Improved Recovery Week articles from March 1997

Improved Recovery Week archives from March 1997

Funding set for four reservoir fluid imaging projects by DeepLook, producer/service firm/lab partnership.
March 3, 1997... A new organization formed by a group of oil and gas producing and service companies announced last week Houston that it has funded four research projects into reservoir fluids imaging. The new group, DeepLook, will manage the projects, which...

GRI to launch fracture mapping service; plans microseismics use for measurement. (Gas Research Institute)
March 3, 1997... Beginning in May, in an attempt to induce optimum fractures and improve field development, Gas Research Institute will begin field-testing a hydraulic fracture mapping service (HFMS). The idea for the HFMS - which will be tested at different...

DOE outlines the kind of shared-funding research it would embrace in coming months. (Dept. of Energy)
March 3, 1997... Even though its very existence is threatened, the Energy Dept. is studying efforts to acquire research during the remainder of Fiscal Year 1997 (ended Oct. 31, 1997) in a number of oil and gas exploration/production areas. Included in DOE's...

Imperial seeks heavy oil expansion okay; plans 30K-b/d production hike, cogen plant. (Imperial Oil Ltd.)
March 3, 1997... Calgary-based Imperial Oil Ltd. recently applied to both the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Environmental Protection for approval of an expansion of its heavy oil operations at Cold Lake in the northeastern part of the province....

Producers, service firms set casing, cementing plans for Forties field multi-laterals in N. Sea. (efforts to improve recovery at the Forties oil field in the North Sea)
March 3, 1997... Techniques to case and cement multi-lateral wellbores have been developed for the first well of its type drilled to improve late-life recovery from the Forties oil field in the U.K. Sector of the North Sea. Supported by funding from the...

Mobil, CalResources file for 87 development wells at California's South Beldridge field.
March 3, 1997... Both Mobil Oil Corp. and CalResources LLC have work for the billion-bbl. South Belridge field, a 1911 discovery in the south end of California's San Joaquin Valley that finished last year as the sixth most productive field in the U.S. The two...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
March 3, 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)....

Norway govt. oversight of production planning spurred early formulation of IOR/EOR planning, says official. (Leif Hinderaker, senior adviser to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate; improved oil recovery; enhanced oil recovery)
March 10, 1997... A Norwegian government official last week said anticipation of declining primary depletion at offshore fields on Norway's Outer Continental Shelf led the government and producers to begin early to formulate both IOR and EOR plans. Left...

GRI leads development of co-op 3-D software. (Gas Research Institute)
March 10, 1997... Gas Research Institute and a Boulder, Colo. geophysical contractor have agreed to develop an advanced set of 3-D seismic software programs and techniques for gas exploration. These products are expected to provide the industry with substantial...

Industry showing stronger signs in Utah; '95 drilling permits highest since 1992.(Industry Overview)
March 10, 1997... Reports of the demise of the oil and gas industry in Utah are greatly exaggerated, say state officials. In reality, according to the Utah Oil, Gas and Mining Div, there are ample indications of stronger life signs. While oil and gas...

ARCO springs for West Sak heavy oil development; total cost estimated at $92 million. (ARCO Alaska Inc.)
March 10, 1997... Development of the West Sak heavy oil accumulation on Alaska's North Slope is slated to start in October, says ARCO Alaska, operator of the large, shallow reservoir that overlies much of the ARCO-operated Kuparuk field. The company said its...

Possible loss of E.U. support for O&G sector prompts scientists to plan 'cleaner' projects. (oil and gas exploration)
March 10, 1997... Scientists working on oil and gas projects in Europe plan to give priority to "clean" technologies in an attempt to retain funding for their work. That includes the potential for slimming down the size of and relocation to subsea sites - or...

Caltex to up spending at giant Sumatran fields; incentive offered for Minas steamflood. (Caltex Pacific Indonesia P.T.)
March 10, 1997... With the giant Minas and Dud fields in central Sumatra forming the core of its production, PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia said recently it will increase both spending and overall production in those fields in 1997. Baihaki Hakim, president of...

State oil and gas incentives subject of new IOGCC study. (Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission)
March 10, 1997... In recent years, state-created incentives to maximize oil and gas recovery have materially resulted in oil and gas production that otherwise would have been lost, says a new study. Results from the study, Investments in Energy Security: State...

Two major companies to test flow optimization program. (Mobil Oil Corp.; Alberta Energy Co.; Netopt oil and gas production optimization software)
March 10, 1997... Both Mobil Oil Corp. and Alberta Energy Co. will soon begin testing a new oil and gas production optimization software program. The program, Netopt, allows producers to integrate reservoir performance with surface facility processes to provide...

Firm to pitch use of microwave technology to recover crude from Kuwait 'oil lakes.' (EMR Microwave Technology Corp.)
March 10, 1997... The possibility of using its proprietary high-power microwave liquefaction technology on some 460 "oil lakes" created in Kuwait at the close of the Gulf War is nearing reality for EMR Microwave Corp. That company, headquartered in Fredericton,...

10-year extension sought for Texas EOR tax incentive; other states use it as model. (enhanced oil recovery)
March 10, 1997... Texas' enhanced oil recovery incentive program, instituted in 1989, updated in 1991, and scheduled to expire at the end of this year, will get an additional 10-year extension if a new bill gets to the governor's desk. Senate Bill 582,...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands and Information Services; improved oil recovery)
March 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)....

