Improved Recovery Week articles from October 1993

Improved Recovery Week archives from October 1993

Majors, independent score Russian projects. (contracts for oil field development)
October 4, 1993... The last several weeks have seen a flurry of oil field development activity in Russia, involving Western-based major and independent producers working with federation oil authorities. A major Russian development, however - with President...

DOE's new policy: no import caps.
October 4, 1993... Only days after a chief lieutenant tap-danced around the possibility that the Energy Dept. might introduce oil import caps, William White, the deputy energy secretary, said there are plans for neither a fee nor a cap. DOE is, however,...

DOE seeks IOR cost-sharing proposals. (improved oil recovery projects for new classes of reservoirs)
October 4, 1993... The Energy Dept. has announced it will solicit IOR project proposals worth $80 million for cost-shared field demonstrations for two new classes of reservoirs. The solicitations are part of the department's ongoing efforts to prolong the...

Nuclear LWD tool can be fished. (logging-while-drilling tool can be fished by wireline from wellbore)
October 4, 1993... The dual nuclear sources contained in Schlumberger's Compensated Density Neutron (CDN) tool can be "fished" from the wellbore by wireline, says the company. This "fishability" was a chief design criterion for the logging-while-drilling...

Interior bill includes energy research. (Department of the Interior)
October 4, 1993... Republican U.S. Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma has won Senate approval for several energy projects during deliberations on the fiscal year 1994 appropriations bill for the Interior Dept. The projects were funded at Nickles' request, as the...

Offshore trilaterals cut drilling costs by 34%. (Unocal Corp. finishes trilateral oil wells in Dos Cuadras field in Santa Barbara Channel, California)
October 4, 1993... Unocal Corp. has completed three trilateral wells that have added 2,300 b/d to production from Platform B in the Dos Cuadras field of California's Santa Barbara Channel. And the company is preparing to complete a fourth well that is...

Forest sets recompletion project. (Forest Oil Corp. plans secondary oil recovery projects)
October 4, 1993... Forest Oil Corp., Denver, is planning future exploitation and recompletion projects for three fields it acquired recently from Arco Oil & Gas Inc. The company signed letters of intent last week to acquire Arco's interests in one offshore...

Firm slates Colombian infill plan. (Consolidated Eurocan Ventures Ltd. starts infill oil well drilling project in Middle Magdelena Valley, Colombia)
October 4, 1993... Consolidated Eurocan Ventures Ltd., Vancouver, said it is beginning an infill drilling program at the Payoa field, located in the Las Monas concession in Colombia's Middle Magdelena Valley. The company began the program with spudding of the...

Enron sees $60 million in credits. (Enron Oil and Gas Co. reports profits from energy tax credits)
October 4, 1993... Enron Oil & Gas Co., a subsidiary of Houston-based Enron Corp., says it will realize $60 million in Sect. 29 and other tax credits in 1993 for natural gas wells drilled in tight sand formations. That is up from $42.5 million in 1992;...

Duri IOR project to get pipelined gas. (improved oil recovery project in Duri, Indonesia)
October 4, 1993... A new pipeline in Indonesia will be routed so that gas can be drawn off for use at the huge IOR project at Duri. The President Director of Indonesia's state-owned Perum Gas Negara, Qoyum Tjandranegara, said the gas pipeline, to be built in...

GRI completes round of fracture fluid tests. (Gas Research Institute)
October 4, 1993... The Gas Research Institute, Chicago, recently completed a first round of fracture fluid testing at a facility at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. GRI, in partnership with the Energy Dept., MTS Systems, Halliburton Services, the...

J.A. Masek. (patents method and apparatus for secondary oil recovery; U.S. Patent No. 5,217,076)
October 4, 1993... J.A. Masek has patented a method and apparatus for improved oil recovery from porous subsurface deposits such as tar sands, comprising mining and drilling a well with upper and lower horizontal rectangular grids extending outward into the...

Oil execs assail U.S. 'political risks.' (oil company executives oppose government restrictions on oil and gas exploration and development)
October 11, 1993... Top executives of major oil companies and independents took the opportunity last week in Houston to attack U.S. government restrictions on oil and gas exploration and development. It was probably no coincidence that the Energy Dept. is...

Firm completes chalk bender. (Alexander Energy Corp. completes horizontal oil well in Fayette County, Texas)
October 11, 1993... Oklahoma City-based Alexander Energy Corp. has completed a prolific Austin Chalk trend horizontal well in Fayette County, Texas. The Dusek Well No. 4H was drilled horizontally to about 2,861' from a 10,610' vertical wellbore. In a 24-hour...

