Improved Recovery Week articles from February 1995

Improved Recovery Week archives from February 1995

Alaska coalgas core test shows high potential. (Cook Inlet Basin)
February 6, 1995... The results of a core hole drilled in the northern portion of the Cook Inlet Basin indicate that the large coal resources in that area contains high volumes of methane gas. Additionally, the close proximity of these coal beds to ongoing...

Michigan benders encourage Swepi. (Shell Western E&P experiences success with short-radius horizontal drain holes)
February 6, 1995... Shell Western E&P Inc. is "very pleased" with early results of its experimental drilling of short-radius horizontal drain holes from existing vertical producers in Michigan's Northern Reef Trend. According to Michigan Oil & Gas News, the...

Low prices suffice for UPRC. (oil, gas producer Union Pacific Resources)
February 6, 1995... A company can do more than survive in a world of $2 gas and $18 oil. Or, at least that's the outlook taken by Jack Messman, president of Fort Worth, Texas-based Union Pacific Resources Co. Messman, in a recent speech, acknowledged that UPRC...

Horizontal joins reservoirs. (Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. horizontal well links two separate gas reservoirs)
February 6, 1995... Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. has successfully drilled a horizontal well connecting two separate natural gas reservoirs a half-mile apart. The horizontal well was drilled from High Island Block A-574 platform E, in the Gulf of Mexico...

Strike horizontal flow heavy oil. (Strike Energy exploratory well in northwestern Saskatchewan)
February 6, 1995... A horizontal well completed in the Bolney heavy oil area of northwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, has flowed at economical rates, says Calgary, Alberta-based Strike Energy Inc. Because of the flow from the well, aided by a downhole pump, Strike...

Stripper gas helps to outstrip oil, says IOGCC. (value of natural gas production surpassed value of crude oil in 1993, Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission)
February 6, 1995... For calendar year 1993, the value of natural gas produced in the U.S. exceeded the value of crude oil, with low-volume wells adding to gas' growing energy dominance, a new survey shows. The "National Stripper Gas Well Survey," compiled for the...

Aussie well gets coalgas. (gas strike by Tipperary Corp. in Queensland)
February 6, 1995... The Fairview Well No. 6, drilled by Denver-based Tipperary Corp. and its partners in their ongoing coalbed methane search in Queensland, Australia, has tested gas. The well, drilled in the joint venture's 1.4-million-acre "authority to...

BDM-Okla. sets reservoir management demo. (oil producer BDM-Oklahoma)
February 6, 1995... Taking a page out of the Energy Dept.'s playbook, BDM-Oklahoma, Inc. is heading up a new program to involve itself with producers in costs-shared reservoir management demonstration projects. BDM-Oklahoma, Bartlesville, Okla., last year...

Elk Hills sale studied by Calif. independents. (Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve)
February 6, 1995... California independent producers are giving the impact of the proposed $1.6 billion sale of the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve a thorough examination to be sure that a privatized Elk Hills field wouldn't take over the state's oil market....

R.P. Leaute of Exxon Production Research Co. (improved oil recovery patents)
February 6, 1995... R.P. Leaute of Exxon Production Research Co. has patented a method and apparatus for recovering and/or upgrading of (high-gravity) oil using in situ combustion and horizontal wells. Vertical wells are used to inject an oxidant into a reservoir...

A.R. Jennings Jr. of Mobil Oil Corp. (improved oil recovery patents)
February 6, 1995... A.R. Jennings Jr. of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a method where gaseous carbon dioxide is used to provide gas lift of a thinned oil. [CO.sub.2] is injected in intermittent slugs via an injection tubing that terminates in a productive interval of...

31 ACTI projects okayed for FY '95; total $65 million. (Dept of Energy's Advanced Computational Technology Initiative)
February 13, 1995... The Energy Dept. last week announced approval of a total of 31 individual projects, with total funding of more than $65 million, under the DOE's Advanced Computational Technology Initiative (ACTI). Bill White, deputy secretary of energy, made...

Record E-R well drilled. (deepest extended reach oil well drilled in North Sea by Norsk Hydro A S)
February 13, 1995... A world record extended-reach well has been drilled to a measured depth of 31,900' by Norsk Hydro from its Oseberg field Platform C in Norway's sector of the North Sea. This beats the previous world record of 28,743' set by Statoil with a well...

New Albany shale report presages workshop. (Gas Research Institute report on geological surveys)
February 13, 1995... A report on the gas potential of the New Albany Shale in the Illinois Basin is now available from the Gas Research Institute, Chicago. The report was prepared by GRI with the Illinois Basin Consortium, which is comprised of the Illinois,...

