Improved Recovery Week articles from February 1993

Improved Recovery Week archives from February 1993

Horizontal well increases gas deliverability by 800%. (Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. joins forces with Gas Research Institute to produce horizontal completion of existing oil well)
February 1, 1993... A joint effort between Oklahoma Natural Gas Co., Tulsa, Okla., and the Gas Research Institute has produced a record-setting horizontal completion of an existing well, with deliverability enhanced almost eight times from its previous production...

N.M. center wins grant. (New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center awarded one year grant by Department of Energy for reservoir wettability research)
February 1, 1993... The New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center (PRRC) has received a one-year grant from DOE for further research into reservoir wettability. The center is a division of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, N.M....

Coalbed methane project worries ranchers. (Powder River Basin Resource Council challenges Bureau of Land Management's approval of proposal by American Oil and Gas Corp. for coalbed methane wells in Campbell County, Wyoming)
February 1, 1993... Wyoming's ranchers are still powerful, and when it comes to water rights, they're downright loud. The state's Powder River Basin Resource Council is asking federal land managers to take a second look at a previously approved coalbed...

Petrolite buys chemical firm. (agreement signed to acquire Welchem Inc.)
February 1, 1993... St. Louis-based Petrolite Corp. has signed an agreement to buy Welchem Inc., an oilfield production and process chemicals company based in Houston. Seller is Amoco Corp., Chicago. Terms were not disclosed. Welchem produces and markets...

Flow simulator eases well planning. (multiphase flow simulator used for planning casing for critical wells available from John Wright Co.) (Product Announcement)
February 1, 1993... A new multiphase flow simulator, Olga Well Kill, is useful in planning casing for critical wells, determining pressure control options, and in hydraulic or relief well design. The advanced computer program can find exact pressures, pumping...

Alberta's oldest field to be reworked. (Turner Valley field goes on improved oil recovery program)
February 1, 1993... The Turner Valley field, the first oil field to be discovered in Alberta, is being placed on an improved recovery program after nearly 80 years of crude oil production. In 1914, a well named the Dingman No. 1 struck oil, setting off a boom...

Iranian oil officials visit Houston. (representatives of National Iranian Oil Co. enter preliminary discussions with U.S. oil companies during official trip to Houston, Texas)
February 1, 1993... In what appears to be the first visit to Houston in many years by a delegation of high-level representatives of the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), U.S. companies involved are keeping things close to the vest. Iran's oil fields were...

BJ gets North Sea Service pacts. (BJ Services Co. awarded contract for oil well stimulation from Phillips Petroleum Company Norway and Maersk Oil)
February 1, 1993... Houston-based BJ Services Co. has received well stimulation contracts from both Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway and Maersk Oil for oil and gas wells in the North Sea. BJ Services said both 12-month contracts became effective Jan. 1. Contract...

Grant covers horizontal production, injection. (Department of Energy awards grant for horizontal oil well productivity prediction research to Stanford University, Stanford, California)
February 1, 1993... DOE awarded a $1.8 million, 60-month grant to Stanford University for a research effort to develop and analyze ways to predict producibility in horizontal wells. The grant will be made by DOE's Bartlesville (Okla.) Project Office through...

274 companies bid on Venezuelan fields. (petroleum companies show interest in public bidding for long-term leases to operate inactive and marginal oil fields in Venezuela)
February 1, 1993... Work under the project will be carried out in eight phases, says DOE. The overall thrust will be to determine horizontal well performance sensitivity to reservoir heterogenetics, pressure drops on well production action, directional...

B.W. Bromley of Union Oil Co. (patents improved oil recovery method using organic vapors; U.S. Patent No. 5,143,156)
February 1, 1993... B.W. Bromley of Union Oil Co. of California has patented an fOR method using organic vapors. The process employs a compound whose vapor phase is capable of achieving a higher temperature than steam at the pressure of the formation, and whose...

Mobil to expand steamflood. (Mobil Oil Corp. plans reactivation and expansion of oil well steamflood in Midway-Sunset field, California)
February 1, 1993... Mobil to expand steamflood The California exploration and production division of Mobil Oil Corp. plans to reactivate and expand a one-well steamflood started by a previous operator on the Bolivar property on the western edge of the...

