Improved Recovery Week articles from July 1993

Improved Recovery Week archives from July 1993

Andersen, Salomon Bros. signal E&D upsurge. (Arthur Andersen and Co. and Salomon Brothers Inc. predict increase of natural gas exploration and development)
July 12, 1993... They took different routes to get there, but two major industry watchers' annual outlooks for domestic exploration and development credit a strengthened domestic natural gas market for turning into chicken salad what could have been another...

UPRC to drill 16 Silo horizontals. (Union Pacific Resources Co. plans directional oil well drilling projects in Silo oil field of Laramie County, Wyoming by end of 1993)
July 12, 1993... Fort Worth, Texas-based Union Pacific Resources Co. says it will have drilled 13 horizontal wells in the Silo field of Laramie County, Wyo. by the end of this year. Additionally, the company will re-enter three wells for re-drills of...

Tar sands chemical washing attempted. (Buenaventura Resources Inc. develops chemical soil-washing process for extraction of oil sands)
July 12, 1993... A small, Utah-based company thinks it has the answer to recovering bitumen from tar sands without using heat. Buenaventura Resources Inc., Salt Lake City, says it has produced off and on for engineering tests some 50 b/d of syncrude from...

Imperial to expand at Cold Lake. (Imperial Oil Ltd. plans expansion at Cold Lake, Alberta oil sands plant)
July 12, 1993... By the middle of next year, Imperial Oil Ltd. will likely have made a C$100 million addition to its Cold Lake, Alberta, oil sands plant. The company has been expanding the operation in short-term phases for several years. Doug Baldwin,...

Group targets Calif. improved recovery. (California Oil and Gas Alliance proposed as collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and petroleum industry to improve oil and gas production in California)
July 12, 1993... Technology to solve oil and gas problems unique to California is the goal of the California Oil and Gas Alliance, a collaboration proposed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory with industry to improve oil and gas production -- and economic recovery...

Alberta extends oil royalty holiday. (government extends crude oil development royalty holiday program deadline to July 31, 1993)
July 12, 1993... Alberta's government has extended by a month its crude oil development royalty holiday program deadline for spudding new development wells, to July 31. Alberta's new energy minister, Patricia Black, says the one-month extension was granted...

Amoco gets Polish coalgas permit. (Amoco Poland Ltd. contract with Poland's Ministry of Environmental Protection for coalbed methane exploration in South-central Poland)
July 12, 1993... Poland's Ministry of Environmental Protection has signed an agreement with Amoco Poland Ltd., a subsidiary of Amoco Corp., for coalbed methane exploration in South-central Poland. Under the agreement, Amoco will drill a minimum of 15 wells...

Belden & Blake buys coalgas project. (purchases Pennsylvania coalbed methane project owned by O'Brien Environmental Energy Inc.)
July 12, 1993... Belden & Blake Corp. and another company have bought a Pennsylvania coalbed methane project owned by O'Brien Environmental Energy Inc. The project, on about 15,000 acres in Indiana County, Pa., contains an estimated 4.5 bcf of proved,...

Tax changes may affect independents. (Independent Petroleum Association of America president Denise Bode warns increase of individual tax rates is greatest threat to independent oil producers)
July 12, 1993... Energy taxes aren't the only thing in President Clinton's budget bill independent producers need to watch, says Denise Bode, president of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America. Once the Btu tax was removed from the wellhead, then...

Howell Chalk horizontal re-entries score. (Howell Petroleum Corp. announces production results for directional oil well drilling projects in Austin Chalk-Buda Limestone trend of Southwest Texas)
July 12, 1993... Houston-based Howell Petroleum Corp. recently announced production results on its first two Brazos County horizontal re-entry wells in the Austin Chalk-Buda Limestone trend of Southwest Texas. The company said its McLaughlin Lake Unit Well...

Ohio producers plan waterflood hikes. (independent oil field operators plan increased scope of waterflood projects for improved oil recovery)
July 12, 1993... Despite stagnant oil prices, there is new interest by several operators in increasing the size of some of Ohio's waterflood projects. A number of independent operators, including Quaker State Corp. and Mitchell Energy & Development, have...

W. Loh and R.H. Frazier Jr. of Chevron Research & Technology Co. (patents method for recovering oil and gas during gas injection; U.S. Patent No. 5,193,618)
July 12, 1993... W.Loh and R.H. Frazier Jr. of Chevron Research & Technology Co. have patented a method for recovering oil and gas during gas injection which comprises at least periodically injecting a gas comprising steam and a foam-forming composition which...

A. D'Souza, also of Chevron Research & Technology Co. (researcher patents method for introducing surfactant into oil-bearing formation; U.S. Patent No. 5,193,617)
July 12, 1993... A. D'Souza, also of Chevron Research & Technology Co., has patented a method for introducing a surfactant into an oil-bearing formation which includes plurality of a micro-slug injection of surfactant. Each micro-slug injection comprises an...