Energy initiative offers oil, gas incentives. (Department of Energy proposes tax credits, new technology and maintenance of marginal oil wells to stimulate domestic petroleum production)
October 11, 1993... The draft of the Energy Dept.'s plans to help domestic petroleum reads like a wish list for both the oil and natural gas producing segments of the industry, particularly those engaged in improved recovery. The proposals include expanding...

Alberta Energy applies for line. (Express Pipeline Ltd. unit of Alberta Energy Company Ltd. seeks permission to build and operate synthetic oil pipeline)
October 11, 1993... Express Pipeline Ltd., a unit of Alberta Energy Co., Calgary, has applied for approval to build and operate the Canadian section of a major 24" bitumen/synthetic oil pipeline from Hardisty, Alberto, to Casper, Wyo. The company said the...

N. Sea Hyde field on stream. (Hyde oil field in North Sea)
October 11, 1993... The Hyde field in the British sector of the North Sea is now on stream, delivering 45 mmcf/d of gas from two horizontal wells to a pipeline to shore. The operator, British Petroleum Co. Ltd., said horizontal drilling, among other factors,...

Majors join Chesapeake in horizontal play. (Texaco Exploration and Production Inc. and Mobil Corp. join Chesapeake Energy Corp. in directional drilling joint venture in Sho-Vel-Tum oil field, Oklahoma)
October 11, 1993... Both Texaco E&P Inc. and Mobil Corp. have reached a preliminary agreement with Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. to begin a horizontal drilling joint venture in the Sho-Vel-Tum field in Southern Oklahoma. Aubrey McClendon,...

Coalbed methane deals set. (includes multiple briefs)
October 11, 1993... A coalbed methane reserve acquisition and a production hookup were recently announced by companies operating in the San Juan Basin of Colorado and New Mexico. Central Resources Inc., Denver, has completed acquisition of 300 coalbed...

DOE plans drilling R&D program. (Department of Energy; research and development)
October 11, 1993... The Geothermal Division of the Energy Dept. is proposing a national research and development initiative in drilling and excavation technologies. The division hopes to find better, less-costly ways of penetrating rock and other materials,...

Unocal to drill Midway-Sunset horizontal. (plans horizontal oil well in San Joaquin Valley, California)
October 11, 1993... Unocal Corp. will try for new production in the southeastern portion of the Midway-Sunset field in California's San Joaquin Valley with a horizontal well. The venture is the Jergins Well No. H-1, located on the Jergins property in Sec. 4,...

Old oil fields probed for gas 'sweet spots.' (oil fields of Venango County, Pennsylvania)
October 11, 1993... The old oil fields of Venango County, Pa., may not yet be done producing hydrocarbons. A number of fields that have produced oil for more than 100 years are again being tested with new drilling. But instead of drilling to the relatively...

August Texas horizontal permits hit 47. (Texas Railroad Commission reports on horizontal oil well drilling permits for August 1993)
October 11, 1993... The Texas Railroad Commission granted a total of 47 permits for horizontal wells statewide in August, reflecting a slight decline in activity from the previous month. By comparison, the PRC granted 52 horizontal permits in July, 62 in June...

R.G. Wall of Chevron Research and Technology Co. (patents method of improved oil recovery injection technique)
October 11, 1993... R.G. Wall of Chevron Research and Technology Co., San Francisco, Calif., has patented a method of IOR involving injecting into a reservoir of an oil-mobilizing agent comprising a gas and a surfactant, which agent is capable of mobilizing oil...

M.Y. Soliman and A.A. Danesky of Halliburton Co. (patent method to discern qualities of fractured formation; U.S. Patent No. 5,050,674)
October 11, 1993... M.Y. Soliman and A.A. Danesky of Halliburton Co., Duncan, Okla., have patented a method of determining characteristics of a fractured formation. It comprises injecting fluid into a wellbore, penetrating the formation to generate a fracture;...

P. Shu, C.H. Phelps, and R.C. Ng of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent method for control of formation profile at high temperatures; U.S. Patent No. 5,211,232)
October 11, 1993... P. Shu, C.H. Phelps, and R.C. Ng of Mobil Oil Corp. have a patent on a method for controlling the profile of a formation where temperature higher than 200 degrees F. is encountered. Initially, an aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide,...

E. Ostapovich and F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent improved oil recovery method utilizing in-situ combustion; U.S. Patent No. 5,211,230)
October 11, 1993... E. Ostapovich and F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. have patented a method for IOR through a horizontal production well in a subsurface formation by in-situ combustion. A horizontal production well is located in the lower portion of a heavy,...

