Improved Recovery Week articles from April 1997

Improved Recovery Week archives from April 1997

Products companies, consultants brief producers about emerging natural gas drilling technologies. (DOE Natural Gas Conference)
April 7, 1997... Taking part in the recent DOE Natural Gas Conference in Houston, representatives of several equipment manufacturers and engineering firms updated developments in nonconventional drilling technology. Among the new tools and techniques presented...

BLM to OK 600-well Utah coalbed methane development.
April 7, 1997... The BLM says a compromise on protecting winter range for big game animals probably will allow the full proposed expansion of Utah's first major coalbed methane field. Earlier indications were that River Gas Corp. would lose 50 of 600 wells in...

Benton Oil joins in project to drill shore-based E-R wells to field off California. (Benton Oil and Gas Co.; extended-reach)
April 7, 1997... An exploration/development project to drill extended-reach wells from shore to oil and gas leases off Santa Barbara County, Calif. is getting a new participant, and the first well is scheduled to be spudded late this year. The project, begun...

New U.S. production report gives final 1995 statistics. (oil and natural gas production)
April 7, 1997... Natural gas production is at or near record levels in seven states - Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia and Wyoming - says a new report on U.S. oil and gas production. The report Oil & Gas in the USA:A Look at Production...

Court decision delays Aussie's shell project; aboriginal land claims issue not finalized. (Stuart oil shale project)
April 7, 1997... The Stuart oil shale project near the port city of Gladstone in Queensland, Australia, is facing substantial delay until issues surrounding Aboriginal land claims have been settled, say state officials. Two Australian companies, Southern...

DOE chooses assessors to set Elk Hills value; details sale of government interests in field.
April 7, 1997... Anticipating that solicitations for bids by producing companies for the U.S. Government's share of the Elk Hills field will go out later this month, the Energy Dept. last week named the five independent assessors who will determine the value of...

One-upmanship marks Chesapeake, UPR contest over who's top horizontal driller in U.S. (Chesapeake Energy Corp.; Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.)
April 7, 1997... As only two companies with roughly the goals can, Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. seem to have entered a one-on-one race for top spot in the record book for Austin Chalk horizontal well completions. The chief...

Production started at Solv-Ex oil sands plant.
April 7, 1997... That Canadian oil sands lease owned by Solv-Ex Corp. near Fort McMurray, Alberta, is being mined and bitumen production began on March 29. Under permits granted to them by the Alberta Energy Utilities Board (AEUB), the Albuquerque-based...

D.N. Loree. (awarded patent no. 5,515,923 for improving oil and gas well productivity)
April 7, 1997... D.N. Loree has patented a method for improving oil and gas well productivity by injecting a stream of liquified drive fluid into the well ahead of a load fluid to establish a miscible bank of drive fluid in the well. While injecting the stream of...

I. Ahmed and A. Moradi-Araghi. (awarded patent no. 5,547,026 for process that alters the permeability of hydrocarbon-bearing formations)
April 7, 1997... I. Ahmed and A. Moradi-Araghi, both of Phillips Petroleum Co., have patented a process for altering the permeability of hydrocarbon-bearing formations. Another object of the invention is to provide a process for altering the permeability of the...

Oilex using portable swabbing units, downhole compound to extend recovery in marginal fields. (Oilex Inc.)
April 14, 1997... Houston-based Oilex Inc. continues to acquire and develop low-risk oil and gas properties and increase production in those fields with its portable swabbing techniques combined with United Energy's KH-30 compound. The company owns more than...

Slant wells test Ohio's Clinton, Rose Run sands; total includes plugback re-entries.
April 14, 1997... Straight holes are still the rule in Ohio, U.S.A., but when necessary, producers in the Buckeye State will take the bit away from vertical. An average of about 40 directional holes have been drilled in Ohio during each of the past five years....

More zealous exploration, development advised or open seismic access could result, says U.K.
April 14, 1997... Future exploration licenses in U.K. waters may no longer include exclusive rights to seismic surveying in the area covered, according to the U.K. Ministry of Trade and Industry.. Announcing proposals which are to be discussed with the industry,...

Gulf Canada, Talisman confirm new gas find at Corridor PSC area in south-central Sumatra. (Gulf Canada Resources Ltd.; Talisman Energy Inc.; Production-Sharing Contract)
April 14, 1997... Calgary, Alta.-based Gulf Canada Resources, as operator for Talisman Energy Inc. and Pertamina, the Indonesian state oil company, last week said a stepout well on its onshore Indonesian property has continued extension of a gas-rich geological...

U.S. potential recoverable gas resource totals 1,039 tcf, says Potential Gas Committee report.
April 14, 1997... The quantity of recoverable natural gas contained in U.S. coalbed methane reservoirs decreased in 199596 from 134 tcf to 132 tcf, says a new report released last week by the Potential Gas Committee. Nevertheless, methane from coal beds...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
April 14, 1997... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services (AOSIS) makes the following off sands/heavy oil/IOR technical reports and papers available to interested parties. For copies, call AOSIS in Calgary at 403-297-3631 (fax: 403-297-3638)....

Ohio firms use Canadian CO2/sand frac technique; dry proppant works in liquid-sensitive formations. (carbon dioxide)
April 21, 1997... In 1994 field tests comparing three types of formation stimulation practices, one imported from Canada showed significant advantages over the others in certain types of reservoirs. Yet, the method still is relatively unknown in this country,...

3-D Geophysical's Mexican unit gets $6.5 million Pemex contract. (Geoevaluaciones S.A. de C.V.; Petroleos Mexicanos)
April 21, 1997... A unit of U.S. company 3-D Geophysical Inc. was recently awarded a contract for a new 3-D seismic data acquisition project and related data processing contract with Pemex, Mexico's national oil company. The subsidiary, Geoevaluaciones, SA. de...

