Improved Recovery Week articles from January 1995

Improved Recovery Week archives from January 1995

Space technology may boost coalbed methane search. (Advanced Resources International Inc. uses remote sensing to explore San Juan Basin)
January 9, 1995... A fracture detection methodology integrating remote sensing, geophysical, geologic and hydrologic techniques is being applied to pinpoint zones in coal formations capable of high methane production from open-hole completions. Successful...

Benton completes Venezuelan horizontals. (Benton Vinccler test oil wells)
January 9, 1995... Benton-Vinccler, owned 80% by Benton Oil & Gas Co., Oxnard, Calif., has completed two horizontal wells in the Uracoa oil field in eastern Venezuela, opening more use for the technology in that country. The company said that on test, its Well...

Horizontal wells slated for Aussie offshore field. (Ampolex Ltd.)
January 9, 1995... Australia's Ampolex Ltd. now looks to drill up to 13 horizontal wells at its Wandoo field some 45 miles off the coast of Western Australia. Earlier, the company had been so encouraged by experimental horizontal drilling that it announced two...

Firm alters coalgas drilling. (Tipperary Corp. exploration in Queensland, Australia)
January 9, 1995... Tipperary Corp., Denver, continues to drill exploratory wells in its Comet Ridge coalbed methane project in central Queensland, Australia. Earlier, the company and its venture partners had begun a program to determine whether gas can be...

DOE sets R&D for fractured reservoirs. (BDM-Oklahoma Inc. contract for geophysical research for fractured oil fields)
January 9, 1995... BDM-Oklahoma Inc. will soon solicit applied fundamental research that integrates advanced geoscience and reservoir engineering concepts for better understanding and prediction of the effects of natural rock fractures on oil production. To...

C.F. Magnani of Chevron Research and Technology Co. (patent number 5,044,436 for method of determining liquid and gas compositions in steam injection wells) (New IOR Patent)
January 9, 1995... C.F. Magnani of Chevron Research and Technology Co. has patented a method of determining liquid and vapor phase profiles in a steam injection well. It comprises inserting a well-logging tool into a steam injector at a first location, the logging...

Suncor sets synthetic crude record in 1994. (Oil Sands Group produces highest level in its 27-year history)
January 16, 1995... Suncor Inc., Calgary, said its Oil Sands Group produced 25.8 million bbl of light, sweet synthetic Canadian oil and other products in 1994. That total is the highest production level achieved by the company's upgrading facility in Fort...

Ore. coalgas search halted. (Carbon Energy International stopped drilling on Oregon coast)
January 16, 1995... Carbon Energy International abandoned its efforts to drill for coalbed methane along the southern coast of Oregon. The Dallas-based company drilled a series of shallow test wells in the Coos Bay Basin of Coos County, during the past two years...

Chinese wildcatters diminish oil recovery. (independent drillers are reportedly ruining China National Petroleum Corp. oil reservoirs)
January 16, 1995... In China, there is a growing trend toward diminished oil recovery. While oil authorities in the Peoples Republic of China are keen to use foreign IOR technology to lift production, there are other oil operators whose actions are reducing the...

TIPRO demonstrates technology. (Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association sponsors technology transfer for gas-in-mud-measurement system)
January 16, 1995... A new gas-in-mud measurement system will be available for field demonstrations under a technology transfer program cosponsored by the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Assn. and the Gas Research Institute. Thanks to Texaco Inc.'s...

Swepi is now CalResources. (Shell Western E and P changes its name)
January 16, 1995... Shell Western E&P Inc. has changed its name to CalResources LLC. The company, the largest oil producer in California, made the switch as part of becoming a limited liability company, which is a new form of business organization in California,...

La. Democrat introduces Senate energy bills. (Senator John Breaux of Louisiana proposes energy tax incentives and initiatives)
January 16, 1995... Sen. John Breaux, D-La., has introduced legislation in an effort to further the idea that tax incentives will result in higher ultimate production tax revenue. The legislative package contains four bills (S.32 through S.35) that call for a...

Correction. (to article in Dec 26, 1994, issue on Tiorco Inc. acquisition of Oil Field Products Group Inc. operations) (Correction Notice)
January 16, 1995... The Dec. 26, 1994 issue of IRW incorrectly reported the extent of a Tiorco, Inc., Denver, acquisition ("Polymer company acquired", page 3). According to Oil Field Products Group Inc. (OFPG), Tiorco purchased only OFPG's North American...

