Improved Recovery Week articles from March 1992

Improved Recovery Week archives from March 1992

Horizontal waterflood gives Texaco New Hope. (Texaco Exploration and Production Inc. drills on-shore horizontal water injection well at New Hope oil field in Northeast Texas and increases production from 100 b/d to 400 b/d on per-well basis)
March 2, 1992... Texaco E&P Inc. has drilled the petroleum industry's first on-shore horizontal water injection well in Texas. Along with a horizontal producer -- in a 45-year-old oil field -- Texaco E&P engineers have breathed new life into a reservoir...

Chevron inks heavy oil deal. (Chevron Corp. signs letter of intent with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. to research development and enhancement of heavy oil production from Orinoco oil belt in Venezuela)
March 2, 1992... Chevron Corp. and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. have signed letters of intent to study possibilities for development and enhancement of heavy oil production from the Orinoco oil belt, among other exploration and production opportunities in...

DOE aids brine evaporation project. (US Department of Energy awards $50,000 to Aquatech Service Inc. of Fair Oaks, California to study submerged combustion brine evaporation process for use in drying up salt water produced by oil and coalbed methane recovery)
March 2, 1992... A DOE small business program has awarded $50,000 to a California company to begin research on evaporative disposal of brine produced in crude oil and coalbed methane recovery. Aquatech Service Inc. of Fair Oaks, Calif., will study a...

Calif. producer to drill sideways. (Bakersfield Energy Resources Inc. of California plans horizontal redrill of well on property recently acquired from Mobile Exploration and Producing U.S. Inc.)
March 2, 1992... Bakersfield Energy Resources Inc., an independent operator, will try for a larger share of high-gravity production from a San Joaquin Valley field with a sidetrack to an existing well. The well will tap the Antelope Shale zone in the Lost...

Kuwaiti push prompts concern. (Kuwaiti oil technicians fear forcing damaged oil fields back into operation before restoring lost reserve pressures could cause water leakage rendering crude oil unusable)
March 2, 1992... There is growing concern in Kuwait that the rush toward increased production could prove harmful over the long run. Kuwait's oil minister predicts that Kuwait will be producing 900,000 b/d by the end of June. Before the war with Iraq, it...

Firm gets Spanish coalgas permit. (Spanish subsidiary of Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. awarded permit for coalbed methane exploration in Spain)
March 2, 1992... Houston-based Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. says its Spanish subsidiary has been awarded a second permit to explore for coalbed methane in that country. Under the permit, granted by Spain's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism,...

Pembina sweep efficiency tests under way. (Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority, Pfizer Oil Field Products Group and Pembina Resources Ltd. to conduct tests modifying injection profile of waterflood patterns in Pembina Cardium Unit No. 20 in Alberta, Canada)
March 2, 1992... Operators are running tests to modify the injection profile of three 30-year-old waterflood patterns in the Pembina Cardium Unit No. 20 in Alberta. According to a recent communique from the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research...

NOWSCO developing re-entry technique. (NOWSCO Well Service Ltd. of Alberta, Canada, is developing technique for re-entering older oil wells combining use of coiled tubing, horizontal drilling and underbalanced mud columns)
March 2, 1992... An oilfield service company based in Alberta is making the most of three types of leading-edge oilfield technology in an effort to improve oil recovery operations in Canada. And the effort is catching the interest of Alberta's oil patch....

D.C. Faecke of Mobil Oil Corp. (patents method of recovering viscous oil from reservoirs with multiple horizontal zones)
March 2, 1992... D.C. Faecke of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a method of recovering viscous oil from reservoirs with multiple horizontal zones. The method requires at least two wells, an injection well and at least one spaced-apart production well, where the...

F. Greebe of Esso Resources Canada Ltd. (granted patent on method of achieving communication between injection and production wells in tar sand deposits)
March 2, 1992... F. Greebe of Esso Resources Canada Ltd. has been granted a patent on a method for achieving communication between injection and production wells in tar sand deposits. The method includes excavating a cavity at a point where the injection well...

Stuntz underscores industry's dire straits. (Acting Deputy Energy Secretary Linda Stuntz cites reduction in employment by more than 600,000 jobs between 1982 and 1989 by 23 major domestic oil companies, with figures still unknown for 1990 and 1991 according to Department of Energy records)
March 9, 1992... Acting Deputy Energy Secretary Linda Stuntz admits even she was surprised when she looked at the volume of jobs lost in the domestic petroleum industry -- particularly in the oil and gas extraction segment -- since 1982. Speaking to...

