Improved Recovery Week articles from September 1995

Improved Recovery Week archives from September 1995

Unocal thermal wells, waterfloods included in Torch sale. (Unocal Corp.; Torch Energy Advisors Inc.)
September 4, 1995... While its thermal oil recovery operations in California are not the state's biggest, Unocal Corp. has been steaming away in the San Joaquin Valley for decades. Now, however, Houston-based Torch Energy Advisors Inc. will take over ownership of...

Solv-Ex signs alumina pact. (Solv-Ex Corp.)
September 4, 1995... Solv-Ex Corp., Albuquerque, N.M., has signed a memorandum of understanding with Glencore Ltd. to market metallurgical grade alumina from Canadian oil sands tailings. Glencore, a Swiss commodities trading company, says it is the world's largest...

BLM hoists caution flag on Utah coalgas. (Bureau of Land Management)
September 4, 1995... The Bureau of Land Management has hoisted the caution flag for operators racing to develop a coalbed methane play in eastern Utah now estimated to contain as much as 9 tcf of gas. Predictions that the area is on the verge of full-scale...

Paraffin study under way.
September 4, 1995... More than 20 producing companies, plus government and private institutions, are funding a research study of ways to predict paraffin buildup in oil and gas wells and pipelines. The study is estimated at about $4.3 million in hard currency and...

Jordan, Israel ink shale deal.
September 4, 1995... Jordan signed an accord with Israel recently that allows, among other things, joint energy resources research, including oil shale extraction research. The deal would increase joint research into oil and gas exploration, as well as renewable...

Heavier crudes gaining in U.K. North Sea.
September 4, 1995... After finding prices for heavy oil from the North Sea's Alba field are better than some forecasters had predicted, Chevron U.K. Ltd. has picked up more acreage, which could further alter the mix flowing from waters in the U.K. Sector. Since...

Independent begins reservoir study.
September 4, 1995... A one-year, $500,000 reservoir management demonstration project will get underway soon in the East Randolph field about 20 miles east of Akron, Ohio. The project will be accomplished under a cooperative research and development agreement...

Curtis named DOE deputy. (Charles B. Curtis)
September 4, 1995... Charles B. Curtis, 55, has been confirmed by the Senate as the new Energy Dept. deputy secretary, the department's second ranking official and chief operating officer. Curtis succeeds Bill White, who left the post Aug. 11 to return to private...

Firm to monitor N. Sea wells. (oil wells)
September 4, 1995... Stavanger, Norway-based Smedvig Technology signed an US$11.6 million agreement recently to provide permanent downhole monitoring of offshore wells for Statoil. The three-year contract includes equipment and services required to monitor...

New perforating system told.
September 4, 1995... Halliburton Energy Services, Houston, has introduced a new through-tubing capsule perforating system that it says produces deeper penetration at higher shot densities than other systems. Deep-Star[TM], says the company, has produced certified...

Fungus-hunting spy planes sniff Kern County.
September 4, 1995... Government aircraft equipped with infrared cameras are set to fly over California's Elk Hills oil field in the next few weeks to search for possible clues as to where Valley Fever comes from. Valley Fever is a serious, lengthy illness caused by...

Beam it up to Houston, Mr. Scott. (remote quality monitoring of seismic field operations)
September 4, 1995... Meet an enterprise that's using the heavens to do remote quality monitoring of seismic field operations. But it's not an area into which Man has not gone before. In fact, it's a new wrinkle on existing technology that can enhance the way oil...

Horizontal wells speed Texaco production in two seas.
September 11, 1995... Texaco Inc. gives credit to extended-reach horizontal wells and "the team approach" for speeding up production from offshore fields under development by two affiliate companies. The company is proud of its "fast track" development of both its...

Field reserves upgraded. (Statoil A/S)
September 11, 1995... A full-scale reservoir simulation has persuaded Statoil to nearly double estimated recoverable oil reserves in the Smorbukk field on the Halten Bank off mid-Norway from 289 million bbls to 553 million bbls. The upgrading alone corresponds to...

Australian researchers study tight sands. (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization)
September 11, 1995... Australia is now starting to turn its attention to targeting tight gas reservoirs, and researchers are aiming to develop new stress measurement technology to lift fracture productivity. The petroleum division of the federal Commonwealth...

Daqing decline predicted. (China's giant oil field)
September 11, 1995... Water injection will maintain production at China's giant Daqing oil field for another two years, but output will begin to decline soon after that, says an article in the official China Daily newspaper. The paper said Daqing produced 56 million...

Big well service merger told. (merger between WellTech Inc. and Key Energy Group Inc.)
September 11, 1995... In a transaction estimated at $18 million, WellTech Inc. has signed a letter of intent to merge with Key Energy Group. Key, New Brunswick, N.J., would issue common stock and warrants to WellTech shareholders. Key would be the surviving entity....

Audubon owns royalty, despite ANWR bias. (exploration and production of oil and gas wells; Alaska National Wildlife Refuge)
September 11, 1995... The National Audubon Society has been in the forefront of opposition to the opening of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to exploration and production. But a recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by two Montana economic researchers...

Heavy oil deal announced. (Strike Energy Inc.'s purchase of Pacalta Resource Ltd.'s 20% stake in Canadian oil project)
September 11, 1995... Calgary, Alberta-based Strike Energy Inc. has entered into an agreement to purchase Pacalta Resource Ltd.'s 20% stake in the Bolney heavy oil project in that Canadian province for about US$4 million. Under the deal, which became effective...

Chalk action reopens gas plant. (Cornerstone Natural Gas Inc.)
September 11, 1995... Cornerstone Natural Gas, Inc. says its newly refurbished Iola natural gas processing plant in Grimes County, Texas, has resumed operations. The company has made extensive renovations to increase the gas processing capacity of the Iola plant to...