New Mexico CO2 flood gets favorable results. (improved oil recovery project near Hobbs, New Mexico)
October 18, 1993... The first field-scale carbon dioxide/foam flood in New Mexico is showing a favorable response after two years of rapid surfactant-alternative-gas (SAG) foam generation injection slugs, followed by straight CO 2 injection. The project is...

N. Sea heavy oil field set for flow. (Texaco Britain Ltd. plans full development of Captain field in North Sea)
October 18, 1993... The Captain field in the British sector of the North Sea, with estimated reserves of 200 million barrels of 25[degrees] API oil, is ready for permanent production, says Texaco U.K. Ltd. With the end of a 100-day production test and another...

Oil sands system spawns insulation. (Solv-Ex Corp. develops new insulation material)
October 18, 1993... The oil sands processing system developed by Solv-Ex Corp., Albuquerque, N.M., has led to a new insulation material with a market value of about $1,200 a ton. The company developed the system for processing of oil sands ore for recovery of...

Howell completes two horizontals. (directional oil well drilling projects in Brazos County, Texas)
October 18, 1993... Houston-based Howell Corp. has announced completion of two Brazos County dual lateral horizontal wells in Texas' prolific Austin Chalk trend. The company said the McLaughlin Lake Unit Well No. 1 has totaled 75,820 barrels of oil and 50.5...

DOE seeks SBIR grant applicants. (Small Business Innovation Research Program)
October 18, 1993... The Energy Dept. is inviting small business firms to submit applications for some 200 individual grants of up to $75,000 each under its 12th annual solicitation for the Small Business Innovation Research program. A number of SBIR grants to...

Joint venture develops microbial sands tech. (Imperial Oil Ltd. collaborates with Canadian National Research Council for development of oil sands extraction technology)
October 18, 1993... The Canadian Government's National Research Council says it is collaborating with Imperial Oil Ltd. on a new extraction technology for use on oil sands from Western Canada. Not only is the oil quality higher than that produced with...

Exec laments public's lack of oil savvy. (Shell Western E and P Inc. official William P. Harper reports on economic aspects of petroleum industry)
October 18, 1993... Producers' close call with a Btu tax earlier this year threatened a triple hit on the California heavy oil industry, says William P. Harper. While the tax was rejected, said Harper, who is Shell Western E&P Inc.'s manager of regulatory and...

DOE drops tax breaks. (deletes tax incentives from National Energy Initiative)
October 18, 1993... In an ever-changing cavalcade of rumors, the Energy Dept. is now said to have decided against proposals for extensive tax incentives in the forthcoming National Energy Initiative. This latest "hint" stems from the Wall Street Journal. ...

Wyoming producers lament Canada line. (oil producers fear economic ramifications of oil pipeline proposed by Albert Energy Co. to bring bitumen/synthetic oil from Alberta to Wyoming)
October 18, 1993... That new bitumen/synthetic oil pipeline from Alberta to Wyoming isn't being welcomed with open arms at its destination in Casper, Wyoming's oil center. The C$470 million, 24[seconds] Express Pipeline, proposed by a unit of Calgary-based...

Rose Run drilling permits up 102% in Ohio. (through September 1993)
October 18, 1993... Ohio's own version of The Hunt for Red October continues unabated but this subsurface hunt involves the Rose Run sandstone at the Cambro-Ordovician unconformity. According to recent statistics from the Ohio Div. of Oil & Gas, 200 Rose Run...

R.N. Ayres. (patents equipment and method for injecting chemicals into producing oil well; U.S. patent No. 5,209,301)
October 18, 1993... R.N. Ayres has patented an apparatus and method for injecting chemicals into a producing well. The invention includes a first vessel for containing the chemical, a second vessel for containing a pressurized gas, a conduit for permitting the...

M.G. McNaughton, E. Ostapovich, and F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. (patent equipment for fluidizing formation fines for production oil wells penetrating oil-bearing formations; U.S. Patent 5,209,293)
October 18, 1993... M.G. McNaughton, E. Ostapovich, and F.N. Pebdani of Mobil Oil Corp. have patented an apparatus for fluidizing formation fines entrained in formation fluids entering a production well penetrating an oil-bearing formation. The production well...

D.S. Mims and D.L. Hoyt of Texaco Development Corp. (patent process to recover oil bypassed by steam override zone during steamflood; Canadian Patent No. 1,317,215)
October 18, 1993... D.S. Mims and D.L. Hoyt of Texaco Development Corp. have patented a method for recovery of oil bypassed by a steam override zone during a steamflood. This invention comprises a multi-step method of recompleting a production well in the interval...