Aussie firms, working on Stuart project, plan development of other Queensland reserves. (Australian oil shale firms Southern Pacific Petroleum NL and Central Pacific Minerals NL)
April 21, 1997... Australia's two most active oil shale companies have begun planning to develop further deposits in Queensland, once their large Stuart Shale project is in full production. In their just-released annual reports the companies, Southern Pacific...

Halliburton unit, Norsk Hydro final three lateral re-entries. (Halliburton Energy Services; Norsk Hydro AS)
April 21, 1997... Halliburton Energy Services (HES) and Norsk Hydro AS have completed a three-well, multilateral project in the Oseberg field in Norway's Sector of the North Sea. This was, say the companies, the first application of multiple re-entry...

Horizontal wells up Unocal oil production in Indonesia. (Unocal Corp.)
April 21, 1997... Horizontal wells in Unocal Corp.'s drilling program in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, now account for more than 30,000 bid of oil production. Unocal's Indonesian unit has drilled horizontal wells in three fields - Attaka, Yakin and Serang - it...

4-D seismic skills increase in value as North Sea producers strive to find bypassed reserves.
April 21, 1997... Expertise in 4-D seismic could prove to be a valuable commodity as more oil companies consider using the time-lapse technique to improve recovery through more effective tracking of fluid movement or pressure changes in reservoirs. In...

Maintenance to affect second-quarter oil sands production, says Suncor; heavy oil pilot begun. (Suncor Inc.)
April 21, 1997... Despite record production, Calgary-based Suncor Inc. had only a modest improvement in earnings during the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year. And a planned one-month maintenance shutdown at its Fort McMurray,...

Company licenses huge California seismic database; upcoming Elk Hills sale a reason. (Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co.)
April 21, 1997... The planned sale of the U.S. Government's share of the Elk Hills field in Kern County, Calif. was "a motivating factor" for recent licensing by Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. of what it calls "the largest comprehensive seismic database in the State of...

Texaco deals to appraise Polish coalgas concession. (Texaco Slask Sp.)
April 21, 1997... A unit of Texaco Inc, has agreed to acquire the right to appraise and develop a coalbed methane concession area in Poland held by Pol-Tex Methane Sp., a subsidiary of U.S. company Eurogas Inc. Eurogas has major coalbed methane concessions in...

Colombia fears oil shortfall without increased searching.
April 21, 1997... Colombia is so worried about a forecasted sharp decline in oil production in 2000-2003 it is rewriting its oil exploration contract terms to open up a vast region of unexplored territory to international oil producers. And while details are...

UPR continues on record track; Austin Chalk development heads up best quarter in history. (Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.)
April 21, 1997... Backed by record horizontal wells and 55 rigs now at work, Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. (UPR), Fort Worth, Texas, said the first quarter of 1997 was the best in the company's history. Average first-quarter daily volumes from producing...

IOR patents. (oil well drilling)
April 21, 1997... M.S. Juprasert and B.W. Davis, both of Chevron USA Oil Co., have patented an improved composition/process for enhancing recovery from a heavy oil reservoir. The aqueous composition is derived from a concentrate which includes a defoaming agent, a...

Proprietary tool said to perform on scale/paraffin removal; despite dissenters, it works, say oilmen.
April 28, 1997... The use of magnetism to change or alter associated molecules in well fluids so that mineral scale and paraffin don't collect in tubing and flowlines is not a new concept. But in California, where scale/paraffin buildup is a major problem,...

Firm signs 4 fourth producer for cleaning sand from Canadian heavy oil operations. (Bromley-Marr ECOS Inc.)
April 28, 1997... What goes around, comes around, and when it comes to the sand produced with heavy oil, it comes back around with a vengeance. The heavy oil production business in Western Canada supplies a steadily growing volume of Canada's oil production....

Ex-U.K. oil minister foresees floating production systems replaced by equipment on the seabed. (Tim Eggar)
April 28, 1997... Tim Eggar, former U.K. industry and energy minister, has predicted that the present use of floating oil production systems in deep water could be superseded by remotely-controlled oilfield installations handling production and processing on the...

DOE grants CRADA assistance to help develop new process for enhancing refinery residues. (Dept. of Energy; cooperative research and development agreement)
April 28, 1997... As if conventional crude oil weren't enough competition, in a currently oversupplied market, heavy off production may one day get another competitor if ongoing research proves the efficacy of a new residual oil enhancing process. And its all...

Imperial looks to offset conventional oil yield with oil sands venture, Cold Lake heavy oil. (Imperial Oil Ltd.; Cold Lake, Alberta)
April 28, 1997... Toronto, Ont.-based Imperial Oil Ltd. says Canadian oil sands bitumen and heavy off account for more than half of its liquid production, and it intends to offset a predicted decline in conventional oil reserves with even more production increases...

Texas' Bureau of Economic Geology researchers helping with mass study of fields on state land.
April 28, 1997... Improved recovery research aimed at revitalizing oil and gas fields on lands owned by the State of Texas will ultimately help Texas children attend better schools. Texas' school funding is derived largely from oil and gas royalties from state...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
April 28, 1997... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services (AOSIS) makes the following oil sands/heavy oil/IOR technical reports and papers available to interested parties. For copies, call AOSIS in Calgary at 403-297-3631 (fax: 403-297-3638)....

IOR patents. (oil well drilling)
April 28, 1997... Lloyd G. Alexander has patented a method for simulating a linear solution gas curve for the determination of the gas-oil ratio for a crude oil well at any pressure using only surface measurements of the well's annular gas rate; a determination of...