Kerr-McGee starts Wyo. flood. (Kerr-McGee Corp. plans waterflood in its House Creek Unit in Campbell County, Wyoming)
March 9, 1992... Kerr-McGee Corp., Oklahoma City, hopes to increase oil production to 2,700 b/d after a new polymer-aided waterflood takes hold in its House Creek Unit in Campbell County, Wyo., near several other IOR projects. Before initial water...

Lateral well system touted. (August Construction Inc. and Digital Petrophysics Inc. form joint venture and seek site to try out newly developed Terrasphere Lateral Well system)
March 9, 1992... A California-based joint venture is looking for a site to try out its newly developed Terrasphere Lateral Well system. August Construction Inc. of Gardena, Calif., and Digital Petrophysics Inc. of Bakersfield, Calif., are looking at...

Venezuela deals still on. (national oil company Petroleos de Venezuala S.A. continues talks with Veba OeL AG, a German refining company, about development of heavy oil reserves in Venezuela's Orinoco Basin)
March 9, 1992... Despite the recent abortive military coup in Venezuela, two fledgling Orinoco heavy oil development projects apparently are still on track. Veba OEL AG, the large German refining company, says that in spite of the coup, it intends to...

CIS directory published. (Commonwealth of Independent States publishes directory of oil and gas enterprises listing producers, refiners, gas processors, oilfields services and equipment suppliers)
March 9, 1992... A directory of oil and gas enterprises in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) -- formerly the Soviet Union -- is available, listing producers, refiners, gas processors, oilfield services and equipment suppliers. The book,...

Steamflood prompts expansion. (Mobil Corp. plans expansion of steamflood program after positive performance in California's Lost Hills field)
March 9, 1992... Performance of a Mobil Corp. pilot steamflood in California's Lost Hills field has been so good that the company plans to expand the program into an additional 80- to 100-acre area this year. Target of the expansion will be 8 million-10...

Amoco uses Kern River pipe. (Amoco Production Co. begins delivery of natural gas to cogeneration and improved oil recovery customers in Southern California via Kern River Gas Transmission Co.'s pipeline from Wyoming)
March 9, 1992... Amoco Production Co.'s gas marketing subsidiary last week began its deliveries of nearly 120 mmcf/d of natural gas to a variety of cogeneration and IOR customers in Southern California. Gas sales by Amoco Energy Trading Corp. are being...

Casing swabs up Appalachian well life. (producers in Appalachian Basin install new type of casing swab to keep marginal stripper wells pumping)
March 9, 1992... If they're making natural gas along with their oil production, some producers in the Appalachian Basin are installing a downhole tool in their marginal wells to help keep them pumping. As in other areas, producers in Appalachia have long...

Steam ups Midway-Sunset estimate. (steam injection improves performance of California's Midway-Sunset field)
March 9, 1992... Strong production performance by the Midway-Sunset field has prompted California's Oil and Gas Division to raise the field's estimated recoverable reserves by 500 million barrels. With the addition, reserves are reckoned at 695 million...

66% of independents use IOR. (according to survey by Independent Petroleum Association of America, more than two-thirds of U.S. independent producers use improved recovery methods to extract additional production from established oil and gas reservoirs)
March 9, 1992... More than two-thirds of U.S. independent producers use improved recovery methods to extract additional production from established oil and gas reservoirs, say members of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America in a recent survey. This...

A.R. Jennings Jr. and R.C. Smith of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent method for providing solids-free production from heavy oil reservoirs, U.S. Patent No. 5,036,917)
March 9, 1992... A.R. Jennings Jr. and R.C. Smith of Mobil Oil Corp. have patented a method for providing solids-free production from heavy oil reservoirs. The method requires at least two wells, both perforated and then hydraulically fractured with a viscous...

E. Park Guimon. (patents solvent and water/surfactant process for removal of bitumen from tar sands contaminated with clay, U.S. Patent No. 4,968,412)
March 9, 1992... E. Park Guimon has patented a solvent and water/surfactant process for removal of bitumen from tar sands contaminated with clay. The bitumen is dissolved with an organic solvent such as condensate from a natural gas well. The clay is separated...

C.A. Glandt, H.J. Vinegar and J.W. Gardner of Shell Oil Co. (patent method and apparatus for producing tar sands deposits containing conductive layers, U.S. Patent No. 5,042,579)
March 9, 1992... C.A. Glandt, H.J. Vinegar and J.W. Gardner of Shell Oil Co. have patented a method and apparatus for producing tar sands deposits containing conductive layers. The relatively conductive layers, which are a small fraction of the total thickness...

