Improved Recovery Week articles from October 1995

Improved Recovery Week archives from October 1995

Smaller, more accurate logging tool promises cost savings. (Schlumberger Ltd.'s Platform Express)
October 2, 1995... If you've ever wondered when wireline logging companies would get the lead out and speed up those logging runs, yet keep the same log quality, then take a look at Schlumberger and their new Platform Express. Introduced with a measure of...

Heavy oil operation catches heat. (oilfield operations in Western Canada)
October 2, 1995... The potential of adverse environmental effects of heavy oil operations is being brought to the fore in Western Canada. Imperial Oil Ltd., Calgary, has been ordered to clean up soil and ground water in an isolated area of its heavy oil...

Coastal finals Bob West field purchase. (Coastal Oil and Gas of Texas L.P.; Tesoro Petroleum Corp.'s Bob West oilfield)
October 2, 1995... Coastal Oil & Gas of Texas, L.P., has completed a $74 million purchase of interests in the Bob West field in South Texas from Tesoro Petroleum Corp., San Antonio, giving it a leading role in development of this relatively new giant U.S. gas...

Western producers develop Balkan oil.
October 2, 1995... One of the first onshore wells drilled in Romania by a foreign oil company since the end of communism is expected to reach total depth next month. Amoco Romania Petroleum Co., a unit of Amoco Corp., said drilling began in July on its...

GRI sees 'tortuosity' as cause of early frac screen-outs. (Gas Research Institute; hydraulic fracture treatments)
October 9, 1995... Since pressure pumping services first began performing hydraulic fracture treatments, particularly on gas wells, a persistent problem in some geographic areas, chiefly in hard rock country, has been premature screen-out. A premature screen-out...

Kansas to create oil/gas atlas. (Kansas Geological Survey)
October 9, 1995... Kansas Geological Survey researchers have received a $250,000 grant from the Energy Dept. to develop an oil and gas atlas for the state. Based at the Univ. of Kansas at Lawrence, the oil and gas researchers will compile Kansas oil and gas data...

Old fields get new life near Houston. (old oil and gas fields near major urban areas)
October 9, 1995... Independent producers are showing increasing interest in old oil and gas fields in proximity to major urban areas. For example, the American Energy Group Ltd. is redeveloping a field in Harris County near their home city of Houston, and is...

U.S./Russia center opened. (Russian-American Oil and Gas Technology Center)
October 9, 1995... The opening of the Russian-American Oil and Gas Technology Center was held recently in Tyumen City, considered the hub of the petroleum industry in Western Siberia. The center, established by the Energy Dept., the U.S. Agency for International...

Garnet outlines Colombia activity. (Garnet Resources Corp.)
October 9, 1995... Garnet Resources Corp. reported recently on its activities in Colombia. Garnet said it has kicked off a hydraulic fracture stimulation program which will include 10 zones in six producing wells on the Santana block, which it is developing in...

'Sticky' sand helps fractured gas wells. (Hepworth Minerals and Chemicals' Norcoat resin-coated proppant)
October 9, 1995... Use of a resin-coated proppant, said to resemble "sticky sand," as enabled Conoco U.K. Ltd. and British Petroleum to achieve commercial flow from a small gas reservoir in the southern North Sea. The material, known as Norcoat, was supplied by...

Big Giddings well finaled. (oil and gas well in Fayette County, Texas)
October 9, 1995... Swift Energy Co., Houston, announced recent completion of a prolific horizontal oil and gas producer in Fayette County, Texas. The LCRA/COA Well No. 7-OL, drilled in the Giddings field, recorded an initial state potential test of 10.1 mmcf/d of...

Niger horiz nears completion. (Ima Well No. 2 in Niger River, Nigeria)
October 9, 1995... Calgary-based Abacan Resource Corp. says its Ima Well No. 2, the first horizontal lateral it has drilled in Nigeria, is nearing completion and will be flow-tested soon. The Ima No. 2 is the company's fifth well in the Ngo field, which...

