Improved Recovery Week articles from February 1996

Improved Recovery Week archives from February 1996

Fiber optics could bring major downhole measurement changes.
February 26, 1996... Some day soon, fiber optics may monitor downhole temperature and pressure continuously in oil and gas wells, according to findings of a joint industry project in California. In three to five years, those involved in the project, at the West...

Aussie coalgas exploration heating up.
February 26, 1996... More than 40 coalbed methane wells were drilled in Australia's Queensland state in 1995, says the Australian Institute of Petroleum (ALP), and 20 companies or more are engaged in exploring for coalbed methane in all of Australia's six...

Old well data ups Conoco U.K. reserves.
February 26, 1996... Studies by Conoco U.K. of old well data have discovered 68 million bbls. of North Sea oil reserves which weren't considered producible the first time around. And those reserves should come in handy in an expected rash of trades and asset...

More drilling found on Audubon sanctuaries. (National Audubon Society's Paul J. Rainey Sanctuary in Louisiana)
February 26, 1996... The National Audubon Society and its affiliates, which strongly oppose exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, have been named once again as owners of protected sanctuaries where exploration and development is now or...

Vertical-cable seismic: a stand-up technique.
February 26, 1996... Texaco E&P Inc. next month will do a vertical-cable seismic survey of its new Fuji deepwater discovery in 4,243[feet] of water some 150 miles southwest of New Orleans. The better 3-D images provided by an earlier vertical-cable survey was...

Chevron denies 'lock' on Elk Hills NPR; may not bid. (Chevron U.S.A. Production Company Inc.; Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve)
February 19, 1996... The Energy Dept. now has two full years to sell the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve (NPR No. 1). But lest anyone think part-owner Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. has the inside track on purchasing the DOE's share of the Elk Hills field -...

WRT files for Chapter 11. (WRT Energy Corp.)
February 19, 1996... Financially troubled WRT Energy Corp., the Woodlands, Texas, has sought protection from its creditors through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company filed its Chapter 11 reorganization papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District...

N. Sea operators balk at reservoir mgrs.
February 19, 1996... Despite the money they save from giving contractors more responsibility for running projects, executives of oil companies in Europe are pondering whether they should draw a line at allowing outsiders to start managing reservoirs. The topic...

SW-SAGD orders rising. (single-well steam-assisted gravity drainage)
February 19, 1996... In its year-end 1995 financial report, Nowsco Well Service Ltd., Calgary, says it received in 1995 some 15 orders for the installation of Insulated Concentric Coiled Tubing (ICCT), used to enhance horizontal single-well steam-assisted gravity...

Mobil abandons Clearview project. (Mobil Exploration and Production United States Inc.)
February 19, 1996... In California, it is obvious that citizens can beat city hall...and county hall and the state capital, as well. In a disappointed tone, officials of Mobil E&P U.S. Inc. said recently the company has decided to pursue no further its proposal...

Algeria EOR pact signed. (enhanced oil recovery)
February 19, 1996... As expected, ARCO last week announced signing its production-sharing contract with Algeria's Sonatrach for the major enhanced oil recovery project in the Rhourde El Baguel oil field. Located about 450 miles southeast of Algiers, the field is...

Produced coalgas water worries Utah folks.
February 19, 1996... Increased drilling for coalbed methane in sparsely populated Emery and Carbon counties in eastern Utah nevertheless has caused environmental concerns among citizens and county government officials alike. This in spite of tests that show...

Fast data for oilmen and sawbones. (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite)
February 19, 1996... In a government project that actually helps oil and gas producers - and physicians - the National Aeronautics & Space Administration is using its unique Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) to transmit seismic data from a vessel...

Feds' heavy oil royalty breaks 'delight' California producers. (oil from federal lands)
February 12, 1996... Coupled with an already narrowing price differential with conventional light crude oil, the prospect of lower royalties paid by producers to the federal government for heavy oil from federal lands - announced last week in Washington, D.C. -...

U.S. completions drop 9.3%. (number of completed oil and gas wells and dry holes in 1995)
February 12, 1996... The American Petroleum Institute estimates that the number of oil and gas wells and dry holes completed in the U.S. last year declined 9.3% - 19,756 vs. 21,793 - from 1994 totals. As could be expected from last year's generally poor gas price...

Report: billions saved with new technology.
February 12, 1996... New drilling technologies are said to have saved European oil producers US$1.5 billion on drilling and completion costs during the last five years. But the big bonus, worth more than US$80 billion, is still to come. The estimates on the...

Torch to manage Russian fund. (Torch Energy Advisors Inc.)
February 12, 1996... A unit of Torch Energy Advisors Inc., Houston, will manage a new fund launched recently to raise $100 million for investment in Russia's oil and gas industry. According to its prospectus, the 10-year, closed-end fund plans to purchase...

Suncor adopts 'poison pill.' (Suncor Inc.)
February 12, 1996... Though it surprised the industry by its recent adoption of a shareholder protection plan, Calgary-based Suncor Inc., the second-largest heavy oil/oil sands operation in Canada, says it was not responding to any specific takeover bid. In...

1995 Texas horizontal permits total 595. (horizontal oil wells)
February 12, 1996... The historical year-end rush by producers to drill up wells to use up budgeted money and to qualify expenditures for that year's taxes apparently doesn't necessarily apply to horizontal wells, at least in Texas. Only 35 permits were granted...

Benton doubles production. (Benton Oil and Gas Co.)
February 12, 1996... Benton Oil and Gas Co., Carpinteria, Calif., says it more than doubled its production last year, while increasing its proved reserves by nearly 20%. And company officials pegged much of the 1995 increases to the use of modern seismic imaging...

Texaco uses new subsea technology in Gulf. (Texaco Exploration and Production Inc.; Gulf of Mexico)
February 12, 1996... Texaco E&P Inc. is producing natural gas and condensate from two recently completed subsea wells in the Gulf of Mexico, a project the company says successfully demonstrates an assortment of emerging technology and innovation in subsea-based...

3-D imaging wades ashore for new reserves. (use of seismic imaging in oil and gas exploration)
February 12, 1996... The 3-D seismic imaging boom that has blanketed the Gulf of Mexico in recent years is coming ashore - not this year, maybe not even in 1997, but industry sources now say it's inevitable. Most of the 3-D seismic being shot in the Gulf if used...

IOR patents. (improved oil recovery)
February 12, 1996... P.S. Northrop of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a method for improved oil recovery from a low-permeability diatomaceous reservoir by imbibition. In this method, oil is displaced from the reservoir with a horizontal wellbore by a combination of...