DOE draws 44 proposals in IOR program. (Department of Energy receives proposals for improved oil recovery demonstration program)
February 8, 1993... 1 Forty-four companies and universities submitted proposals for the second round of the Energy Dept.'s oil recovery demonstration program. The department in October said it had earmarked up to $40 million in federal matching funds for...

Nuevo Energy buys Gemini wells. (purchases oil and gas producing properties from Gemini Exploration Co.)
February 8, 1993... Houston-based Nuevo Energy Co. has bought a package of oil and gas producing properties and leasehold interests -- most of them in the Giddings and Pearsall fields in Texas' Austin Chalk play -- from Gemini Exploration Co. of Austin for $5.7...

Shell offers Huntington field holdings. (Shell Western E and P Inc. to sell holdings in Huntington Beach field, California)
February 8, 1993... Shell Western E&P Inc. is offering its holdings in California's Huntington Beach field for sale. The sale includes not only oil and gas, but reserves of carbon dioxide as well. The company's Huntington Beach holdings consist of 1,960...

Unocal plans E-R drilling. (extended-reach drilling)
February 8, 1993... Using funds it received from a private placement of stock last summer, Unocal Corp. plans to invest $119 million to develop significant Alaskan offshore crude oil using new technology, including extended-reach drilling. The reserves lie...

Alberta program would hasten upgrading. (Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority completes study indicating cost reduction of bitumen upgrading through emerging technologies)
February 8, 1993... While bitumen extraction costs have been reduced considerably in the past 15 years, the costs of upgrading the bitumen have not. But results of a recently completed study by the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA)...

Enron cites Sect. 29 drilling. (Enron Oil and Gas Co. reports increase in 1992 revenues citing benefit from Section 29 tax credits)
February 8, 1993... Enron Oil & Gas Co., Houston, attributed a whopping 78% increase in 1992 net income largely to the number of wells it drilled to benefit from Sect. 29 tax credits. The company said it spudded 500 wells in tight gas sands and coal seams in...

Union Texas gets U.K. license. (Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. granted license to explore for oil and gas in United Kingdom)
February 8, 1993... The United Kingdom subsidiary of Houston-based Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. received a license to explore for oil and gas in that country. The company said that under the license, signed with the U.K. Energy Dept., the unit will...

W.Va. operators fret Sect. 29. (independent oil producers in West Virginia request restoration of Section 29 tax credit)
February 8, 1993... West Virginia independents say they want the Sect. 29 tax credit restored. In recent years, operators of up to 80% of the wells drilled in the state benefitted from the nonconventional fuels tax break. So the Independent Oil & Gas...

Hungarian coalbed methane venture set. (Fracmaster Group of Companies enters joint venture agreement with Mecseki Szenbanyak F.A. of Hungary to form Methane Master Kft)
February 8, 1993... Fracmaster Group of Cos. has signed a joint venture agreement with a Hungarian company to develop coalbed methane in the Eastern European nation's largest coal basin. The joint venture, Methane Master Kft, will be owned by Fraemaster...

Suncor earnings bouyed by syncrude. (Oil Sands Group reports earnings for fourth quarter of 1992 with increased revenues and profit form synthetic crude oil operation)
February 8, 1993... The Oil Sands Group of Suncor Inc., Toronto, recorded earnings of C$9 million in the rough quarter of 1992, compared with a net of C$5 million a year earlier. The increased revenues and profit from the company's Fort McMurray, Alberto, oil...

High court rejects producer tax cut. (U.S. Supreme Court rules against tax break for minerals producers)
February 8, 1993... It doesn't look as if independent producers will be hit hard by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reversed a lower court's decision to give minerals producers a drilling tax break. The high court threw out a lower court ruling that...

R.D. Hutchins and H.T. Dovan of Union Oil Co. (patent method for injectivity of polymer solutions; U.S. Patent No. 5,139,087)
February 8, 1993... R.D. Hutchins and H.T. Dovan of Union Oil Co. of California have the patent on a method for ensuring injectivity of polymer solutions. Without interrupting an improved oil recovery polymer flood of a subterranean formation, ultrasonic energy is...