J.E. Bridges of ITT Research Institute. (patent number 5,293,936 for exciters production for enhanced oil recovery) (IOR Patent)
February 13, 1995... J.E. Bridges of ITT Research Institute has patented a method for producing optimum exciters for heating earth media to recovery oil. A high-frequency power supply is connected to an exciter emplaced in the subsurface formation which radiates...

Miners to use 3-D seismics. (Noranda Inc. seismological research for mineral deposits)
February 13, 1995... Nickel miners in Ontario, Canada hope to use 3-D seismic surveys to locate ore deposits thought to be deeper than those found in the area in the past. Current techniques can detect mineral deposit to a depth of about 1,000', but mining...

WRT to buy into La. field. (WRT Energy Corp. acquisition of oil fields in Louisiana)
February 13, 1995... Houston-based WRT Energy Corp. has entered into an agreement in principle with Benton Oil and Gas Co. and several other companies to purchase a 43.75% working interest in the West Cote Blanche Bay field in St. Mary Parish, La. for about $20...

BPX, DOE to study Alaska heavy oil. (National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research research agreement with BP Exploration Alaska Inc.)
February 13, 1995... The Energy Dept. has approved a $6.4 million Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (Crada) aimed at developing a process for recovering heavy oil from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field. Laboratory research and development work will be...

Heavy oil, tar sands seen as future 'swing' for Americas.
February 20, 1995... There's renewed awareness in this country of the billions of barrels of barely developed heavy crude oil in the Western Hemisphere. And there's continued optimism among those who already are developing light, sweet crude from the vast, thick oil...

Reservoir management seminar set. (oil reserves) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... The Society of Exploration Geophysicists has announced the Fifth Development and Production Forum, "Cooperative Projects to Improve Reservoir Management," to be held June 11-16 in Snowmass, Colo. According to Michael Wilt, SEG chairman, the...

El Mar waterflood to use CO2 for IOR plan. (improved oil recovery)
February 20, 1995... Three companies have joined forces to convert a West Texas producing unit from a secondary recovery system to a carbon dioxide injection system, but with a unique twist. Union Royalty Inc., Midland, Texas; and the Midland area offices of Amoco...

Torch closes on Gulf Canada. (Torch Energy Advisors Inc.; Gulf Canada Resources Ltd.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... A group of investors led by Houston-based Torch Energy Advisors Inc. recently finalized purchase of effective control of Calgary-based Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. for about US$219 million and stock options. As soon as Torch chairman J.P. Bryan...

Recompletions set in Texas. (oil wells) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Two units of Hallwood Energy Cos., Denver, plan to drill up to 32 new wells and recomplete up to the same number of wells during the next 18 months on certain leases in Reagan County, Texas. Hallwood Energy Partners L.P. and Hallwood...

Chevron heads group development plan. (Chevron Corp.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Pre-development work will get underway soon on the Gobe Main/Southwest Gobe petroleum project onshore Papua New Guinea, says Chevron Niugini Pty Ltd., a unit of Chevron Corp., operator of the multi-company joint venture. In a press release,...

Horizontal rigs sold in Canada. (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Williston Wildcatters Oil Corp., Calgary, said it has chosen to rationalize its horizontal drilling fleet by disposing of three of its outdated rigs used for drilling horizontal wells. The divested rigs had limited future potential, said the...

Heavy oil sale pondered. (Amoco Canada Petroleum Ltd.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Amoco Canada Petroleum Ltd. is considering bids for heavy oil leases its owns in the Elk Point and Lindbergh areas of northern Alberta. The company said it received an unsolicited offer for 100 sections of the land it has leased. Also,...

Texaco, Nuevo form venture. (Texaco Exploration and Production Inc.; Nuevo Energy Co.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Nuevo Energy Co., Houston, has entered into a joint venture with Texaco E&P Inc., New Orleans, to develop leases totaling some 58,000 acres in the Austin Chalk trend of Texas and Louisiana. Nuevo said its partners will hold a 50% stake in the...

FY '96 DOE Fossil Energy budget cut.
February 20, 1995... The Clinton administration's budget request for the Energy Dept. for fiscal 1996 is $608 million, down by nearly a quarter from actual fiscal 1995 appropriations of $798 million. Oil technology research and development, however, saw a modest...

