Improved Recovery Week articles from January 1998

Improved Recovery Week archives from January 1998

Suncor Energy puts 6.5-billion-bbl. oil sands lease on block: SAGD development technology needed. (steam assisted gravity drainage)
January 26, 1998... Canadian oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc., flush with a 1996 increase in earnings for last year (see related stow, page 3), is trying to sell - or swap for - a sizeable oil sands lease it holds about 30 miles southeast of Fort McMurray,...

Cotton Valley buys, trades Canadian field for Okla. unit with nitrogen EOR program. (Cotton Valley Resources Corp.; enhanced oil recovery)
January 26, 1998... Dallas, Texas-based Cotton Valley Resources Corp. seems to be slowly, carefully buying and trading its way into a number of exploration and development scenarios that exhibit significant growth potential from the application of modern improved...

ESPs used to link North Sea satellite fields; 9-mile well-to-platform stretch said a record. (electrical submersible pumps)
January 26, 1998... Step-out technology has taken a leap forward with the latest satellite project which Shell U.K. E&P Ltd. has put on stream in the North Sea. Engineers believe they established a new distance record for a well using electrical submersible...

Iran announces 11 onshore 1998 IOR projects; U.S. companies hope for sanctions relaxation.
January 26, 1998... Iran may be on the receiving end of U.S. sanctions due to human rights violations, but its plans for massive IOR projects has major companies based in the U.S. calling for at least a softening of the sanctions. Last week, Iran said it will...

First of two U.S.-Argentina meetings to probe oil and gas chances for independent producers.
January 26, 1998... U.S. and Argentine independent producers will gather tomorrow (January 27) in Houston in the first of two meetings to discuss potential business opportunities in the two countries. The "Argentina Prospects Roundtable/Houston" will provide a...

BLM takes over management of Naval Oil Shale Reserves in Colorado; to lease acreage for E&P. (Bureau of Land Management)
January 19, 1998... The U.S. Interior Dept.'s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently assumed full responsibility for managing the land of Naval Oil Shale Reserves (NOSR) Nos. 1 and 3 near Rifle, Colo., and they're they're going to lease parts of them to...

Property swap snares Altura new CO2 flood opportunity; Apache nets ongoing production. (Altura Energy Ltd.)
January 19, 1998... Houston-based Altura Energy Ltd. has signed an exchange agreement with Apache Corp., also of Houston, which will result in a new carbon dioxide injection program on a unitized field in the eastern Permian Basin of Texas. Under the deal,...

Nevada pilot project proving efficacy of high-pressure air injection for 'enhanced' recovery.
January 19, 1998... A High-Pressure Air Injection (HPAI) enhanced oil recovery pilot program begun last November in Nevada is performing as expected, says the operator, Foreland Corp. of Lakewood, Colo. Gas analysis from seven producing wells in the field, with...

Horizontal drilling said helping to slow, possibly reverse Kansas production decline.
January 19, 1998... Horizontal drilling is picking up in the State of Kansas, with more than 50 "benders" drilled in the state through the end of last year and with producers planning to drill perhaps that many more this year. Tim Carr, geologist with the...

Alaska task force favors LNG technology as the way to convey North Slope natural gas to market. (liquefied natural gas)
January 19, 1998... State officials in Alaska say that of two alternatives for development of North Slope natural gas, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) system holds the most promise. Operating companies, who own at least 35 bcf of gas so far as shut-in...

PanCanadian subsidiary plans in situ oil sands project in N. Alberta; initial phase to flow at 10,000 b/d. (situ oil sands development project in Northern Alberta)
January 12, 1998... Calgary-based CS Resources Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., is going ahead with planning on a proposed 7,000- to 10,000-b/d in situ oil sands development project at its Christina Lake property in northern Alberta....

BP drills first horizontal sidetrack in Forties field; geosteering, kelly nullify top drive use. (British Petroleum)
January 12, 1998... Drilling engineers working for British Petroleum put back the clock to complete the first sidetracked horizontal well at the company's flagship Forties field, which has been on stream in the North Sea for more than 20 years. Instead of using...

DOE endorses $3.56 billion Elk Hills sale to Occidental. (Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve sale to Occidental Petroleum Co)
January 12, 1998... The Energy Dept. has officially endorsed the proposed sale of its Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve (NPR) to Occidental Petroleum Co. In a Federal Register notice, DOE said it had determined that the proposed sale to Occidental "is in the...

First production scored from ARCO's West Sak field on Alaska's North Slope; 50 wells planned. (Arco Alaska Inc)
January 12, 1998... In late December 1997, less than a year after ARCO Alaska Inc. made the decision to develop its West Sak heavy oil field on the North Slope, first commercial production from the field went on stream. West Sak is a large, relatively shallow,...

Company buys more well service rigs to use on own properties. (Cotton Valley Resources Corp, Dallas, TX)
January 12, 1998... Dallas, Texas-based Cotton Valley Resources Corp. has acquired two recently rebuilt well servicing rigs and related transportation and equipment for $1.2 million, and plans to use them on its own development drilling/workover projects. The...

Conoco seeks 50% cut in North Sea drilling costs. (Conoco Ltd. United Kingdom)
January 12, 1998... Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. has set an ambitious target to cut its drilling costs by half in 1998 to get more value from its investment in the U.K. A team has been formed with contractors to look at ways of getting down the cost of wells in both the...

Texaco unit to develop Chinese coalbed methane. (Texaco Inc)
January 12, 1998... A unit of Texaco Inc. has signed the first contract with the Peoples' Republic of China's new coalbed methane corporation for development of gas from coal seams in the PRC's Anhui Province. The subsidiary, Texaco China B.V., will carry out an...