R.L. Meshekow of Meshekow Oil Recovery Corp. (patents downhole steam and hot water generator; U.S. Patent No. 5,142,608)
February 8, 1993... R.L. Meshekow of Meshekow Oil Recovery Corp. has patented a downhole steam and hot water generator for use in other than a non-vertical oil well casing and particularly adapted for use in horizontally drilled wells. It includes an elongated...

T.P. Lockhar and G. Burrafato of AGIP S.p.A. (patents gellable aqueous composition; U.S. Patent No. 5,131,469)
February 8, 1993... T.P. Lockhar and G. Burrafato of AGIP S.p.A. have patented a gellable aqueous composition able to reduce the permeability of high permeability zones in an oil reservoir. The gel composition contains metered quantities of: a) a water-soluble...

P.C. Harris, W.M. Harms, L.R. Norman and J.M. Sandy of Halliburton Services Ltd. (patent method for treatment of subterranean formation using gelled fluid; U.S. Patent No. 5,165,479)
February 8, 1993... P.C. Harris, W.M. Harms, L.R. Norman and J.M. Sandy of Halliburton Services Ltd. have patented a method for treating a subterranean formation using a gelled fluid containing a galactomannan gum and a crosslinking agent comprising a source of...

B.B. Moore and M. Wicks III of Shell Oil Co. (patent method and apparatus for determination of vapor and liquid flow; U.S. Patent No. 5,138,876)
February 8, 1993... B.B. Moore and M. Wicks III of Shell Oil Co. have the patent for a method and apparatus for determining the vapor flow only, or the vapor and liquid flows, into various formations surrounding a thermal injection well. The apparatus uses a...

M.K. Strubhar and J.C. Healy of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent method for gravel packing a wellbore; U.S. Patent No. 5,165,475)
February 8, 1993... M.K. Strubhar and J.C. Healy of Mobil Oil Corp. have secured the patent on a method for gravel packing a wellbore where a resin-coated sand or "gravel" is used. First, the wellbore is perforated at the productive interval in a manner sufficient...

Grace sell-off nears end. (W.R. Grace and Co. sells HOMCO International Inc. to Weatherford International Inc.)
February 15, 1993... In the most recent installment of its sell-off of energy-related companies, W.R. Grace & Co., Boca Raton, Fla., agreed to sell Homco International Inc., Bellaire, Texas, to Weatherford International Inc. of Houston. Weatherford agreed to...

Horizontal drilling advances to be aired. (SPE-IADC drilling conference presents advances in horizontal drilling technology)
February 15, 1993... Advances in horizontal drilling technology will be included in the Iineup of presentations at this year's SPE-IADC drilling conference Feb. 22-25 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And while most of the papers describe horizontal drilling...

DOE sets two more Elk Hills horizontals. (Department of Energy plans directional drilling of oil wells in Elk Hills field in San Joaquin Valley, California)
February 15, 1993... DOE has found that six of seven horizontal wells in its Elk Hills, Calif., reservation are prolific producers, and the department plans two more this year in the field's central area. The department completed its first Elk Hills horizontal...

Global Natural sets pact. (Global Natural Resources Inc. forms limited partnership named FAR Gas Acquisitions Corp.)
February 15, 1993... Houston-based Global Natural Resources Inc. has sold some of its coalbed methane reserves in New Mexico's San Juan Basin to a newly formed limited partnership, of which it is the general partner. FAR Gas Acquisitions Corp. is the limited...

Wellhead automation underway. (Union Pacific Resources Co. begins program affecting 1,100 oil and gas wells in Texas and Wyoming)
February 15, 1993... Union Pacific Resources Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has mounted a $16 million wellhead automation program that affects 1,100 of the company's 2,200 oil and gas wells, primarily in Texas and Wyoming. With the automated gas production measurement...

Geopressured-geothermal IOR pressed. (thermal improved oil recovery with geopressured-geothermal fluids provides cleaner, cheaper method)
February 15, 1993... Use of thermal improved oil recovery with geopressuredgeothermal fluids may soon find application in U.S. medium and heavy oil fields. Independent geoscientists J. Negus-De Wys and C.E. Kimmell report that use of the technology could...