Solv-Ex to build facility. (Solv-Ex Corp.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... Albuquerque-based Solv-Ex Corp. says it plans to build a $125 million facility to produce oil and mineral products from its oil sands lease in northeastern Alberta, Canada. The company said the plant is designed to produce 10,000 b/d of...

Syncrude cuts oil sands cost. (Syncrude Canada Ltd.) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... A record 68.9 million bbls of crude oil were shipped in 1994 from its Alberta oil sands operation, says Syncrude Canada Ltd. The company said last year's shipments from its Fort McMurray project were 67 million bbls. Additionally, the...

Canadian oil sands deemed 'sleeping giant.'
February 20, 1995... Eric Newell, chairman, president and CEO of Syncrude Canada Ltd., said the will can be summoned to unlock the potential of Canadian oil sands, and that it is time to awaken the "sleeping giant." Newell, speaking at a luncheon at the Sixth...

IOR patent. (improved oil recovery) (Brief Article)
February 20, 1995... C.L. Yu, B.S.W. McGee, F.S. Chute and F.E. Vermeulen, all of Texaco Canada Petroleum Inc., have patented a method for electromagnetic heating with vertical well supply and horizontal well return electrodes. The invention involves combining a...

Independents will dominate Gulf, says consultant. (petroleum industry; Gulf of Mexico) (Industry Overview)
February 27, 1995... The majority of the exploration and development work in the Gulf of Mexico currently is being done by independent oil companies, says a Houston-based consultant. And while independents have been developing existing, so-called "marginal" Gulf...

Danish waterflood expanded. (Danish Underground Consortium)
February 27, 1995... The Dansk Undergrunds Consortium - made up of AP Moeller, Shell and Texaco - plans to expand its waterflooding of the Dan field in the Danish sector of the North Sea to bring production from its current 60,000-b/d rate to some 90,000 b/d by 1999....

Aussie firm tries to keep ethane flood alive. (Santos Ltd.)
February 27, 1995... Australia's Santos Ltd. continues to search for a way to keep a miscible flood going at its Tirrawarra oil and gas field in South Australia. Tirrawarra is the world's only ethane miscible flood - and that's part of the problem. With a recently...

California horizontals planned. (Magnum Petroleum Inc.'s oilwell plans)
February 27, 1995... Magnum Petroleum Inc., Palm Desert, Calif., recently announced that initial test results conducted on a horizontal recompletion era stripper well in Santa Barbara County may result in an additional 15 such re-completions. Tim Rochford,...

Eldfisk horizontal record set. (Phillips Petroleum Co.'s Norwegian oilfield)
February 27, 1995... Phillips Petroleum Co. (Norway) has set a new horizontal well record for the company at its Eldfisk field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. According to Phillips, the production well No. 2/7A-13A has a 6,155[feet] horizontal segment -...

New technology figures big in U.S. offshore.
February 27, 1995... While proved U.S. oil reserves onshore and just offshore have fallen to a bit more than 20 billion bbls from 1989's 30 billion bbls, says a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, new technology has increased potential reserves growth in those same...

Amoco, Exxon lead in '94 Texas production. (Amoco Production Co.; Exxon Corp.)
February 27, 1995... Amoco Production Co. and Exxon Corp. were the top oil and gas producers, respectively, in Texas last year, says the Texas Railroad Commission. Amoco led all Texas oil producers in 1994 with an average production of 124,382 b/d, or about 8.38%...

GAO: DOE ripe for change. (General Accounting Office; Dept. of Energy)
February 27, 1995... Major changes are being called for in the role and function of the Energy Dept., says the General Accounting Office. In a report to the House Science Committee's subcommittee on energy and environment, the GAO said the recent stanza of an...

IOGCC sets bulletin board. (Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission)
February 27, 1995... Like many oil and gas associations, the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission has established an electronic bulletin board. According to Eddie Wallace at IOGCC headquarters in Oklahoma City, the system is designed for easy access and use....

Swepi drills first dual-laterals in Antrim Shale. (Shell Western E&P Inc.)
February 27, 1995... Shell Western E&P Inc. recently completed drilling of the first dual-lateral Antrim Shale short-radius horizontal well in Michigan. The well is located in SL: NE NE NE, Sec. 21-T29N-R3E, Loud Township, Montmorency County, Mich. Test...

Clinton nixes incentives despite DOC report. (Dept. of Commerce)
February 27, 1995... As late as two weeks ago, independent producers felt that raising the specter of an oil import fee would gain them the solid tax incentives they need to get back on their feet. But apparently - at least from the Clinton administration - all it...