Improved Recovery Week articles from October 1994

Improved Recovery Week archives from October 1994

Oxy signs big IOR production-sharing agreement in Qatar. (Occidental Petroleum Corp., improved oil recovery)
October 3, 1994... Occidental Petroleum Corp. has signed an agreement with the government of Qatar to improve oil production and recoverable reserves at the large Idd el Shargi North Dome field. Additionally, Oxy agreed to provide technical support and...

Arco/Corpoven seek upgrading. (Arco International Oil and Gas Co., Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, Venezuela)
October 3, 1994... A letter of intent has been signed by Arco International Oil and Gas Co. and Corpoven, S.A. to negotiate an agreement valued at $3.5 billion for a heavy oil production/upgrading project in Venezuela. The proposed agreement covers...

Solv-Ex gets Suncor tailings. (for metals recovery)
October 3, 1994... Solv-Ex Corp., with the technology to recover metal products -- chiefly alumina -- from oil sands tailings, just signed a deal with Suncor Inc. for access to that company's tailings at Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Solv-Ex, of...

Prudhoe Bay 70% depleted. (Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission statistics)
October 3, 1994... The Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission says the Prudhoe Bay oil field is more than 70% depleted. According to statistics provided by the commission, Prudhoe Bay -- which accounts for about two-thirds of North Slope production -- has...

Firms join for coiled tubing. (Ensco Technology Co. and Halliburton Energy Services)
October 3, 1994... Energy Service Co.'s Ensco Technology Co. unit has reached agreement on a joint venture with Halliburton Energy Services to provide coiled tubing directional and horizontal drilling services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the two...

U.S.-Canadian team wins coalgas rights. (Resource Enterprises Inc., Nova Scotia Power Inc. will produce coalbed methane from Pctou County, Nova Scotia)
October 3, 1994... Resource Enterprises Inc. of Salt Lake City and Nova Scotia Power Inc. recently won coalbed methane production rights for the Stellarton Basin of Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The REI/NSPI proposal calls for coalbed methane development...

Underbalanced drilling plan set. (Nowsco Well Service Ltd., Northland Production Testing Ltd.)
October 3, 1994... An agreement to market underbalanced drilling services in North America has been signed by Nowsco Well Services Ltd. and Northland Production Testing Ltd., both of Calgary, Alta. According to a Nowsco news release, the pact will allow both...

Archer: no incentives; btu tax this year. (Rep. Bill Archer's forecasts for oil and gas industry)
October 3, 1994... The bad news for oil and gas producers -- particularly independents -- is that there will be no legislative relief for the industry this year, since none of the bills containing this relief have been formally introduced. But the good news,...

New IOR patents. (A.A. Gregoli, J.A. Hamshar, D.P. Rimmer and E. Yildirim of Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. receive US Patent No 5,316,664 and C.F. Magnani of Chevron Research and Technology Co receives US Patent No 5,044,436)
October 3, 1994... A.A. Gregoli, J.A. Hamshar, D.P. Rimmer and E. Yildirim, all of Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., have patented a process for recovery of hydrocarbon or bitumen from tar sands as a bitumen and water stream (i.e. about 10% by weight bitumen with...

DOE gives nod to nine projects in Class III program. (Energy Department, Oil Recovery Field Demonstration Program)
October 10, 1994... From a grossly oversubscribed list of proposals, the Energy Dept. recently chose nine projects for federal cost-sharing in the latest stanza -- Class III -- of DOE's Oil Recovery Field Demonstration Program. DOE will share anywhere from...

DOE boosts Alaska coalgas. (Energy Department aid to coalbed methane producers)
October 10, 1994... The Energy Dept. has pledged assistance in Alaska's fledgling coalbed methane development. According to published reports, Deputy Energy Secretary Bill White said that based on positive results from a state-operated test well, he has told...

China's Tarim Basin presents IOR problems. (improved oil recovery)
October 10, 1994... The Peoples Republic of China is adopting various IOR techniques to improve production, but one of its largest oil fields may resist even the most sophisticated technology. In fact, so great are the extraction problems in the Tarim Basin...

Utes denied coalgas rights. (Native American tribe in Colorado)
October 10, 1994... A Native American tribe in Colorado has no right to coalbed methane reserves worth $200 million found below the tribe's reservation, says a federal judge. Coal and coalbed methane are not the same thing, says U.S. District Judge Lewis...