H.C. Lau of Shell Oil Co. (patents process to control fluid loss from wellbore for controlled period of time using polymer fluid loss control agent; U.S. Patent No. 5,158,139)
July 12, 1993... H.C. Lau of Shell Oil Co. has patented a process to control fluid loss from a wellbore for a controlled period of time using a polymer fluid loss control agent. It comprises: determining the concentration of a halogen-substituted organic acid...

Multi-year GRI fracturing study gains benefits. (Gas Research Institute reports on benefits derived from research on behavior of hydraulic fracturing in tight sandstones and low-permeability formations in 'Application of Advanced Technologies in Tight Gas Sandstones' report)
July 19, 1993... For more than six years, the Gas Research Institute has conducted extensive research on the behavior of hydraulic fracturing in tight sandstones and other low-permeability formations. This research, says GRI, has resulted in a number of...

Antrim sale development planned. (Mercury Exploration Co. to drill and test Antrim oil wells in Alcona and Iosco counties in Michigan)
July 19, 1993... A Texas exploration company has entered into a drilling agreement with a Michigan firm to drill for Antrim shale gas to earn a half interest in some 80,000 acres in Northern Michigan. The deal signifies continued interest in Michigan's...

McCormick to develop Polish coalgas. (McCormick Energy Inc. subsidiary McCormick Poland signs agreements to develop Polish coalgas and generate electricity and heat at mine sites)
July 19, 1993... On the heels of Amoco's announcement last week of its entry into the development of coalbed methane reserves in Poland, still another U.S. operator, McCormick Energy Inc., has signed a similar agreement in Warsaw. The Houston-based company...

Kermac completes marine bender. (Kerr-McGee Corp. completes offshore horizontal oil well drilling projects)
July 19, 1993... Oil companies operating offshore are using horizontal drilling technology increasingly to drill development wells, and Kerr-McGee Corp. is the latest one. The Oklahoma City-based company said its most recent horizontal well in the Gulf of...

First-half gas completions rise. (report on gas wells completed in first six months of 1993 from Petroleum Information Corp.)
July 19, 1993... A total of 2,874 gas wells had been completed in the U.S. during the first six months of 1993, a whopping 55.9% increase from the 1,844 gas completions recorded a year earlier, says Petroleum Information Corp. The Denver-based data...

Kuparuk field flows billionth barrel. (Kuparuk River oil field on Alaska's North Slope produces 1 billion barrels of oil)
July 19, 1993... The Kuparuk River field on Alaska's North Slope in May became the 14th field in the 134-year history of U.S. commercial oil production to produce 1 billion barrels of oil. Ongoing improved recovery projects are credited with Kuparuk's...

Horizontal flurry spurs plant startup. (GPM Gas Corp. restarts Quarry natural gas processing plant near Brenham in Washington County, Texas)
July 19, 1993... GPM Gas Corp., Houston, due to significantly increased drilling in the Austin Chalk area of Southwest Texas, has restarted its Quarry natural gas processing plant near Brenham in Washington County. Since January, Houston-based GPM has added...

Nowsco buys two U.S. acidizers. (Nowsco Well Service Ltd. to acquire Acid Engineering Inc. and Acid Engineering Louisiana Inc.)
July 19, 1993... Calgary, Alberta-based Nowsco Well Service Ltd. has entered a conditional agreement to buy all of the assets of two U.S. companies that offer well stimulation services identical to those offered by Nowsco in Texas New Mexico and Louisiana. ...

Louisiana levies 'orphan' well tax. (Governor Edwin Edwards signs law to finance restoration of abandoned oil wells)
July 19, 1993... Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards has signed a law to levy a state tax of 115 [cents] per mcf on natural gas and 1 [cents] per barrel of oil to restore about 2,000 "orphaned" wells in that state. The law also creates a trust to prevent future...

$2 billion in credits go to Russia. (loans and loan guarantees approved by U.S. Export-Import Bank for stimulation of Russian natural resources sector)
July 19, 1993... That $2 billion in U.S. Export-Import Bank loans and loan guarantees destined for Russia has finally gotten the go-ahead. The credits -- the largest single sum pledged by a Western government to help Russia's natural resources sector --...

D.H. Hoskin and T.R. Sifferman of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent method for imparting selectivity to in situ gel-forming composition for placement within an oil-bearing formation; U.S. Patent No. 5,156,214)
July 19, 1993... D.H. Hoskin and T.R. Sifferman of Mobil Oil Corp. have patented a method for imparting selectivity to an in situ gel-forming composition for placement within an oil-bearing formation having relatively high permeability zones and relatively low...

Otis Engineering Corp. (patents reeled tubing gas lift mandrel; U.S. Patent No. 5,152,343)
July 19, 1993... Otis Engineering Corp. has patented a reeled tubing gas lift mandrel. The patent describes a mandrel for mounting a flow-control valve on a tubing string. It comprises: Mandrel body sections, each comprising an arcuate segment adapted to be...

