Improved Recovery Week articles from February 1997

Improved Recovery Week archives from February 1997

Selective acidizing tests target Utah's Bluebell field; results show promise for entire Uinta Basin area.
February 3, 1997... Selectively acidizing individual pressure zones apparently holds promise for reviving older, marginally productive wells in Utah's Uinta Basin, according to the Utah Geological Survey (UGS), Salt Lake City. UGS hopes to be able to determine...

Global petroleum studies center foresees upturn in heavy oil, tar sands investment. (Center for Global Energy Studies)
February 3, 1997... Investment in heavy oil is set to take off as new technology offers more cost-effective solutions to tapping resources in Canada and Venezuela, predicts the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies. In its latest monthly oil report the...

Chevron plans major role in San Joaquin Basin; aims to bid strongly in Elk Hills sale. (Chevron USA Production Co.)
February 3, 1997... After producing oil and gas in California's San Joaquin Valley for more than 100 years, Chevron USA Production Co. still regards the valley as essential to its U.S. strategy, and plans to be a major player there well into the 21st Century. The...

Calls to abolish DOE echo in Congress as latest CRADA set for Williston Basin. (Dept. of Energy; Cooperative Research and Development Agreement)
February 3, 1997... When several Senators and Congressmen last week used confirmation hearings for then-Energy Secretary nominee Federico Pent to push for dissolution of the department altogether, the DOE continued to perform one of its most important functions:...

When you talk about subsalt 3-D seismic, you're still talking about proving by drilling.
February 3, 1997... Larger 3-D seismic surveys are providing more detailed images of subsalt geology in the Gulf of Mexico. Part of the reason for the finer detail is depth migration, using faster and more powerful computers to enhance the resolution of those...

ARCO Western ups development drilling at Pru property in Midway-Sunset field; DOE helps out. (ARCO Western Energy)
February 10, 1997... Reactivation by ARCO Western Energy of the 40-acre Pru property continues in the 25 Hill area of the Midway-Sunset field in California's San Joaquin Basin. The company recently was granted permits for 11 new development wells inside the...

N. Sea operators adopting extended well tests to assess marginal fields, tap early production.
February 10, 1997... North Sea operating groups are expected to make increased use of extended well tests (EWTs) to achieve early experience of production from marginal fields, says the U.K. oilfield services group Expro. The latest equipment available to operators...

UPR top U.S. driller last year, ups '97 spending to $1 billion. (Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.)
February 10, 1997... For the fifth consecutive year, says Union Pacific Resources Group Inc., it was the leading driller in the U.S. in 1996, averaging 38 rigs at work on its various properties. As a result, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said it not only...

Environmental group criticizes Syncrude's EIS for C$2 billion Aurora oil sands mine. (Syncrude Canada Inc.; environmental impact study)
February 10, 1997... Syncrude Canada Inc. is said to be facing a showdown of sorts with environmentalists about its C$2 billion Aurora off sands mine in northeastern Alberta. Criticism of the mine is coming from The Pembina Institute, based in Drayton Valley,...

Nuevo/Adams complete fifth Texas Chalk horizontal well. (Nuevo Energy Co.; Adams Resources and Energy Inc.)
February 10, 1997... Two Houston-based producers continue to expand their successful horizontal drilling efforts in the Giddings field in the Austin Chalk trend of south-central Texas. Adams Resources & Energy Inc., reporting for operator Nuevo Energy Co. and...

Firm gets giant contract; biggest in its history. (contract between Norsk Hydro ASA and Smedvig ASA)
February 10, 1997... The Norwegian producer Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, has awarded a long-term drilling contract worth some US$335 million to Smedvig ASA, also of Oslo. The pact covers development drilling in the deepwater Troll field in the Norwegian Sector of the...

Other groups protest Aurora; oil sands development in general. (oil sands mining in Western Canada)
February 10, 1997... The Pembina Institute protest is not the only criticism being leveled at the Aurora mine in particular, or at Western Canadian oil sands mining in general. Late last year, a native Canadian group fried an objection to the Aurora project,...

Utah urges producers to develop oil and gas leases at newly created National Monument.
February 10, 1997... The State of Utah wants oil and gas companies to take President Clinton at his word and pursue their rights under valid existing leases in the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The monument was created last fall by President...

Statoil plans 3-D surveys covering some 1,545 sq. miles.
February 10, 1997... Norway's Statoil will spend the equivalent of up to US$30 million on three-dimensional seismic in, aging in 1997, covering some 1,545 square miles in Norwegian, Danish, British and Irish exploration sectors. A contract to carry out the surveys...

BDM-Oklahoma offers online E&P data retrieval service.
February 10, 1997... A new online petroleum industry information search and retrieval service launched by BDM-Oklahoma Inc. offers clients access to data from more than 1,500 databases, the Internet, and 22,000 libraries worldwide. The Bartlesville, Okla.-based...

Subsalt development: Gulf of Mexico once again the decade's 'proving ground.'(Geophysics Update)
February 10, 1997... Large volume 3-D seismic depth imaging should be a standard geophysical tool in any area of complex geology and high well costs, say industry experts. That covers a lot of ground - and water - around the world. Application of pre-stack depth...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
February 10, 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. (patent no. 5,477,923; Canadian Patent No. 2,086,040)
February 10, 1997... H.J. Jordan Jr. and R.J. McNair have patented a new and improved method of completion of a branch wellbore extending laterally from a primary well which may be vertical, substantially vertical, inclined or even horizontal. This invention finds...

