million barrels...

Torch buys Sect. 29 properties. (Torch Energy Advisors Inc. acquires oil producing properties in Texas and Wyoming)
April 18, 1994... Houston-based Torch Energy Advisors Inc. has purchased for some $18.1 million two packages of producing properties -- much of which qualify for Sect. 29 tax credits -- in south Texas and Wyoming. On behalf of its institutional investors,...

Texaco expects Russian okay. (Russian parliament to approve joint venture planning oil field development in Arctic Circle, Western Siberia)
April 18, 1994... The Russian parliament is expected to approve later this year the four-company joint venture led by Texaco Inc. to develop existing oil fields in Russia's Timon Pechora Basin. According to Texaco, which recently formed a new limited...

EPA traps coalbed methane emissions. (Environmental Protection Agency directs coalbed methane emissions reduction program in cooperation with coal industry, Coalbed Methane Outreach Program)
April 18, 1994... The Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a new cooperative program with the coal industry to reduce coalbed methane emissions, focusing on 75 U.S. coal mines. The result will be that coal companies may soon become natural gas...

Russian manufacturing deals set. (Halliburton Energy Services contract with GERS for oilwell cementing units; Dreco Energy Services Ltd. contract with unnamed Russian firm for oil rigs)
April 18, 1994... Two Western companies have signed contracts with Russian oilfield manufacturing companies to build oilfield service equipment. Halliburton Energy Services, Houston, said it signed a cooperative deal with a Russian manufacturer, GERS, to...

Mitchell quits drilling business. (Mitchell Energy and Development Corp. sells oil well drilling equipment to Nabors Industries Inc.)
April 18, 1994... With the recent sale of 16 land rigs to a Houston-based drilling contractor, Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. is now virtually out of the contract drilling business. Mitchell, a Houston-based independent producer and real estate...

Firm seeks coalgas OK. (Jilbey Exploration Ltd. applies for coalbed methane production lease in Nova Scotia, Canada)
April 18, 1994... Jilbey Exploration Ltd. has applied for a coalbed methane production lease on some 19,600 acres of coal-bearing lands in Canada's Nova Scotia province. The North Bay, Ontario-based mining operator said the Nova Scotia Natural Resources...

Phillips shutting down onshore California ops. (Phillips Petroleum Co. discontinues onshore oil well operations in Kern County, California)
April 18, 1994... Philips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Okla., appears to be closing the door on onshore operations in California. The assignment by Phillips of interest in more than 6,400 Kern County acres of proved and unproved acreage to Sackett Oil Co. is...

CTD offers HSE advantages, say researchers. (coiled tubing drilling techniques offer health, safety and environmental benefits)
April 18, 1994... Coiled tubing drilling (CTD) techniques are not only a more efficient way to produce oil and gas, but have health, safety and the environmental (HSE) benefits as well. Four petroleum industry researchers said recently that while the CTD...

M.B. Thomas of Shell Canada Ltd. (patents way to prevent fines migration; Canadian Patent No. 1,312,005)
April 18, 1994... M.B. Thomas of Shell Canada Ltd. has patented a method for preventing fines migration while producing oil from a formation that contains both volatile and residual hydrocarbons. The method involves injecting an oil-displacing gaseous fluid into...

California slamming door on offshore drilling. (California Assembly passes ban on new oil drilling off coastline)
April 25, 1994... California's Assembly approved a bill recently that would ban new oil drilling in waters off the Golden State' s 840-mile coastline. If the bill is approved by the Senate, it will go to Gov. Pete Wilson, an avowed opponent of offshore...

E-R well flows at Cook Inlet. (extended reach improved oil recovery project, at Sunfish oil field, North Cook Inlet, Alaska)
April 25, 1994... Phillips Petroleum Co. and Arco Alaska Inc. report that the Sunfish Well No. 3 appraisal well on the Sunfish Prospect in the North Cook Inlet of Alaska flowed 412 b/d of oil and 155 b/d of water in recent tests of the interval 13,594'-13,706'....