Syncrude buys bitumen lands. (Syncrude Canada Ltd.)
October 10, 1994... Syncrude Canada Ltd. has agreed to purchase two oil sands leases in northern Alberta from Petro-Canada. The company said the new properties are on the east side of the Athabasca River, about 19 miles north of Syncrude Canada's surface...

Swift gets Russian field financing. (oil producer Swift Energy)
October 10, 1994... Though plans were to announce a "one-two" punch in new U.S.-Russian oil deals at the recent Washington, D.C. summit meeting between President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, only one was landed. Officials of Houston-based...

Heavy oil project approved. (Primrose Lake project in Alberta, Canada)
October 10, 1994... Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. Ltd., Calgary, has been given the go-ahead to further develop its Primrose Lake heavy oil project in northern Alberta near Bonnyville. The company will develop the Primrose Lake reserves, located about 170 miles...

Nuevo finals chalk horizontal. (Grimes County, Texas, petroleum project)
October 10, 1994... Nuevo Energy Co., a Houston-based independent, said it successfully completed its Que Pasa Well No. 1-H in the Giddings field on the company's 3,900-acre Turkey Creek Prospect in Grimes County, Texas. Nuevo said the well tested at an...

Onshore 3-D seismic gets reserve hikes. (use of seismic techniques in onshore oil well drilling)
October 10, 1994... The use of three-dimensional seismic technology for offshore exploration and development drilling has attracted big headlines in the past couple of years. Not only is 3-D seismic technology easier to use offshore, but it is more...

Producers find ammo to justify incentives. (US oil producers seek tax breaks from Clinton administration)
October 10, 1994... Is the U.S. government still plotting to keep world oil prices low, as alleged in independent research, and if so, doesn't Uncle Sam owe domestic producers at least some tax breaks to keep their production competitive? Those are the...

W.E. Showalter of Union Oil Co. of California. (improved oil recovery patents)
October 10, 1994... W.E. Showalter of Union Oil Co. of California has patented a process to reduce the emissivity of an outwardly facing surface with a steam injection pipe system in a cased wellbore. The pipe system is combined with: 1) a cleaning device or process...

G.B. Brons, M. Siskin and K.O. Wrzeszczynski, all of Exxon Research and Engineering Co. (improved oil recovery patents)
October 10, 1994... G.B. Brons, M. Siskin and K.O. Wrzeszczynski, all of Exxon Research and Engineering Co., have patented a process for upgrading bitumen asphaltenes obtained from tar sands to hydrocarbons that comprises contacting the bitumen with a de-asphalting...

Alberta, Saskatchewan horizontal records prove technology. (horizontal drilling technology) (part 1)
October 17, 1994... Horizontal drilling technology seems to have proved itself vigorously so fa r in only a few geographical areas. The Austin Chalk trend of Texas is North America's leading geographical/geol ogical area for horizontal drilling; but...

Licenses offered for mud logging system. (Quantitative Gas Measurement device)
October 17, 1994... QGM(TM) (Quantitative Gas Measurement), a device that permits accurate, con sistent gas-in-mud measurements while drilling, is now being licensed by the Gas Researc h Institute, Chicago, and Texaco Inc.'s Exploration and Product Technology...

Horizontal drilling firm set. (Ensco Technology Canada Inc.)
October 17, 1994... A new full-service directional drilling company will soon be established in Canada. ENSCO Technology, Houston, concluded negotiations last week with Horizontal Technologies Inc., a unit of Lateral Vector Resources Inc., Regina,...

Merger talks terminated. (between the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association)
October 17, 1994... The proposed marriage of organized producer groups has been called off. The leadership of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America decided at a me eting in Dallas recently to "terminate any further consideration of a merger" with...

Argentina concessions sold. (Alberta Energy Company Ltd. concessions in Rio Negro Norte area of Argentina)
October 17, 1994... A unit of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. has negotiated the purchase, for US$15.6 million, of a 90% interest in 96,000 acres of concessions in the Rio Negro Norte area of central A rgentina. The concessions, located about 600 miles southwest...

BHP, King Ranch to develop Ecuador block. (BHP Petroleum Americas Inc., King Ranch Oil and Gas Co.)
October 17, 1994... Subsidiaries of Broken Hill Proprietary Co. of Australia and the King Ranch of south Texas will explore, develop and commercialize oil and gas in a 1-million-acre block in the Gulf of Guayaquil off Ecuador. The block is located in...