IPAA's Bode warns of continued assault. (Independent Petroleum Association of America President Denise Bode)
October 9, 1995... Denise Bode, president of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America (IPAA), says recent efforts to head off higher taxes on the domestic petroleum industry have been successful, but more of the same probably can be expected as Congress continues...

Benton continues Rabbit Island infill drilling. (Benton Oil and Gas Co.)
October 9, 1995... Benton Oil and Gas Co. and Texaco E&P Inc. announced recent completion of their third natural gas well in the Rabbit Island field in South Louisiana. The S.L. 340 Well No. 212 is currently producing 20 mmcf/d of gas on a 36/64[inches] choke...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
October 9, 1995... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services makes the following IOR and heavy oil research reports and technical papers available to interested parties. Copies may be ordered by calling AOSIS in Edmonton at 403-427-8382 (fax:...

IOR patent. (Chevron Research Co. researchers)
October 9, 1995... T.V. Harris, C.A. Irani and W.R. Pretzer, all of Chevron Research Co., have patented a method of increasing viscosity of carbon dioxide to make C[O.sub.2] flooding more feasible. New compositions of matter comprising C[O.sub.2] and a viscosifying...

New venture hopes cost cuts will foster Permian Basin IOR. (improved oil recovery)
October 16, 1995... Though their properties currently subject to carbon dioxide flooding in the Permian Basin area of the U.S. are not included in the Amoco Corp./Shell Oil Co. limited partnership announced last week, the companies are counting on resulting cost...

Prospect expo date set. (1996 North American Prospect Expo of the American Association of Professional Landmen)
October 16, 1995... A group led by the American Assn. of Professional Landmen will hold the 1996 North American Prospect Expo[R] (NAPE) Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 1996 at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Houston. This, the third NAPE, provides a central marketplace for up to 220...

Suncor plans expansion into heavy oil. (Suncor Inc.)
October 16, 1995... Suncor Inc. plans to diversify from its basic Canadian oil sands activity into heavy oil development, says its president and CEO. Rick George, speaking recently in Vancouver, says the company also will expand its natural gas production. In...

Torch finals Syncrude buy. (Torch Energy Advisors Inc. acquires Syncrude Canada Ltd.)
October 16, 1995... Houston-based Torch Energy Advisors Inc. will pay C$352.2 million (about US$262 million) for the Alberta provincial government's remaining 11.74% working interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd. Meanwhile, sales of a new Alberta-based investment trust,...

N.M. infill program starts. (Arch Petroleum Inc.'s infill drilling program in New Mexico)
October 16, 1995... Arch Petroleum Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, announced recently it has begun a pilot infill drilling program on portions of its 12,000-gross-acre (8,700-net-acre) block of producing properties in Lea County, N.M.. The company said engineering...

Swepi rakes in leases after rumored strike. (Shell Western E and P Inc.)
October 16, 1995... It was perhaps no secret that the leading bidder in a recent highly successful Texas oil and gas lease sale was Shell Western E&P Inc., and that the majority of Swepi's winning bids were in the Matagorda Bay and East Matagorda Bay areas. The...

Railroad Commission 'swapping' employees. (Texas Railroad Commission)
October 16, 1995... Some 40 producing companies in Texas are taking part in a new initiative created by the Texas Railroad Commission that is sending some desk-bound RRC employees to the producers' corporate and field offices for one-day, information visits. This...

UMC, Taurus buy properties. (United Meridian Corp.; Taurus Exploration Inc.)
October 16, 1995... For $58.9 million, a partnership made up of United Meridian Corp. (UMC), Houston, and Taurus Exploration Inc., Birmingham, Ala., has purchased working interests in 30 oil and gas fields in the Permian Basin and four additional fields in the Gulf...

Solv-Ex costs estimated. (Solv-Ex Corp.)
October 16, 1995... Solv-Ex Corp. says an independent engineering report indicates that operating costs for first-stage oil extraction on its Alberta oil sands lease will be US$5.21/bbl. at a planned capacity of 14,000 b/d. The Albuquerque, N.M.-based company said...