Conflicting opinions aired on import 'danger.' (panel evaluates world petroleum industry, imports)
April 25, 1994... Opinions differ as to whether increased dependence on imported oil leaves the United States vulnerable to another energy crisis, and the extremes of the question were aired recently in different public forums. At the annual meeting of the...

Alberta output hike not anticipated. (Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board reports increase in crude oil production 1993)
April 25, 1994... In what seemed to be a surprise to them, petroleum industry regulators in Alberta, Canada, reported crude oil production in 1993 was about 340 million barrels. While this was only a 2% increase from 1992 levels, the hike continued a...

Service firms set Norwegian pact. (Camco International Inc. contract with Smedvig Offshore AS, Dowell Schlumberger Inc., British Petroleum PLC)
April 25, 1994... Houston-based Cameo International Inc., an international oilfield equipment and service company, has joined with two other companies in the first-ever "alliance contract" to be made on the offshore Norwegian Shelf. Cameo said the other two...

Horizontals working off Western Australia. (Ampolex Ltd. plans horizontal oil well drilling in Wandoo oil field, Australia)
April 25, 1994... Australia' s Ampolex Ltd. has decided that results from experimental horizontal drilling at its Wandoo field have been so encouraging that two more such wells will be drilled in early 1995. Ampolex earlier drilled two horizontals (IRW...

Shell readies Peace River steaming. (Shell Canada Ltd. plans horizontal oil well demonstration at Peace River oil sands, Alberta)
April 25, 1994... Shell Canada Ltd.'s drilling program at its new horizontal well demonstration project in the Peace River oil sands of Alberta has been completed, and pre-production steaming operations at the site began last fall. The Peace River project,...

Nuevo Energy sells Chalk interests. (leasehold interest in Texas Austin Chalk trend to Adams Resources and Energy Inc.)
April 25, 1994... In a cash transaction, Nuevo Energy Co., Houston, recently sold an average 35% leasehold interest in 64,167 gross acres in Texas' Austin Chalk trend to Adams Resources & Energy, Inc., also of Houston. The interests sold are located in the...

First-quarter Kern County drilling up 36%. (oil well drilling, Kern County, California 1994)
April 25, 1994... The number of notices to drill new wells granted in Kern County, Calif., during the first quarter rose sharply with 360 wells, compared with 265 a year ago, says the state's Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources Div. The Kern County permits...

GRI finals water drive reservoir research. (Gas Research Institute)
April 25, 1994... Researchers at the Gas Research Institute, Chicago, have completed several years of research, testing and field validation of how to manage active water influx and water production in gas reservoirs. The methods and procedures established...

W.A. Edelstein, H.J. Vinegar, Hsu Chiafu and O.M. Mueller, all of General Electric Co. (patent method for extraction of oil in situ from oil-bearing shale; U.S. Patent No. 5,236,039)
April 25, 1994... W.A. Edelstein, H.J. Vinegar, Hsu Chiafu and O.M. Mueller, all of General Electric Co., have patented a system for extracting oil in situ from an oil-bearing shale layer below a surface layer comprising: a) a master oscillator for producing a...

E-R wells take Niakuk on stream. (BP Exploration Operating Co. begins production at Niakuk oil field, Alaska)
April 25, 1994... BP Exploration Operating Co., Anchorage, said its Niakuk field, just off Alaska's North Slope northwest of the Prudhoe Bay field, started up production recently from five extended-reach wells. BP Exploration, a unit of British Petroleum...

60 horizontal permits granted in Texas. (horizontal oil well permits given by Texas Railroad Commission for March 1994)
April 25, 1994... The Texas Railroad Commission granted 60 permits for horizontal wells in that state for March, reflecting a surge in activity from the previous month. By comparison, 44 such permits were issued in February, 47 in January and 54 in December...