With new name, Suncor Energy continues expansion despite wider differentials in heavy, light oil price. (Suncor Inc.)
March 17, 1997... Calgary-based Suncor Inc. plans to continue to expand internationally with its hard-won expertise in oil sands bitumen and heavy oil extraction/upgrading. But the company says it's interested in both upstream and downstream conventional oil...

Horizontal drilling planned for vertically fractured reservoirs in Colombia's interior. (horizontal oil well drilling technology)
March 17, 1997... The parts of Colombia's Middle Magdalena Valley and Llanos basins that exhibit vertically fractured reservoirs may soon be tested with horizontal drilling technology, if current plans by at least two producing companies come to fruition. In...

Sending accountants offshore saves BP $30 million; plans using them in U.K., Alaska. (British Petroleum)
March 17, 1997... Sending accountants offshore helped British Petroleum lop about $30 million from 1996 costs of operating its ageing Forties field in the North Sea. Previously, cost control was handled by engineers based onshore. The annual operating budget...

ARCO, BP continue expansion of new North Slope fields; added reserves top billion bbls. (ARCO Alaska Inc. and BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. continue oil extraction projects in Alaska's North Slope)
March 17, 1997... Rumors of the impending "demise" of Alaska's North Slope oil reserves are, as the tale goes, greatly exaggerated. The newswires have been humming lately as stories of new oil developments in the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk River area are made public by...

Numac hires heavy, conventional oil reserves. (Numac Energy Inc. expands heavy oil production in Western Canada)
March 17, 1997... Calgary-based Numac Energy Inc., 52% of which is owned by a consortium of Hong Kong-based investors, continues to refocus its operations in Western Canada to boost production in core areas and move into a major heavy oil production program....

Shell Canada files papers for lease 13 oil sands project; ultimate bitumen production estimated at 300,000 b/d. (barrels/day)(Shell Canada Ltd.)
March 24, 1997... The largest new Canadian oil sands mining development in 25 years will get underway late next year if Calgary-based Shell Canada Ltd. gets a prompt go-ahead for its proposed Lease 13 Project in the Athabasca oil sands region of northern Alberta....

UPR Texas chalk activity still paying off; drills 'largest' flow-based onshore horizontal. (Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.)
March 24, 1997... While most of its drilling/production news in recent months has stemmed from its operations in Louisiana, Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. (UPR) last week reminded observers that it still continues to cut a big swath in Texas. Fort Worth,...

Half of Permian Basin producers plan advanced secondary, tertiary projects.
March 24, 1997... Of 43 active producers in the Permian Basin of West Texas/Southeastern New Mexico, about half plan to institute enhanced off recovery projects. Of those, 16 are advanced secondary recovery water-floods, and five are carbon dioxide floods. In a...

Pena, Godley assure congressional panels Elk Hills sale won't go if bids come in too low. (Energy Secretary Frederico Pena, Assistant Secretary Patricia Fry Godley)
March 24, 1997... Top Energy Dept. officials - including newly appointed Energy Secretary Federico Pena - told Congressional committees last week that if the price offered by private companies for the government's share of the Elk Hills field is not high enough,...

DOE awards $1.5 million grant to geoscience repository program to save log, seismic data. (Department of Energy)
March 24, 1997... The Energy Dept. recently awarded a $1.5 million grant to the American Geological Institute (AGI), Alexandria, Va., to develop a repository for formerly proprietary oil company geoscience data that was in danger of being destroyed. The grant...

Shell U.K. orders 15 'smart' completion systems; downhole computer nullifies need for workover rig.
March 31, 1997... Shell (U.K.) E&P Ltd. is the first North Sea oil company to opt for installation of the new system of "smart" wells marketed by Petroleum Engineering Services (PES). The technology, for which PES has a worldwide marketing deal with Halliburton...

UPR/Benton form bidding partnership for Venezuela's third round of marginal fields. (Union Pacific Resource Group Inc.; Benton Oil and Gas Co.)
March 31, 1997... They haven't said which blocks they have place bids on, but Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. (UPR) and Benton Oil and Gas Co. revealed last week they have executed a joint study and bid agreement for response to Venezuela's third auction of...

Using horizontal wells and submersible pumps, Texaco starts Captain's heavy oil flow. (Texaco North Sea U.K. Ltd.)
March 31, 1997... Texaco North Sea U.K. Ltd. is now producing relatively heavy oil from the Captain field, located in 340' of water about 90 miles northeast of Aberdeen in Block 13/22a of the U.K. continental shelf. Texaco planned to begin producing oil from...

Producing company/laboratory consortium developing new technology for tiltmeters.
March 31, 1997... A consortium of government and private laboratories, a group of producing com-parties and a university are entering their third year of developing a better tiltmeter, and are busy testing the equipment in oil fields around the United States....

Conservation efforts steer produced water from Kern River steamflood to irrigate crops. (Texaco E&P Inc.'s steamflood project)
March 31, 1997... For a number of years, Texaco E&P Inc. has conducted one of the world's largest steamflood projects at the Kern River field in California's San Joaquin Basin heavy oil area near Bakersfield. Kern River, Texaco's largest U.S. producing field,...

Fountain suspends Albanian operation. (Fountain Oil Inc.)
March 31, 1997... Houston-based Fountain Oil Inc. said it recently suspended field rejuvenation activities in the Gorisht-Kocul field in Albania due to the political unrest in that Eastern European country. Fountain and Albpetrol, the Albanian national oil...