Jan. Texas horizontal permits drop by 1. (Texas Railroad Commission issues 59 permits to drill horizontal or sidetrack wells in January 1992 down one from December 1991; 2,255 horizontal drilling permits issued since 1984)
March 9, 1992... Fifty-nine permits to drill horizontal or sidetrack wells were granted in Texas during January, down just one from the previous month, says the Texas Railroad Commission. In all, the RRC has issued 2,255 horizontal drilling permits in the...

Wyoming increases watch over idle wells. (Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission takes steps to protect ground water from abandoned oil and gas wells by raising bonds which operators must post to cover reclamation)
March 16, 1992... The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is worried that too many of the state's oil and gas wells may be "forgotten" as majors shift their emphasis away from domestic drilling. So the panel is taking steps to protect such subsurface...

IOR boosts Canadian field output. (Canadian Pioneer Energy Inc. participates in two horizontal wells in Panny field in northern Alberta, Canada and reports 'good quality' reservoirs)
March 16, 1992... The winter drilling program conducted in the Panny field in Northern Alberta, which includes two horizontal wells, apparently has paid off well for the producers developing the field. According to Canadian Pioneer Energy Inc., Calgary, the...

Bush finally sets BLM royalty reduction. (George Bush announces initiative to encourage operators to place shut-in oil wells back into production thus increasing U.S. oil production and creating domestic oil industry jobs by allowing Bureau of Land Management to trim royalty rate on qualified stripper oil properties to a graduated scale)
March 16, 1992... The Interior Dept. has formally announced it will trim the royalty rate on qualified (15 b/d or less) stripper oil properties to a graduated scale of 0.5% for wells producing less than 1 b/d. The scale moves upward 0.5% for each additional...

Conoco plans Alaska waterflood. (Conoco Inc. begins waterflood improved oil recovery program on Schrader Bluff pool in Milne Point field on Alaska's North Slope)
March 16, 1992... Conoco Inc. this month begins work on a waterflood IOR program expected to double ultimate recovery from the Schrader Bluff pool in the Milne Point field on Alaska's North Slope. The company brought the pool on production in March 1991 as...

GRI loses 2 pipeline members. (ANR Pipeline Co. and United Gas Pipe Line Co. stop participation in Gas Research Institute, a joint venture among private natural gas industry companies including producers, pipelines and distribution companies)
March 16, 1992... Two interstate pipeline companies have decided to opt out of participation in the Gas Research Institute, and if things don't get better pretty soon, others will follow their lead. ANR Pipeline Co. and United Gas Pipe Line Co. have dropped...

Steam upgrades South Belridge yield. (estimate of California's South Belridge field's recoverable oil reserves upgraded after Shell Oil Co.'s steam injection development program boosts production)
March 16, 1992... Steam injection in California's South Belridge field prompted the state Oil and Gas Division to upgrade its estimate of the field's recoverable reserves. The action comes in the wake of a similar upgrade for the Midway-Sunset field (IRW...

Qatar offers swap. (Qatar General Petroleum Corp. prepares to offer foreign oil companies share of incremental oil produced at onshore and offshore fields in exchange for advanced technical help to maintain production)
March 16, 1992... Qatar is looking for foreign oil companies to help provide advanced technical help to maintain oil production at onshore and offshore fields. In an important departure from policy, Qatar General Petroleum Corp. is prepared to offer the...

For rent: MRI spectrometer. (Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority allocated use of magnetic resonance imaging spectrometer by Petroleum Recovery Institute, which will be available for use by individuals and organizations for petroleum industry research and development)
March 16, 1992... The Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority has been allocated use of a newly commissioned Bruker Biospec 24/30 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) spectrometer for up to 300 hours per year. In turn, AOSTRA, based in Calgary,...

Big Horn Basin horizontal set. (Union Pacific Resources Co. and Hayes Oil and Gas Co. plan spud of horizontal well in Big Horn Basin of Wyoming in April 1992)
March 16, 1992... Fort Worth, Texas-based Union Pacific Resources Co. and Arlington, Texas-based Hayes Oil & Gas Co. plan to spud a horizontal well next month in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. UPRC, which recently bought 75% of Hayes' interest in about...

Mobil, Unocal announce changes. (Mobil Corp. and Unocal Corp. reorganize corporate lineups)
March 16, 1992... Mobil Corp. and Unocal Corp. have been active recently in reorganizing their respective corporate lineups. Mobil has formed a unit to handle its petroleum development activities in Eastern Europe and South America. Called the Strategic...

Wyo. may finance CO2 pipeline. (Wyoming Natural Gas Pipeline Authority considers making loan to finance carbon dioxide pipeline to help improved oil recovery projects in state oil fields)
March 16, 1992... The Wyoming Natural Gas Pipeline Authority is considering making a $30 million, low-interest loan to finance a carbon dioxide pipeline to help IOR projects in some of the state's oil fields. Though the pipeline authority agreed it was...