U.S. firm to operate 2,000 Indonesian wells. (American International Petroleum Corp.)
January 16, 1995... American International Petroleum Corp., New York, has entered into a technical assistance deal in Indonesia to operate 22 oil and gas fields that include some 2,000 wells. AIP said its joint operating agreement with P.T. Ustraindo Petrogas, a...

RRC issues 62 Texas horizontal permits. (Texas Railroad Commission' oil drilling permits for November 1994)
January 16, 1995... The Texas Railroad Commission granted 62 permits for horizontal wells in that state in November 1994, reflecting an increase in activity from the previous month. By comparison, 58 permits were issued in October, 67 in September, and 65 in...

IOR patent. (J.P. Graham and Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority receive Canadian Patent No. 1,307,197 for oil sand recovery equipment)
January 16, 1995... J.P. Graham with the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority patented a device for installing a piezometer at a predetermined level within a borehole for use in geotechnical investigations of pore pressures in situ oil sand recovery...

Kansas regulators approve marginal well relief rider. (discount power rates for marginal oil wells)
January 23, 1995... Providing a rate for electric service that varies based on the market price of oil is gaining ground around the nation, particularly when applied to operation of marginal oil wells. In Kansas, the state corporation commission recently approved...

Underbalanced driller founded. (Canada consortium Alpine Production Services)
January 23, 1995... A non-exclusive Canada-based consortium focusing on engineering control and directional drilling of underbalanced wells has been formed, Alpine Production Services Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, announced. The new consortium, as yet unnamed,...

High-pressure frac job sets Gulf record. (Falcon Seaboard Resources' high-pressure fracture gas well in Gulf of Mexico)
January 23, 1995... The largest high-pressure fracture treatment in the Gulf of Mexico was conducted recently by Houston-based Falcon Seaboard Resources Inc. The procedure took place on the A-1 gas well owned and operated by Falcon Seaboard in Brazos Block 398...

Coastal enhances Gulf field. (Coastal Corp. subsidiary ANR Production's Louisiana gas field)
January 23, 1995... A Coastal Corp. subsidiary, ANR Production, has successfully improved gas recovery from a geologically complex field in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana in 150 feet of water. Productive capacity of the field, West Cameron 504 A, was upped...

Berry ups Midway-Sunset spending. (Berry Petroleum, thermal oil recovery from Kern County, California, field)
January 23, 1995... Berry Petroleum Co., Taft, Calif., has raised its capital budget 58% this year so it can develop its thermal recovery operations in the Midway-Sunset field of Kern County, Calif. The budget was boosted to $9.3 million from last year's $5.9...

EIA details FSU's Fergana Basin. (Energy Information Administration, oil & gas reserves in former Soviet republics)
January 23, 1995... The Energy Information Administration has released a complete report on the oil and gas resources of the Fergana Basin. In December 1993 EIA prepared a 14-page advance summary, which stated some 1 billion bbl of oil already had been discovered...

TRC to pursue incentives. (Texas Railroad Commission, tax relief for marginal and low-volume oil wells)
January 23, 1995... The newly elected members of the Texas Railroad Commission, along with new Chairman Barry Williamson, will pursue tax incentives proposed by the previous commissioners, commissioner Carol Keeton Rylander said recently. The incentives include a...

Canadian oil, gas outlook good ... for now.
January 23, 1995... In recent separate studies, Canada's National Energy Board said due to the mature stage of oil exploitation in the western provinces, the region's supply of conventional oil is not apt to be sustained over the long term. Additionally, in a...

Firm takes 'one man's meat ...' to heart. (Parker & Parsley Petroleum's acquisition of Tide West Oil cancelled)
January 23, 1995... Reacting to Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co.'s decision to call off buy it out last week, Tide West Oil Co. said it's going to raise capital spending to drill development wells and make reserves acquisitions of its own. Houston-based Parker &...

K.E. Dankovich II. (improved oil recovery patents)
January 23, 1995... K.E. Dankovich II has patented a method and apparatus for clearing debris and for retrieving lost material from slanted boreholes. The apparatus has a central shank that is attachable to drill pipe, and an auger-like, helical plate would around...

A. Moradi-Araghi of Phillips Petroleum Co. (improved oil recovery patents)
January 23, 1995... A. Moradi-Araghi of Phillips Petroleum Co. has patented a method for altering high-temperature formation permeability. It involves a delayed acrylamide containing polymer crosslinker having stability in an aqueous solution at high temperatures,...