Pakistan IOR pact made. (Oil and Gas Development Corp. of Pakistan signs contract for improved oil recovery program with North Coast Energy Inc.)
February 15, 1993... The government of Pakistan and the stateowned Oil and Gas Development Corp. of Pakistan (OGDCP) have signed an agreement with North Coast Energy Inc., Cleveland, calling for an improved oil recovery program to be instituted at a field some near...

Ocelot plans Alberta infill. (Ocelot Energy Inc. acquires production facilities of Encor Inc. in Alberta; plans infill drilling program)
February 15, 1993... Calgary-based Ocelot Energy Inc. said it has completed C$52.5 million acquisition of Encor Inc.'s regional production and facilities in the Sylvan Lake area of Alberta, and is planning an infill drilling program there later this year. The...

Firm buys 33.3% of driller. (Trophy Resources Ltd. acquires Long Riders Rig Corp. with plans to drill 45 horizontal wells in Canadian oil fields)
February 15, 1993... Trophy Resources Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, has bought one-third equity in Long Riders Rig Corp., a Saskatchewan-based drilling contractor/ operator with plans to drill some 45 horizontal wells in various Canadian oil fields. Trophy paid...

Houston firm to develop Crimean fields. (Hytexplor Houston Inc. signs production-sharing agreement with Crimea, Ukraine)
February 15, 1993... A Houston-based exploration and production project management and consulting firm, IIytexplor Houston Inc., has signed the first production-sharing agreement with Crimea in Ukraine. The Houston company said it will develop a group of...

Shell offers Huntington field holdings. (Shell Western E and P Inc. sells onshore and offshore fields in Huntington Beach field, California)
February 15, 1993... 4 Shell Western E&P Inc. is offering its holdings in California's Huntington Beach field for sale. Included are carbon dioxide reserves as well as oil and gas. The company's Huntington Beach holdings consist of 1,960 onshore acres and...

W.J. Clarke of Geochemical Corp. (patents method of grouting petroleum-bearing formations; U.S. Patent No. 5,106,423)
February 15, 1993... W.J. Clarke of Geochemical Corp. has patented a method of grouting petroleum-bearing formations with a cement-like material comprising ultra-fine ground slag. It is useful for primary and remedial cementing of a wellbore. A composition is...

C.W. Pleasants of Otis Engineering Corp. (patents device for connecting two tubular members inserted in oil and gas wells; U.S. Patent No. 5,146,984)
February 15, 1993... C.W, Pleasants of Otis Engineering Corp. has patented a device for connecting two tubular members that are inserted in oil and gas wells in a manner to permit a quick release, yet prevent relative rotation between the tubular members. The...

M.K. Strubhar and J.C. Healy of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent method for gravel packing a wellbore where resin-coated sand is used; U.S. Patent No. 5,165,475)
February 15, 1993... M.K. Strubhar and J.C. Healy of Mobil Oil Corp. have patented a method for gravel packing a wellbore where a resin-coated sand or "gravel" is used. First, the wellbore is perforated at the productive interval in a manner sufficient to...

DOE picks three IOR demo projects. (Department of Energy awards contracts for improved oil recovery demonstration projects in Oklahoma and Illinois)
February 22, 1993... Backers of three IOR projects finished negotiations with DOE by last week, and all three should get under way soon. Two of the projects are in Oklahoma. The third is centered in Illinois. The three projects, valued at a combined $8.3...

Statoil breaks ER record. (Statoil A/S sets world record for extended-reach directional drilling in North Sea)
February 22, 1993... Norway's national oil company, Den norske stats oljeselscap AS (Statoil), claims it has set a world record for extended-reach horizontal drilling on a water injection well in the North Sea. Statoil says the well No. 33/9-C2, drilled from a...

PanCanadian tries coiled-tubing completion. (PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. executes portion of directional drilling project with coiled tubing)
February 22, 1993... Operators in Alberta are talking about a well drilled last fall by PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. in an attempt to penetrate faster and less expensively than conventional methods allow. The PanCanadian Irricana 6-19-28-27W4, an oil well...

Tracer begins Russian drilling. (Tracer Petroleum Corp. begins operations in West Siberia)
February 22, 1993... While U.S. companies negotiate huge drilling deals in Russia, the Canadians are going at it with the drill bit. Tracer Petroleum Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia, has begun drilling in the West Siberia operating area targeted for license...