Yellow gold drilling spurs search for oil. (Lexam Explorations)
October 16, 1995... Toronto, Ont.-based Lexam Explorations announced recently completion of the first of two exploratory oil/gas wells in Colorado whose drilling was partially influenced by the results of gold exploration drilling. The company's Baca Well No. 1...

Oil sands firm urge tax, royalty changes.
October 16, 1995... Uncertainty over Canadian federal and provincial tax structure is delaying proposed Canadian oil sands projects worth C$3 billion, the chairman of Syncrude Canada Ltd. said recently. Additionally, the tax question is possibly putting off an...

Tuboscope gets BP Colombia contract. (Tuboscope Vetco International Inc.; British Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd.)
October 16, 1995... Tuboscope Vetco International Inc., Houston, announced it has signed a three-year, $11 million contract to provide tubular goods inspection, third-party inspection and thread inspection to British Petroleum Exploration Company (Colombia) Ltd....

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services; improved oil recovery)
October 16, 1995... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services makes the following IOR and heavy oil research reports and technical papers available to interested parties. Copies may be ordered by calling AOSIS in Edmonton at 403-427-8382 (fax:...

BP extended-reach well passes five-mile mark. (British Petroleum Company PLC)
October 23, 1995... Drilling by British Petroleum has set a new world record for step-out wells by passing the 8-km (about 5 miles) mark during operations at the Wytch Farm field in the U.K. The achievement -- regarded as an industry breakthrough making it...

La. development wells finaled. (Kelley Oil and Gas Corp. announces completion of two development wells in Orange Grove field in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana)
October 23, 1995... Houston-based Kelley Oil & Gas Corp. recently announced the completion of two development wells in the Orange Grove field of Terrebonne Parish, La. The company's Lillie Cox Well No. 6 established production in a new reservoir,...

Fountain kicks off Russian gas, Albanian oil. (Fountain Oil Inc.)
October 23, 1995... Fountain Oil Inc., Houston, says its acquisition of 31% interest in the Maykop gas condensate field near Adygea, in southern Russia, is a done deal, and drilling is set to begin within the next several months. Additionally, the company...

Apache tests GOM benders. (Apache Corp.)
October 23, 1995... A new book dealing with improved oil recovery technology has been published by the Geological Society of London in the U.K. New Developments in Improved Oil Recovery, edited by H.J. de Haan of Delft Univ. of Technology, the Netherlands,...

New IOR book available. ('New Developments in Improved Oil Recovery')
October 23, 1995... Apache Corp. recently announced test results from two horizontal development wells drilled in federal waters off the Louisiana Gulf Coast. In a press release, Apache said both wells were completed in a low-pressure 3,500' (Pleistocene)...

Canadian firm sets Chinese project finance. (Lateral Vector Resources Inc.)
October 23, 1995... Lateral Vector Resources Inc. (LVR), Regina, Sask., recently released preliminary financial and production estimates for the company's project in the Peoples Republic of China. LVR will operate the 94-well oil field rehabilitation...

Vastar buys Section 29 lands. (Vastar Resources Inc.)
October 23, 1995... Vastar Resources, Inc., Houston, has purchased natural gas producing properties in the South Panola field in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma. The $19.5 million acquisition is for estimated net proved reserves of approximately 26 bcf....

Suncor earnings up in 3Q. (Suncor Inc.)
October 23, 1995... Suncor Inc., Calgary, Alta., last week announced consolidated nine-month 1995 earnings of C$121 million, or C$2.21/share on revenues of C$1.41 billion. That compares with earnings of C$88 million, or C$1.62/share, on revenues of C$1.3 billion...

Ramrod drops oil development; goes for gold. (Consolidated Ramrod Gold Corp.)
October 23, 1995... Consolidated Ramrod Gold Corp. is eighty-sixing its oil and gas activities to concentrate on developing the base metal that made its name. And just to be absolutely sure nobody misunderstands, the company has changed its name to Ramrod...