Stripper commission proposed in Oklahoma. (Oklahoma Senate committee recommends creation of commission on marginally producing oil and gas wells to establish a way to categorize, research and collect information on stripper wells)
March 16, 1992... An Okahoma Senate committee has recommended creation of a nine-member commission on marginally producing oil and gas wells. In Oklahoma, wells that produce 10 b/d of oil or gas equivalent are categorized as strippers, and some 72,000...

F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. (patents method for recovering viscous oil from formations underlain by water zone, U.S. Patent No. 4,961,467)
March 16, 1992... F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. has patented a method for recovering viscous oil from a formation underlain by a water zone. Steam is injected into the formation via the injection well at the oil/water contact and oil is recovered from the...

Prudhoe Bay miscible project to more than double. (largest improved oil recovery project in the world, operated by B.P. Exploration Inc., Arco Alaska Inc., and Exxon Co. U.S.A.'s Alaska Interest Organization, receives approval by Alaska Oil and Gas Commission to expand)
March 23, 1992... Thanks to a recent ruling by the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, the Prudhoe Bay Miscible Project -- already the largest IOR project in the world -- will more than double in size during the next several years. Under the new setup, the...

Chevron boosts pilot waterflood. (expansion plans for oil recovery project in Lost Hills field, San Joaquin Valley, California)
March 23, 1992... Chevron plans major expansion of a pilot waterflood designed to recover a larger share of an estimated 3 billion barrels of oil originally in place beneath the company's holdings in the Lost Hills field in California's San Joaquin Valley. ...

Burma solicits IOR assistance. (government-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise seeks improved oil recovery assistance to rehabilitate domestic onshore oil fields)
March 23, 1992... Burma recently designated two oil and gas fields as suitable for IOR technology, and is looking for help in getting it done. Additionally, two U.S. companies -- Eastman Christensen and Oil Tools Inc. -- have set up offices in Rangoon to...

BP ups Orimulsion supply. (BP Bitor expects to reach European sales of 20 million to 30 million tons per year of Orimulsion power-station fuel by the year 2000 despite criticism from environmentalists warning of increased sulfur dioxide emissions)
March 23, 1992... Despite criticism from environmentalists, BP Bitor Ltd. will meet its target to reach European sales of 20 million-30 million tons/yr of Orimulsion power-station fuel by 2000. A joint venture between British Petroleum Co. and Petroleos de...

Nigeria forms research body. (new petroleum research institute scheduled to open at Port Harcourt in 1994)
March 23, 1992... To reduce reliance on the technology of the foreign companies operating joint ventures with the Nigerian National Oil Co. inside Nigeria, that country has instituted a petroleum research institute. According to Oil Minister Jabril Aminu,...

IOGA files tight sand bid. (Independent Oil & Gas Association of Pennsylvania files application with Environmental Resources Department to extend designated 'tight sand' areas)
March 23, 1992... The Independent Oil & Gas Assn. of Pennsylvania has submitted an application to extend the designated "tight sands" areas in that state. Information to designate the Catskill-Lockhaven formations in Clinton and Lycoming counties and the...

Global spins ahead with Tatarstan. (Global Natural Resources Inc. plans implementation of several well stimulation and field development projects in Tatarstan with joint venture partner, Tatneft Amalgamation)
March 23, 1992... Houston-based Global Natural Resources Inc. expects to forge ahead late this month or early next on several well stimulation and field development projects in Tatarstan, a member nation of the Russian Federation. Unfazed by recent horror...

N.M. producers get tax relief. (New Mexico Legislature and Governor Bruce King pass the Enhanced Oil Recovery Act that provides a 1.87% tax incentive for secondary and tertiary enhancement programs certified in advance by state Oil Conservation Division)
March 23, 1992... If, at first, you don't succeed, try again. The New Mexico Legislature passed 23 of the 72 measures being tracked by the New Mexico Oil & Gas Assn., but perhaps the most important one -- a tax incentive for secondary and tertiary...

Reservoir simulator marketed. (GEOLITH, a software package developed by Chevron Research & Technology Co., is being marketed by Terrasciences Inc.)
March 23, 1992... Terrasciences Inc., based in Lakewood, Colo., is marketing GEOLITH, a software package developed by a major oil company that Terrasciences says permits more accurate geological models for reservoir characterization and simulation. The...