EIA 'blames' improved technology for lower prices. (Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook 1995, fuel prices)
January 30, 1995... "Improved technology will limit projected price increases for most fuels," concludes the annual outlook report from the Energy Information Administration, a unit of the Energy Dept. In its report, Annual Energy Outlook 1995, which contains...

Kansas field under study. (study of improved recovery techniques' potential at Schaben oil field, Ness County)
January 30, 1995... A $3.2 million research program is planned in Kansas in the hopes of extending the lives of that state's oil fields. Kansas, once a leading producer state, is suffering from the depletion of older fields and limited new exploration, a problem...

Directional drilling planned at Windsor. (pending discovery of commercial oil reserves under Windsor Castle, London, UK)
January 30, 1995... Directional drilling will be used if commercial oil reserves are found beneath the grounds of Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II's property in central London. CanUK Exploration Ltd., a company owned by Canadian oilman Desmond Oswald, has...

'94 Texas horizontals total 688. (Texas Railroad Commission's permits for horizontal wells)
January 30, 1995... The Texas Railroad Commission granted a total of 688 new permits for horizontal wells statewide last year, compared with 654 in 1993 and 698 in 1992. The total included 60 permits granted in December, which reflected a slight decrease in...

India investigates coalgas. (Oil and Natural Gas Corp. will explore for coalbed methane in West Bengal)
January 30, 1995... India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reportedly is prepared to spend 7 billion rupees (about US$223 million) investigating the commercial exploitation of coalbed methane, provided early test wells show promise. ONGC will...

DOE calls for study of oil impact on economy. (Department of Energy wants National Petroleum Council to identify issues and policies)
January 30, 1995... U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary recently asked the National Petroleum Council to prepare a report on how the future of the domestic economy is tied to the future of the energy industries. She asked the NPC, her petroleum industry advisory...

UPRC inks record production. (Union Pacific Resources Co.'s Austin Chalk oil and gas project)
January 30, 1995... Union Pacific Resources Co., Fort Worth, Texas, reached record production from its Austin Chalk oil and gas production during the last three quarters of 1994. The company, a unit of Union Pacific Corp., is a major driller of horizontal wells....

Anadril sets E-R records. (extended-reach drilling records at BP Exploration Company Ltd. project at Wytch Farm field, England)
January 30, 1995... Two new records for extended-reach drilling were set in November at BP Exploration Co. Ltd.'s Wytch Farm field, located on the south coast of England. Anadril, a unit of Schlumberger Oilfield Services, acted as integrated services contractor...

La. field revitalization program 20% complete. (Texaco E&P Inc.'s Rabbit Island field, Louisiana)
January 30, 1995... The plan to revitalize the Rabbit Island field in south Louisiana with the aid of 3-D seismics is well under way with completion of a new gas/condensate well, says Texaco E&P Inc., Houston. The well was drilled by Benton Oil and Gas Co.,...

West Virginia operators face self-inspections. (petroleum companies will be responsible for plugging their own non-productive wells for environmental safety)
January 30, 1995... To help cope with the statewide abandoned well problem, operators in West Virginia will have to inspect their own wells for environmental safety. Late last year, Ted Streit, chief of the state's Office of Oil and Gas, told West Virginia...

API makes it official: '94 imports hit 50.4%. (American Petroleum Institute reports that more than half of US oil was imported)
January 30, 1995... More than half the oil used in the U.S. last year was imported, the first time in history that has ever happened, reports the American Petroleum Institute. According to API, the United States imported a record 8.89 million b/d of crude oil and...

K.E. Dankovich II. (receives US Patent NO. 5,224,548 for slanted borehole cleaning device)(IOR Patents)
January 30, 1995... K.E. Dankovich II has patented a method and apparatus for clearing debris and for retrieving lost material from slanted boreholes. The apparatus has a central shank that is attachable to drill pipe, and an auger-like, helical plate wound around...

A. Moradi-Araghi of Phillips Petroleum Co. (receives US Patent 4,994,194 for process to alter high-temperature permeability)(IOR Patents)
January 30, 1995... A Moradi-Araghi of Phillips Petroleum Co. has patented a method for altering high-temperature formation permeability. It involves a delayed acrylamide containing polymer crosslinker having stability in an aqueous solution at high temperatures,...