3-D's cheaper and producers're getting it. (seismic prospecting)
October 23, 1995... Domestic seismic exploration of both land and offshore prospects continues strong, with more crews using 3-D technology to reassess previously explored areas. As of Oct. 15, 109 of 128 available domestic seismic crews were working....

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
October 23, 1995... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services makes the following IOR and heavy oil research reports and technical papers available to interested parties. Copies may be ordered by calling AOSIS in Edmonton at 403-427-8382 (fax:...

New Union Pacific Resources has nine-month earnings hike. (New Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.)
October 23, 1995... Fort Worth, Texas-based Union Pacific Resources Group Inc. (UPR), which was spun off this month by its former parent, Union Pacific Corp., reported third-quarter net income of $76.7 million, or 37 cents/share, on operating revenues of $331.3...

Texaco ups Utah, Louisiana recovery with short-radius holes. (exploratory drilling technology)
October 30, 1995... To develop its mature domestic producing properties to the fullest, Texaco E&P Inc. (TEPI) is wringing a lot out of horizontal drilling these days, and it's setting new records, root The company is finding profitable new reserves and...

Canadians continue Cuban prop-swap. (production-sharing agreements)
October 30, 1995... Almost with the regularity of a Mambo beat, companies engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in the Republic of Cuba are entering, then exiting that beleaguered island nation. In the latest stanza, Calgary, Alta.-based Solstice...

Hydrophones hung vertically. (use of vertically-hung arrays of hydrophones by Texaco U.K. Ltd.)
October 30, 1995... Texaco U.K. Ltd. expects cuts of more than 10% from costs of obtaining seismic in the North Sea by adopting technology originally used by the U.S. Navy in anti-submarine warfare. Working in association with Norway seismic acquisition...

Sooner production drop continues. (crude oil and natural gas production decline in Oklahoma)
October 30, 1995... The crude oil and natural gas production decline in Oklahoma continued through July, according to preliminary figures released recently by the state Corporation Commission's Oil and Gas Conservation Division. In its report, the division...

Amoco Canada ups heavy oil outlay. (increased funding for Amoco Canada's heavy oil development)
October 30, 1995... Even though the current narrow differential between light and heavy crude oil prices in Canada is expected to open up, Amoco Canada Petroleum Co., Calgary, plans to spend big on heavy oil development in northern Albera during the next five...

Abacan finals Niger well. (offshore oil well drilling in Nigeria)
October 30, 1995... Abacan Resource Corp. reports its IMA Well No. 2 horizontal lateral well has now reached total depth. The company recently had mechanical problems with the well, Abacan's first lateral hole drilled in Nigeria (IRW, 10-9). The IMA...

JV expands Gulf holdings. (leases on Gulf of Mexico prospects acquired by Fortune Petroleum Corp.)
October 30, 1995... Fortune Petroleum Corp., Agora Hills, Calif., said it acquired leases on five new seismically defined, transition zone prospects in a recent Louisiana state sale of Gulf of Mexico leases. Fortune won the leases jointly with its...

U.K.'s first tri-lateral flows. (offshore gas field in the North Sea)
October 30, 1995... Production has started at the first gas field produced solely through a single tri-lateral well in the British Sector of the North Sea. Phillips Petroleum (U.K.) Ltd. expects peak production of 40 mmcf/d from the Alison field, which has...

Simulator, high-speed computer combo set. (connection of reservoir simulator to massively parallel processing equipment)
October 30, 1995... A team of experts are demonstrating how they've connected a new reservoir simulator to massively parallel processing (MPP) equipment for speeds 20 times faster than existing technology. Once the kinks are ironed out, the new simulator...

ACTI project spawns new software. (Advanced Computational Technology Initiative)
October 30, 1995... Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. are promoting a supercomputer program that sharply reduces the time it takes to turn 3-D seismic data into three-dimensional images. "Simulations that took months can now...