Yowlumne horizontal nears completion; could free up 337 million extra barrels. (ARCO Western Energy)
February 10, 1997... Meanwhile, ARCO Western is getting closer to finding the answer to producing, with directional wells, large volumes of oil trapped by waterflooding on the edges of watered-out reservoirs. The company's Yowlumne Unit B. Well No. 91X-3 on Sec. 3,...

Oil sands: no finding costs and practically unlimited reserves lend unique advantages, says Suncor's George. (Suncor Inc. CEO Rick George)
February 17, 1997... A look at Suncor Inc.'s Western Canadian oil sands mining operation in conventional terms, says President and CEO Rick George, results in interesting parallels: * There is one "well," that's several miles wide but only about 120[feet] deep....

Berry plans big development at newly acquired properties. (Berry Petroleum Co.)
February 17, 1997... Those two fourth-quarter producing property acquisitions in the Midway-Sunset field area have prompted Taft, Calif.-based Berry Petroleum Co. to schedule the drilling of 90 wells this year, up a whopping 91% from the 47 drilled last year. The...

Database contains detailed information on 2,500 wells in U.K. North Sea sector.
February 17, 1997... Companies looking for new drilling prospects in the U.K. Sector of the North Sea can tap into a database containing information from earlier wells. The computer-based system has become available as a result of an initiative by Grampian...

Texas operators use 251 million bbls. of fresh water in '95. (water for enhanced oil recovery)
February 17, 1997... Use of fresh water for enhanced oil recovery totals less than one-quarter of 1% of the total fresh water used in the state, says the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC). State law permits use of fresh water for injection purposes only if no other...

DOE budget ups proposed oil R&D outlay by 14%; natural gas spending up slightly. (Department of Energy)
February 17, 1997... Acknowledging that U.S. dependence on overseas oil supplies is continuing to escalate, the Energy Dept. apparently would like to increase its financial support of new technologies for boosting domestic oil production. In its proposed $16.6...

BLM sets leasing study for Alaska reserve; BP seeks parental okay to develop Badami. (Bureau of Land Management; BP Exploration Alaska Inc.)
February 17, 1997... After months of lobbying in Washington, D.C., by Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles and by the state's congressional delegation, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now studying development of a part of the 23-million-acre National Petroleum...

Appalachian gas atlas offered by Ohio geological survey.
February 17, 1997... A comprehensive description of 30 major gas plays in the Appalachian Basin is contained in a new publication funded by the Energy Dept. and compiled primarily by the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium. The research consortium...

World record possibly set with Louisiana horizontal. (Chesapeake Energy Corp.)
February 17, 1997... Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. last week completed what it says may be the world's deepest horizontal well in the St. Landry Parish portion of the Louisiana Trend of the Austin Chalk play. The company said its Grezaffi Well 19 No....

Multi-disciplinary teams combine 3-D seismic with drilling/production dope to hit paydirt. (Amoco Canada Petroleum Company Ltd.)
February 17, 1997... A 1996 pilot study to promote closer collaboration among a multi-disciplinary team on a development drilling program in a small western Saskatchewan oil field has paid off big for Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. Ltd. Using an array of Landmark...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services; improved oil recovery)
February 17, 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)....

J.R. Stoy of Texaco Inc. has patented a method of determining the quality of pressurized steam flowing through a conduit to a subsurface formation. (patent no. 5,509,478)
February 17, 1997... J.R. Stoy of Texaco Inc. has patented a method of determining the quality of pressurized steam flowing through a conduit to a subsurface formation. The conduit includes an upstream end in fluid communication with a steam source, optionally a...

Conoco says drilling plans for national monument no ploy; hopes to drill directionally from pads.
February 24, 1997... Houston-based Conoco Inc. insists it isn't posturing for a land exchange with its recent announcement of plans to drill an exploratory well inside the new national monument in southern Utah. "A trade at this point in time is impractical," the...

Mobil Canada revisits Alberta oil sands lease; coring program could inspire development.
February 24, 1997... Mobil Oil Canada is spending about C$1 million to drill core holes at its oil sands lease in northeastern Alberta as a first step in determining whether development of Cretaceous bitumen there will be economical. This is the first time since...

Producer sets horizontal wells, wide-scale fracturing to develop Australian gas field.
February 24, 1997... Australian investors are being asked to put up the money for a large-scale horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing project at a gas field abandoned 20 years ago because at the time, its deep, tight sandstone formation made further...

Canadian firms begin 'generic' well design study for Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea reserves.
February 24, 1997... Work has started on the design of a "generic" well for the next phase of expansion in output under the first Caspian Sea production-sharing contract signed by western oil companies with the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan...

Monetary Resources extends horizontal drilling technology over two reservoirs.
February 24, 1997... Bakersfield, Calif.-based Monterey Resources Inc. last week said it had completed three new horizontal wells in two of its reservoirs at the Midway-Sunset field in California's San Joaquin Basin. Monterey Resources and other producers have has...

Geophysicists at fault for overlooking faults.
February 24, 1997... Geophysicists may not be paying enough attention to the structural and hydrodynamic importance of geological faults that help form about 75% of the traps for oil and natural gas reservoirs. Many often overlook the ability of faults to form...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
February 24, 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)....