Jan. Suncor production lags. (production of synthetic crude oil decreases in January 1993 from previous year)
February 22, 1993... Production of synthetic crude oil at Suncor Inc.'s Fort McMurray, Alberta, oil sands operation totaled 1.1 million barrels, for an average of 3 6,000 b/d. The company said past production for January has averaged between 1.6 million and...

Westlands to drill gas bender. (Westlands Resources Corp. drills horizontal natural gas well in Texas' Austin Chalk)
February 22, 1993... Wesflands Resources Corp., a subsidiary of Daleco Resources Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia, has spudded a horizontal natural gas well in Texas' Austin Chalk trend. The company said its TomMoorNo. 3-H, in the Clay N.E. field, in Brazos...

GRI begins $4 million R&D fracture study. (Gas Research Institute contracts with Intera Petroleum Production Division and Eastern Reservoir Services for coordination of hydraulic fracturing research and development)
February 22, 1993... Gas Research Institute, Chicago, has contracted with two private companies to coordinate hydraulic fracturing research and development in the field. The $4 million contract is part of GRI's tight gas sands program. The two companies -- Intera...

Tech transfer center proposed. (Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania proposes technology transfer center for independent oil and gas producers)
February 22, 1993... The Independent Oil & Gas Assn. of Pennsylvania has submitted a proposal to establish a technology transfer center for that state's independent oil and gas producers. The proposal, submitted recently, requests $44,200 to establish a...

Arco sets Calif. pilot waterflood. (Arco Oil and Gas Co. plans pilot waterflood in North Tejon oil field near Bakersfield, California)
February 22, 1993... Arco Oil & Gas Co. plans to start a pilot waterflood in the North Tejon field some 20 miles south of Bakersfield, Calif., with a maximum anticipated injection rate of 3,000 b/d in one injector. If the pilot is successful, says the company,...

Kansas updates technology transfer model. (Energy Research Center at University of Kansas receives technology transfer grant from Department of Energy)
February 22, 1993... The Energy Research Center at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, has received a DOE technology transfer grant to pay for development and testing of a technology transfer model that can be used in other U.S. oil-producing regions. This...

Ex-Im Bank Russia loan opposed. (conservative think tank, Center for Security Policy opposes Export-Import Bank of U.S. loan guarantees to Russia for oilfield services and equipment)
February 22, 1993... While the lame duck head of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. had hoped for a quick approval late last year of guarantees for some $2 billion in loans for oilfield equipment to be purchased by the Russians, the issue has since become a...

D.S. Mims, W.S. Huang and S. Haynes of Texaco Development Corp. (patent method of recovering hydrocarbons; Canadian Patent No. 1,299,093)
February 22, 1993... D.S. Mims, W.S. Huang and S. Haynes of Texaco Development Corp. have patented a method of recovering hydrocarbons by drilling and completing at least three substantially parallel horizontal wells to form a substantially triangular well pattern...

L.N. Morganthaler, W.H. Korcz, J.L. Greak and J.R. Erickson, all of Shell Oil Co. (patent oil recovery method using polymer solutions; U.S. Patent No. 5,103,909)
February 22, 1993... L.N. Morganthaler, W.H. Korcz, J.L. Greak and J.R. Erickson, all of Shell Oil Co., have patented an oil recovery method using polymer solutions in which highly permeable strata are not made significantly less permeable. This is accomplished by...

B.W. Davis of Chevron Research & Technology Co. (patents polymer used to increase viscosity of carbon dioxide; U.S. Patent No. 5,123,486)
February 22, 1993... B.W. Davis of Chevron Research & Technology Co. has patented a polymer useful in increasing the viscosity of carbon dioxide. That polymer includes a polysilylenesiloxane polymer, preferably polydimethylsilylenedimethylsiloxane. The viscosity of...

P.I. Day of Union Oil Co. of California. (patents method used for determining resistivity of thin layer within formation from dual induction log data; U.S. Patent No. 5,142,472)
February 22, 1993... P.I. Day of Union Oil Co. of California has patented a method used for determining true in situ resistivity of a thin layer within a formation from dual induction log data. The method calculates true resistivity without the existing need (1)...