Improved Recovery Week articles from October 1998

Improved Recovery Week archives from October 1998

Company plans SAGD, GAGD development of U.S. heavy oil field; claims unique features improve economics. (Derek Resources Corp; steam-assisted gravity drainage; gas-assisted gravity drainage)
October 12, 1998... If Vancouver, B.C.-based Derek Resources Corp. can find a like-thinking partner, they believe they have a classic opportunity to develop a major proven heavy oil resource using relatively new technology. And the property isn't in Western...

DOE research lab looking into advanced plasma process; could open U.S. heavy oil, oil sands. (Dept of Energy)
October 12, 1998... Research is ongoing at the Energy Dept.'s Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to apply advanced plasma processing techniques to low-quality petroleum feedstocks, chiefly heavy oil. If the research, now at the bench scale, continues to...

Coker problems cut third-quarter flow at Syncrude oil sands plant. (Syncrude Canada Inc)
October 12, 1998... Trouble with one of its two cokers in August forced a reduction in synthetic crude oil production for the third quarter at its Fort McMurray, Alberta oil sands operation, says Calgary-based Syncrude Canada Inc. Compared to the same period last...

North Slope partners test flow at Midnight Sun field.
October 12, 1998... A long-term production test is being conducted on the discovery well of the Midnight Sun field, a satellite adjacent to the Prudhoe Bay field on Alaska's North Slope. The field is the first oil and gas accumulation in or around the Prudhoe Bay...

PDVSA receives three bids on running Pigap II project. (Petroleos de Venezuela)(high-pressure gas injection project)
October 12, 1998... Three international groups have presented bids to participate in Pigap II, the world's largest hi,h-pressure gas injection project, to be instituted in Venezuela. State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), who will operate the project...

Saga-led group tries foam-assisted WAG process at Norwegian field; tests for mobility control. (water-alternating-gas)
October 12, 1998... A foam-assisted, water-alternating-gas (FAWAG) demonstration project is underway in the central fault block of the Snorre field in the Norwegian Sea. The first phase of the project began in August and will continue through this month. A...

Corridor gas pipeline starts supplying boiler fuel to Caltex' Duri steamflood in Indonesia. (PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia)(thermal recovery project in Sumatra, Indonesia)
October 12, 1998... The Duri field thermal recovery project in central Sumatra, Indonesia - said to be the world's largest steamflood - is now receiving natural gas for boiler fuel. Denver-based Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd. and Calgary, Alberta-based Talisman...

CO2 supplier said 'reviewing' options on Weyburn miscible injection project.
October 12, 1998... First injection of carbon dioxide at Canada's largest miscible flood, originally scheduled for Dec. 1, 1999, may be delayed as the result of second thoughts on the part of the gas supplier. The C$1.1 billion Weyburn Unit [CO.sub.2] flood in...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
October 12, 1998... 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)....

IOR reports available from NTIS. (National Technical Information Service)
October 12, 1998... The following reports on improved oil and gas recovery processes and tools are available from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, Va. 22161. Call 703-487-4650 (fax 703-321-8547) for details and prices....

IOR patent.
October 12, 1998... P.L. McGuire of Atlantic Richfield Co. has patented a method for recovering oil from a gravity-drainage formation. Under the method, additional oil is recovered without drilling additional wells. The method comprises injecting an oil-miscible...

BP plans revamp Forties field operation; estimates 150 million bbls. of by-passed crude oil are recoverable. (British Petroleum Company PLC)
October 26, 1998... British Petroleum Co. Ltd. aims to continue production from its flagship Forties oil field in the North Sea 'beyond 2010 as a result of restructuring the operation. Forties project management has been revamped by setting up an integrated...

IOGCC's 1997 marginal well data mirror high prices; oil profits quell stripper tax cuts. (Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission)
October 26, 1998... It came a month or two to late, so the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission's (IOGCC) latest report on U.S. marginal wells wouldn't have provided fodder for helping get tax relief for domestic "stripper" well operators - at least, not this...

New GRI report names technology as driver in the turnaround in U.S. gas reserve estimates. (Gas Research Institute)
October 26, 1998... Improvements in drilling and exploration technologies during the past 10 years have resulted in increased estimates of U.S. natural gas reserves, says Gas Research Institute (GRI). In a new study released last week, GRI assesses Lower-49...

DOE's Richardson continues to trot out new R&D initiatives; latest two focus on passed-over gas. (Bill Richardson, secretary of Dept. of Energy)
October 26, 1998... Bill Richardson, the new Energy Dept. secretary, is showing a much higher profile than his predecessor, Federico Pena, when it comes to new programs for encouraging domestic production. In only the last two weeks, Richardson has announced two...