Teapot Dome steam pilots deliver much-improved recovery. (Wyoming)
October 25, 1993... The Energy Dept. is touting 40% recovery at Wyoming's Teapot Dome with what it believes is the only light oil steamflood in the country. Some 800 b/d are being produced at Teapot Dome, formally known as Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3, from...

Paragon to drill Ontario benders. (Paragon Petroleum Corp. develops improved oil recovery program in Southwestern Ontario, Canada)
October 25, 1993... Paragon Petroleum Corp., a Calgary, Alberto-based independent, says it has begun a development drilling program in the Rochester area of Southwestern Ontario, and will soon drill the first horizontal well in that Eastern Canada pool. The...

Bitmin plans 60,000-b/d oil sands plant. (Bitmin Resources Ltd. plans construction of bitumen extraction plant in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada; barrels per day)
October 25, 1993... A revolutionary new bitumen extraction process developed recently in Canada is working so well that a 60,000-b/d commercial facility is scheduled for construction in Northern Alberta. Several months of testing at a 300-b/d pilot plant...

Murphy buys into Syncrude. (Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Syncrude Canada Ltd.)
October 25, 1993... Murphy Oil Co. Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corp., El Dorado, Ark., has signed a letter of intent with Canada's Alberta Province to purchase a 5% interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd. The proposed purchase price is C$150 million,...

Oxy drills Omani horizontal. (Occidental of Oman Inc. finishes horizontal oil well project in Oman)
October 25, 1993... As operator for a group, Occidental of Oman Inc., a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., Los Angeles, has completed a horizontal oil discovery well in the sultanate of Oman. The company said the Wadi Latham No. 1, the discovery well,...

DOE backs gas drilling in oil shale reserves. (Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell introduces legislation to allow leasing for production of gas from Naval Oil Shale Reserve, Colorado)
October 25, 1993... With development of synthetic crude from government oil shale lands virtually moribund due to bad economics, producers may get the chance to tap vast natural gas reserves beneath Colorado's shale lands under administration-backed legislation....

Arco to export California crude. (Arco Oil and Gas Co. to export heavy crude oil)
October 25, 1993... The Commerce Dept. has awarded Atlantic Richfield Co.'s Lower 48 exploration and production subsidiary, Arco Oil & Gas Co., a license to export up to 25,000 b/d of California heavy crude oil. This is the second such license made by DOC in...

Chevron tries Asphalto field horizontal. (Chevron U.S.A. Inc. drills horizontal oil well in Asphalto oil field, Kern County, California)
October 25, 1993... An aging California oil field that has been in decline since 1964 is getting a new lease on life with horizontal drilling technology. Chevron U.S.A. is drilling the Asphalto field's first horizontal with its Well No. 364 on Sec. 36,...

Directional drilling key to N.Z. development. (horizontal oil well drilling offers good yield in shallow oil reservoirs of New Zealand)
October 25, 1993... Precision directional drilling and pushing electric logs to their limits is continuing to yield good results in New Zealand's shallow oil reservoirs. These techniques have been more effective in Taranaki Province on New Zealand's West...

A.R. Jennings Jr. (patents method to dispose of fines; Canadian Patent No. 1,317,098)
October 25, 1993... A.R. Jennings Jr. has patented a method for disposing of fines obtained by producing very viscous hydrocarbon fluids from a formation. An aqueous slurry is made of the fines. This slurry is of a consistency sufficient to be used in a hydraulic...

J.P. Graham of AOSTRA. (patents apparatus to install piezometer in borehole; Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority; Canadian Patent No. 1,307,197)
October 25, 1993... J.P. Graham of AOSTRA has patented a device for installing a piezometer in a borehole at a predetermined elevation and to a novel method. Using this instrument, it is possible to install a plurality of piezometers within a single borehole and...

G.C. Sresty, R.H. Snow, and J.E. Bridges of IIT Research Institute. (patents method of in situ temperature elevation for recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from oil shale formation; U.S. Patent No. 4,485,869)
October 25, 1993... G.C. Sresty, R.H. Snow, and J.E. Bridges of IIT Research Institute have patented a method of in situ heating to recover liquid hydrocarbons from an oil shale formation containing kerogen in an inorganic matrix where the formation is...

Oil shale included in paper call. (Bandung Institute of Technology of Indonesia and University of Chicago seek papers on oil shale technology, coal gasification/liquefaction)
October 25, 1993... Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago need papers on oil shale technology and coal gasification and liquefaction. The papers will be prepared for the International Conference on Fluid and Thermal Energy...