Suncor operations costly, profitable. (Suncor Inc. sells 10 million shares of common stock in second offering)
March 23, 1992... Suncor Inc. may have lost some backing by Alberta's provincial government, but its shares are still popular on the stock market. The profitable Canadian synthetic oil producer -- owned partially by the Alberta government and partially by...

House panel tackles methane royalty issue. (House mining and natural resources subcommittee approve Congressman Nick Joe Rahall, II's H.R. 4186 that would require states to set up boards to administer coalbed methane programs)
March 23, 1992... A congressional panel has approved efforts to resolve royalty and ownership fights that frequently crop up in coalbed methane development. The House mining and natural resources subcommittee last week approved a measure -- H.R. 4186 --...

Newest 'automatic' rig undergoes U.K. testing. (Strachan and Henshaw Ltd. delivers update on drilling field trials conducted with 'proof-of-concept' rig)
March 30, 1992... "Surely," a dozen or more oil service and drilling companies seem to be saying, "if we can put a man on the moon, we can come up with a workable 'automatic' drilling rig." It would seem that at a time when cutting costs could be crucial to...

BP finals N. Sea horizontal plan. (British Petroleum Company PLC completes first offshore horizontal drilling program in Southern Basin of North Sea)
March 30, 1992... Because of its initial success with horizontal drilling in a newer offshore field, a North Sea operator plans to use the technology to improve natural gas recovery in an old field -- 25 years old, to be exact. British Petroleum Ltd....

IPAA cites 'national emergency'. (Independent Petroleum Association of America Chairman Eugene Ames, Jr. calls for federal government to declare domestic petroleum industry a national emergency due to successive low levels of drilling; he wants immediate removal of punitive federal taxation and excessive federal regulations from industry)
March 30, 1992... The chairman of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America is calling for the federal government to declare the domestic petroleum industry in "a national emergency." Chairman Eugene Ames Jr. says his group's call comes in light of...

Reservoir simulator on market. (Boffin Inc. to handle U.S. marketing of comprehensive reservoir simulator developed in France, named 'Fragor')
March 30, 1992... Dallas-based Boffin Inc. will handle U.S. marketing of "Fragor," a comprehensive reservoir simulator developed in France. According to the U.S. marketer, the simulator can be used to model a broad range of reservoir problems, and contains...

Australia due more IOR projects. (Santos Ltd. wants to introduce improved oil recovery technologies to other oil fields in South Australia's Cooper Basin)
March 30, 1992... With the success of Australia's first miscible flood IOR project, oil producer Santos Ltd. is looking to introduce enhanced technologies to other fields in South Australia's Cooper Bsin. Santos, which operates the lone Cooper Basin tertiary...

San Joaquin Valley horizontal planned. (Texas Crude Exploration Inc. to apply horizontal drilling technology to produce oil from shale underlying farm fields near Shafter, California)
March 30, 1992... Still another company hopes to beat vertical well production by drilling a horizontal in a fractured shale formation in California's San Joaquin Valley. Houston-based Texas Crude Exploration Inc. will apply horizontal drilling technology...

IOR changes suggested to IRS. (California Independent Petroleum Association submits suggestions to Internal Revenue Service for changes to regulations on tax credits for advanced secondary and tertiary oil recovery operations proposed by Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Dept.)
March 30, 1992... CIPA wants the IRS to make IOR changes PDQ. The California Independent Petroleum Assn. (CIPA) this week will submit to the Internal Revenue Service in Washington several suggested changes to the proposed IRS-Treasury Dept. regulations on...

Ecuador heavy oil to be exported. (Ecuador encourages U.S. refiners to to import heavier, higher-sulfur mixture instead of medium-grade crude)
March 30, 1992... Ecuador plans to encourage U.S. refiners to switch from importing medium-grade crude from the Oriente Basin to a heavier, higher-sulfur mixture made available by heavy oil production recently tapped in the country's Amazon Basin. Ecuador,...

D.G. Naae of Texaco Inc. (U.S. Patent No. 5,027,898) (patents foam method for improving conformance during a steamflood or carbon dioxide flood in underground formation)
March 30, 1992... D.G. Naae of Texaco Inc. has patented a foam method for improving conformance during a steamflood or carbon dioxide flood in an underground formation penetrated by at least one injection well and at least one production well. The method...

J.D. Tyrer of Ortech Corp. (U.S. Patent No. 5,055,179) (patents method for upgrading heavy crude oils thermally in presence of water and polyhydroxy metal bentonite in autoclave)
March 30, 1992... J.D. Tyrer of Ortech Corp. has patented a method for upgrading heavy crude oils thermally in the presence of water and a polyhydroxy metal bentonite in an autoclave, particularly at a temperature of about 200[degrees]-300[degrees] C (U.S....