Vessel tows 12 full-length streamers off West Africa. (Petroleum Geoservices ASA)
January 12, 1998... Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS) is breaking records on a manne 3-D seismic survey begun recently offshore West Africa, with its Ramform Explorer 5 seismic vessel towing 12 full-length streamers. This is the first time such a survey has been...

100-million-bbl. heavy oil field off Senegal/Guinea-Bissau; steamflooding nixed. (heavy oil deposit in West Africa)
January 12, 1998... A very large heavy oil deposit off the coast of West Africa is likely to be left intact for years because initial estimates are it's too expensive to use steam injection there. Australia's West Oil said it believes the Dome Flore deposit is...

PDVSA reorganization said to be accomplished; officers named for the three new divisions. (Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.)
January 12, 1998... The "new suit" to be worn by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) was expected to be fitted by Jan. 1, according to officials of the giant Venezuelan state oil company. The restructuring of PDVSA, announced last fall, will emphasize the...

Chevron applies aviation technique to lower maintenance costs at North Sea's Alba field.
January 12, 1998... Use of a technique pioneered by the aviation industry promises to save Chevron 15% in maintenance costs for its Alba heavy off field in the North Sea. A review of maintenance operations after three years of production has shown that some...

Collins & Ware buys major working interest in Permian Basin; may consider CO2 injection. (Permian Basin of West Texas)
January 12, 1998... In the Permian Basin of West Texas, a next-door neighbor to Fina Oil & Chemical Co. is watching that company's ongoing carbon dioxide injection program in the West Brahaney Unit with an eye on how the program responds. If the response is...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept of Energy, Oils Sands Informations Services; improved oil and gas recovery)
January 12, 1998... 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)....

Shell Canada files EIS on new Alberta oil sans operation. (Shell Canada ltd; Environmental Impact Assessment)
January 12, 1998... Shell Canada Ltd. recently filed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) with Alberta energy regulators for its proposed C$1 billion Muskeg River oil sands mine. The EIS, filed in late December with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board,...

Overturned court decision results in coalbed methane boom for Western Gas Resources; 500 new wells planned.(separate royalty deals for existing coal and coalbed methane activities on federal lands allowed)
January 11, 1998... Thanks to legislation that cleared the way for separate royalty deals for existing coal and coalbed methane operations on federal lands, Denver-based Western Gas Resources Inc. is participating in a new company that will build a 106-mile...

DOE expected to announce several incentives this week; Reservoir Class Demo 'revisit' set.(Department of Energy to review Reservoir Class Field Demonstration Program)
January 11, 1998... The Energy Dept. is expected to announce sometime this week a number of new initiatives designed to aid domestic oil and gas producers, particularly smaller independent producers, who are among the hardest hit by the current oil price plunge....

More than $3 million in DOE grants goes to four IOR/EOR projects to be conducted at UT Austin.(enhanced oil recovery; University of Texas-Austin)
January 11, 1998... The Energy Dept.'s National Petroleum Technology Office has awarded more than $3 million to the University of Texas at Austin's Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering to conduct research on advanced oil recovery technologies. ...

Oklahoma governor calls special legislative session to consider tax-cut proposals for state's producers.(Frank Keating)
January 11, 1998... In a special session to begin January 20, the Oklahoma legislature will consider creating tax incentives - including tax cuts - for producers. Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said lawmakers will be asked to approve two recommendations made...

Keybob Unit horizontal re-entry taps unswept oil; second firm gets farm-in on 20 sections.(drilling of PrimeWest Energy Trust well)
January 11, 1998... A Calgary-based royalty trust completed a horizontal re-entry well recently in west-central Alberta that's expected to reach payout during the first quarter of this year. PrimeWest Energy Trust said the PWEI Unit 2 Kaybob Well No....

Utah gas well may be sign of something big, say state officials; Conoco envisions flank test to gauge extent. (Conoco Inc discovers natural gas in Reese Canyon exploratory well)
January 5, 1998... It may have been deemed officially a dry hole, and the company plugged and abandoned it, but an exploratory hole in southern Utah could mark the beginning of a whole U.S. new gas play. Houston-based Conoco Inc. encountered significant amounts...

Petro-Canada may join ranks of new Canadian oil sands developers, despite Syncrude interest. (Petro-Canada Inc to develop oil sands operation at Fort McMurray, Alberta)
January 5, 1998... Petro-Canada, second largest shareholder in Syncrude Canada Ltd., the largest oil sands developer in Canada, might also develop its own oil sands operation in the future. The company is in preliminary evaluation of the commercial viability...

Despite ever-rising rig day rates, '98 domestic drilling fortunes said to depend on revenues.
January 5, 1998... With year-end 1997 day rates for land-based drilling rigs up 25% from 1996, a major question being asked in the industry is whether producers will start cutting down on U.S. domestic development drilling, says the Amarillo, Texas-based Land Rig...

Nation's emergency oil stockpile returns to full capacity following oil 'degassing.'
January 5, 1998... The Energy Dept. says it has restored the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to full draw-down readiness, completing a two-year treatment program to remove excess natural gas that had accumulated in portions of the emergency oil inventory....

Burlington Resources, with LL&E folded in, plans $1.5 billion in '98 capital expenditures. (merger with Louisiana Land and Exploration Co boosts budget)
January 5, 1998... Houston-based Burlington Resources, now described as a "super-independent" exploration and production company as a result of its recent $3 billion merger with New Orleans-based Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., says it has a 1998 exploration...