Statoil cutting costs but expanding.
September 11, 1995... According to Statoil, the Norwegian government oil company, overall drilling and downhole operations for the company are set to expand by 71% by 1996, and by 89% by 1997. These projections were compiled by the company on approved and expected...

Phillips fracs 10 pay zones in under 24 hours. (Phillips Petroleum Co.; multi-zone acid fracturing)
September 11, 1995... Engineers with Phillips Petroleum Co. (U.K.) Ltd. are claiming a world record in multi-zone acid fracturing by designing an innovative well completion system for the Joanne field in the British Sector of the North Sea. The field's high-angle...

ARI to explore for S. African coalbed methane. (Advanced Resources International Inc.)
September 11, 1995... Advanced Resources International Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of South Africa for a coalbed methane exploration program. The deal resulted from the recent trade mission led by U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel...

Every technology can use a little help. (Intertech Geophysical Co.'s 3-D Reverse Seismic)
September 11, 1995... There appears to be at least one constant in oil patch technology, these days: There's no one "magic bullet." For example, 3-D seismic has altered the approach to drilling and the success rate for myriad operators. Even so, it's not a panacea...

East-West Center: Alaska export ban won't change much. (exports of Alaska North Slope crude)
September 11, 1995... If California producers are looking for increased drilling to result from lifting the ban on exports of Alaska North Slope crude, they're mistaken, says a recent report by the Honolulu-based East-West Center. The proposed repeal, which is...

Aggressive CO2 injection push aimed at U.S. independents. (independent petroleum producers)
September 18, 1995... Recent seminars, short courses, technical presentations and advertisements are bringing a message to U.S. independent producers, particularly in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico: Carbon dioxide injection is economically doable. ...

Producer to quit in California. (Fortune Petroleum Corp.)
September 18, 1995... Another oil producer in California has decided to quit that state. Fortune Petroleum Corp., Agora Hills, Calif., announced recently that it has engaged Albrecht & Associates of Houston to market and sell all of the company's oil and gas...

Newfoundland E-R well spudded by Hunt. (Hunt Oil Co.)
September 18, 1995... Hunt Oil Co. of Dallas and Calgary, Alberta-based PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. spudded their second well recently on Newfoundland's Port au Port Peninsula. The U.S. and Canadian partnership said the well location -- at Long Point on the...

RRC seeks administrator. (Texas Railroad Commission)
September 18, 1995... The Texas Railroad Commission will recruit a chief administrative officer to manage the daily operations of the 927-person agency as part of a major restructuring. The new post will pay $72,500 annually, says Charles R. Matthews,...

Canadian horizontal finaled. (oil well)
September 18, 1995... Cirque Energy Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, says it completed a fourth horizontal well on its Battle Creek, Sask. property last month. The horizontal, Well No. 3B12-27-3C3-27-3-26 W3M, was completed with a 107' open-hole section in the Madison...

Ramrod plans Equador production hikes. (Consolidated Ramrod Gold Corp.)
September 18, 1995... Canadian company Consolidated Ramrod Gold Corp. says it plans to double current production by January 1996 from its recently acquired oil-producing properties in Ecuador, which averages 4,700 b/d. With a three-pronged program of workovers...

LVR names China manger. (Lateral Vector Resources Inc.; Bill Whitley)
September 18, 1995... Canadian company Lateral Vector Resources Inc. (LVR), Regina, Sask., has appointed Bill Whitley general manager of Lateral Vector Resources International Ltd. (LVRIL), the company it has formed to operate its upcoming well rehabilitation...

Infinity leases coalbed acreage. (Infinity Inc.)
September 18, 1995... Lenexa, Kan.-based Infinity Inc. announced that a recently formed subsidiary, Infinity Oil & Gas, has leased 5,200 acres in Colorado's Raton Basin, where coalbed methane production is being developed. The lease agreement is with KN...

E-W Center: Alaska export ban won't help. (East-West Center)
September 18, 1995... If California producers are looking for increased drilling to result from lifting the ban on exports of Alaska North Slope crude, they're mistaken, says a recent report by the Honolulu-based East-West Center. The proposed repeal, which...

Something old is new again. (ocean-bottom cable seismic data acquisition technology)
September 18, 1995... Ocean-bottom cable (OBC) seismic data acquisition technology has been around for about 50 years, but it played second fiddle to streamer technology for much of that time. However, thanks is large part to the employment of the dual-sensor...

IOR reports available from NTIS. (improved oil and gas recovery; National Technical Information Service)
September 18, 1995... 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 derails and prices....

AOIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Department of Energy; improved oil and gas recovery)
September 18, 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. (improved oil and gas recovery)
September 18, 1995... A.D. Patel, H.C. McLaurine, E. Stamatakis and C.J. Thaemlitz, all of M-1 Drilling Fluids Co., have patented an invention that relates to drilling fluid additives that suppress clay swelling within a well and to methods for controlling clay...

Total sets gas flooding to up production in Abu Dhabi. (Total Compagnie Francaise des Petroles S.A.)
September 25, 1995... The French company Total is lining up plans to institute a natural gas injection program in the old Abu Al Bukhoosh (ABK) field in the Arabian Gulf off the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Tertiary gas injection into the field's Arab D2 reservoir is...

Technological creativity knows few limits. (technology for 3-D seismic data interpretation)
September 25, 1995... Application of a growing array of technologies to enhance and constrain the interpretation of 3-D seismic data appears to be the trend de jour in the oil-finding business today. Airborne and satellite imagery, aeromagnetics, gravity,...