IPAA data underscores producers' plight. (Independent Petroleum Association of America)
October 17, 1994... The Independent Petroleum Assn. of America recently released statistics on the U.S. oil and gas industry that it says highlight the severity of problems confronting domesti c producers and the critical impact foreign imports are having on...

Statfjord reserves raised. (Statoil A/S reserves in North Sea)
October 17, 1994... Thanks to expertise in reservoir engineering, high deviated drilling and ex tended-reach and horizontal wells, Statoil A/S, Norway's state-owned oil and gas company, has rai sed its estimates for recoverable reserves at the giant Statfjord...

Western rebuffs BJ offer. (Western Company of North America, BJ Services Co.)
October 17, 1994... Western Co. of North America, reiterating that an offer by BJ Services Co. of $18.50 for each of its shares is "inadequate," nevertheless signed a reciprocal confidentiality agreement to exchange data. The secret BJ Services offer to...

Oklahoma lawmakers form oil & gas caucus. (Senator David Boren and Congressman Bill Brewster)
October 17, 1994... Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., and Rep. Bill Brewster, D-Okla., recently unveil ed the formation of the Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus, designed to promote the benefits of a s trong domestic industry. Interest in setting up such a caucus...

T.J.W. de Bruijn, D.J. Patmore, and C.M. Hogan all of Canada Energy Mines and Resources Ltd. (patented procedures for viscosity and density reduction of heavy oil) (U.S. Patent No. 5,322,617)
October 17, 1994... T.J.W. de Bruijn, D.J. Patmore, and C.M. Hogan, all of Canada Energy Mines and Resources Ltd., have patented procedures for reducing the viscosity and density of heavy o il to make them more suitable for transportation by pipeline from the...

M. Goudouin of S-Cal Research Corp. (patented a catalytic methanator reactor assembly) (Patent No. 5,052,482)
October 17, 1994... M. Gondouin of S-Cal Research Corp. has patented a downhole catalytic methan ator reactor assembly, which is hung within the cemented casing of a vertical well for the pu rpose of producing large volumes of high-quality steam and oil-soluble...

Defense technology use to improve gas recovery. (instrumentation to be used for mapping)
October 24, 1994... Advanced instrumentation developed for the Defense Dept. by the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be used to map hydraulically fractured gas sands to determine where new fracturing can be applied. Benefitting from the joint venture...

45% of Alberta horizontal wells seek heavy oil. (information from book "A Preliminary Study on the Effects of Geology and Drilling/Completion on Productivity and Reserves of Horizontal Wells in Western Canada")(part 2)
October 24, 1994... According to a new book prepared by Canadian federal and provincial oil and gas researchers, horizontal drilling in Canada's Western provinces is proving to be a bell-ringer so far in terms of both new field discoveries and field extensions....

Duri may burn gas for steam. (oilfield in Indonesia)
October 24, 1994... PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, which operates the Duri field in Indonesia, site of the world's largest steamflood, may soon be burning gas, instead of oil, to convert water to steam. Asamera Petroleum, a subsidiary of Gulf Canada...

Amoco drills China horizontals. (Amoco Orient Petroleum Co.; South China Sea oil wells)
October 24, 1994... Amoco Orient Petroleum Co., a subsidiary of Amoco Corp., Chicago, said it has begun drilling the first of some 20 horizontal subsea wells in the Peoples Republic of China sector of the South China Sea. The company said the drilling...

Petro Union gets Amoco license. (for horizontal oil- and gas-well drilling technology)
October 24, 1994... Petro Union Inc., Evansville, Ind., has received a license and right-under-patent rights and technical information relating to short-radius horizontal drilling technology from Amoco Corp., Chicago. In a press release, Petro Union said...

Swift finals dual lateral. (Swift Energy horizontal oil/gas- well in Texas)
October 24, 1994... Houston-based Swift Energy Co. says production has started from its Rightmer-Seale Well No. 1-H in Fayette County, Texas, a dual-lateral horizontal producer. The well flowed at a rate of 1,247 b/d of oil and 406 mcf/d of gas from the...

W. Va. sets up coalbed methane review panel.
October 24, 1994... West Virginia has finally established a coalbed methane review board to help regulate new drilling in coal-producing areas. Formed by the state Legislature, the board consists of seven members from the state government and the natural...