D.W. Albin, B. Chefike, and F.T. Lawrence of British Petroleum Co., Ltd. (patent method for conformance control of petroleum reservoirs; U.K. Patent No. 2,251,445)
July 19, 1993... D.W. Albin, B. Chefike, and F.T. Lawrence of British Petroleum Co., Ltd. have been granted a patent on a method for conformance control of a petroleum reservoir. It comprises the following steps: (a) mixing 70%-98% by volume of a viscous oil...

British Columbia horizontals spark boom. (oil field operators in Birch area of northeastern British Columbia report numerous horizontal oil well drilling completions)
July 26, 1993... Operators in the Birch area of northeastern British Columbia are describing the horizontal oil play there as huge. Production characteristics there sound much like wells in the heralded Austin Chuck horizontal boom in Texas. News of...

House cuts shale funding. (financing of oil shale research removed from Energy Department's fiscal 1994 fossil budget)
July 26, 1993... The House voted to remove every penny for oil shale research from the Energy Dept.'s fiscal year 1994 fossil budget. The Senate, which has been more generous to fossil R&D in recent years, is now considering the bill that contains the shale...

Steamfloods abound at Kern Front. (Stockdale Oil & Gas Inc. plans improved oil recovery in Kern Front field near Bakersfield, California)
July 26, 1993... Stockdale Oil & Gas Inc., a Bakersfield, Calif, independent, plans to begin putting away steam before the end of the year at three steamfloods in the Kern Front field five miles north of Bakersfield. Two floods are slated for the 120-acre...

Devonian shale software offered. (Logic Group Inc. offers software program for analysis of Devonian shale) (Product Announcement)
July 26, 1993... Logic Group of Austin, Texas, is selling a new software program for analysis of Devonian shale. Developed by Logic and ResTech Inc. of Houston, with the backing of the Gas Research Institute, the program is based on evaluation of well logs...

River Gas expands Utah coalgas field. (River Gas of Utah plans expansion of coalbed methane project in Utah)
July 26, 1993... A joint-venture partnership, River Gas of Utah, producing more than 68.5 mmcf/d a month of coalbed methane from 13 Utah wells, soon will expand the field. The company also said it is delivering the gas into an interstate pipeline. A...

N.Y. oil production drops 11%. (report from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation)
July 26, 1993... Oil production in long-producing New York state decreased last year to its lowest level in more than 110 years. Recently released figures from the state Environmental Conservation Dept. estimated 377,000 barrels of oil were produced in the...

Howell acquires dormant acreage. (mineral interests in gross acres in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana)
July 26, 1993... Howell Corp., Houston, acquired mineral interests in 1.78 million gross acres (878,000 net) in three Southern states from the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Jackson, Miss., for $24.1 million. Exploration and production of oil and gas...

Benton starts Russian oil flow. (Benton Oil and Gas Co. reports on production of joint venture company, Geoilbent Ltd. in North Gubkinskoye oil field in Western Siberia)
July 26, 1993... Benton Oil & Gas Co., Oxnard, Calif, says its Russian joint venture has begun production from three oil wells in the North Gubkinskoye field in Western Siberia. Benton holds a 34% interest in the joint venture, Geoilbent Ltd., that is...

Texas horizontal permits up in June. (1993 horizontal oil well drilling permits granted by Texas Railroad Commission)
July 26, 1993... The Texas Railroad Commission granted 62 permits to operators in June for the drilling of horizontal wells, reflecting a surge in activity from the previous month. By comparison, 44 such permits were issued in May, 68 in April and 53 in...

Canadians swap oil sands properties. (Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. and Alberta Energy Co. trade interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd.)
July 26, 1993... A cash-and-properties swap in Alberta could qualify as a textbook example of the ubiquitous "win-win" situation. The swap will result in one company giving up production from an oil sands project to get production rights to an undeveloped...

Institut Francais du Petrole. (patents process for solid particle suspension for reduction of heterogenous geological formation permeability differences; French Patent No. 2,671,132)
July 26, 1993... Institut Francais du Petrole has been granted a patent on a process for solid particle suspension for the reduction of heterogenous geological formation permeability differences and its application to hydrocarbon injection and recovery. The...

A.R. Jennings Jr. of Mobil Oil Corp. (patents method to improve the displacement efficiency of hydrocarbon fluids from a formation where multiple horizontal perforated wellbores are used; U.S. Patent No. 5,123,488)
July 26, 1993... A.R. Jennings Jr. of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a method to improve the displacement efficiency of hydrocarbon fluids from a formation where at least two horizontal perforated wellbores are used. One horizontal wellbore is placed at a lower...

C.W. Pleasants of Otis Engineering Corp. (patents device for connecting two tubular members inserted in oil and gas wells to permit quick release, but preventing relative rotation between tubular members; U.S. Patent No. 5,146,984)
July 26, 1993... C.W. Pleasants of Otis Engineering Corp. has patented a device for connecting two tubular members that are inserted in an oil and gas well in a manner to permit a quick release, yet prevent relative rotation between the tubular members. The...