Landmark, Atlas sign pact. (Landmark Graphics Corp., Atlas Wireline Services to develop geophysical software)
October 24, 1994... Software products for geologists, engineers, geophysicists and petrophysicists will be developed under a joint agreement signed recently by Landmark Graphics Corp. and Atlas Wireline Services, both of Houston. The two companies will...

Statoil ups Gullfaks reserves. (Norwegian North Sea oil)
October 24, 1994... In its second announcement in as many weeks, Statoil, Norway's national oil company, announced an upgrade in recoverable reserves from one of its fields in the Norwegian North Sea. The company cited its expertise in extended-reach and...

Survey marks support for new Texas incentives. (energy industry incentives)
October 24, 1994... A statewide survey shows widespread support for a new set of energy incentives in Texas. The incentives program contained 10 points developed in partnership by the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas oil and gas industry. The RRC...

GRI projects 40% jump in calls to info centers. (Gas Research Institute's Natural Gas Supply Information Centers)
October 24, 1994... Demand for the latest information on advanced natural gas exploration and production technology should generate a 40% increase in calls to the four Natural Gas Supply Information Centers this year, says the Gas Research Institute. ...

Stripper production sags as abandonments accelerate. (US stripper oil wells)
October 31, 1994... Average per-well production from U.S. stripper oil wells has slipped to its lowest level since 1941, signalling that total U.S. stripper oil production in 1993 was down by more than 33,000 b/d from 1992. This and other data was made...

Texas cuts state royalties. (Texas General Land Office)
October 31, 1994... The Texas General Land Office, which leases state-owned tracts to producers, has qualified all future state lessees for royalty reductions when wells become marginal. The cuts apply beginning with the most recent sale on Oct. 4. ...

Virginia coalgas exceeds regular supplies. (Virginia Department of Mines' statistics)
October 31, 1994... Producers in Virginia established a new state natural gas production record last year, and they can thank coalbed methane for it. Recently released figures from the Virginia Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Div. of Oil and Gas,...

Canadian slowdown foreseen. (Baker Hughes Inc.'s forecast for natural gas drilling)
October 31, 1994... Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, expects the current boom in Canadian natural gas drilling to slow down during the next 12-18 month, with working rigs falling nearly 20% next year. Gary Flaharty, the company's market research director,...

UPRC drills 164 Austin Chalk wells. (Union Pacific Resources Co. production statistics)
October 31, 1994... Union Pacific Resources Co., Fort Worth, Texas, said production from its Austin Chalk producing properties in Texas was up 5% in the third quarter of this year, setting a new record at 74.9 million barrels of oil equivalent. UPRC, a...

Private firm joins India's coalgas hunt. (Arvind Mills will join Essar and Reliance to mine methane gas in Gujarat, India)
October 31, 1994... India's interest in coalbed methane is gathering more steam, with one of the country's major industrial companies joining the search. Arvind Mills said it will become the third private-sector company (after Essar and Reliance) to tap...

Gawain development plan set. (Arco-Mobil's initial development of Gawain field, North Sea, approved)
October 31, 1994... Arco-Mobil has received the go-ahead to begin the initial development of the Gawain field in the British Sector of the North Sea. The field will be tapped by three subsea horizontal wells that will be connected via a 12" pipeline to...

Reinjection could plug Colorado gas seepage. (experiment to prevent coalbed methane gas seepage into environment by Amoco Production Co.)
October 31, 1994... After some 10 months of study, researchers have hit upon an unusual -- and untested -- way to stop the seeping of coalbed methane gas into the water and air around a well-heeled neighborhood in southwestern Colorado. A team of...

BP gas cycling hikes Prudhoe Bay yield. (BP Exploration Company Ltd.)
October 31, 1994... BP Exploration Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries around the world are betting on gas cycling as the basis for improved oil recovery, particularly on Alaska's North Slope. While BP Alaska has been using gas cycling since 1987 to improve...

New IOR patents. (M.A. Bekemeier, T. Mikus, C.A. Glant, E.P. deRouffignac, and H.J. Vinegar of Shell Oil Co. receive Patent No. 5,297,626; Injectech Inc. of Ochelata, OK, receives Patent No. 5,044,435)
October 31, 1994... H.J. Vinegar, E.P. deRouffignac, C.A. Glant, T. Mikus, and M.A. Bekemeier, all of Shell Oil Co., have patented an oil recovery process wherein an oil formation is heated by conductive heat transfer from heat injectors operating at...