Improved Recovery Week articles from September 1998

Improved Recovery Week archives from September 1998

DeepStar, DOE will build Wyoming test loop to solve problems connected with deepwater hydrates plugging. (Dept of Energy)
September 7, 1998... The DeepStar Project, a cooperative deepwater technology development program, has teamed with the Energy Dept. to set up a research facility aimed at solving problems associated with the plugging of subsea gathering and transmission lines by gas...

Calgary firm to handle E&D for Shell's oil sands mine. (AGRA Monenco's engineering and design contract with Shell Canada Ltd)
September 7, 1998... The front-end engineering and design contract for Shell Canada Ltd.'s Muskeg River oil sands mine in Alberta has been awarded to AGRA Monenco and joint-venture partners H.A. Simons Ltd. and Fluor Daniel Wright, both of Calgary. The C$7 million...

Denbury Resources to conduct CO2 injection pilot at Heidelberg field in Mississippi.
September 7, 1998... Denbury Resources Inc. is planning a pilot carbon dioxide injection program at the Heidelberg field in Jasper County, Miss. The company, which late last year acquired an average working interest in the field of up to 94%, mostly as a result of...

First Venezuelan heavy oil flow set by Conoco-PDVSA partnership. (Petroleos de Venezuela)
September 7, 1998... Petrozuata, the $2.4 billion heavy oil joint venture between Conoco Inc. and Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) began producing 8 [degrees] API gravity oil from wells in the Zuata region, says Conoco. The oil is filling a 120-mile pipeline...

Despite bombing, Talisman goes ahead with Arakis acquisition. (Talisman Energy Inc; Arakis Energy Corp)
September 7, 1998... The recent air strike in Khartoum against terrorists couldn't have come at a worse time for Talisman Energy Inc., which had just announced it was planning to acquire Arakis Energy Corp., including its ownership in a US$1.2 billion oil field...

Upcoming two-day DOE workshop features 12 cost-shared oil output enhancement projects.
September 7, 1998... Producing company representatives have a chance to pore over detailed results of 12 Energy Dept. shared-funding R&D projects at a special seminar to be held Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 21-22, in Tulsa, Okla. The DOE, through its National...

Statoil modeling Asgard field reservoir; conducts first drill cuttings injection.
September 7, 1998... Norway's Statoil says production teams have joined forces to build a reservoir model of the Smorbukk section of the Asgard field in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil is joint operator at Asgard with Saga Petroleum. The reservoir modeling group,...

Shell CO2 Co. extends marketing into Kansas.
September 7, 1998... Backing up their pledge to bring carbon dioxide injection technology and supply to mature reservoirs in the Mid-Continent area (IRW 5-25), Shell C[O.sub.2] Co. has named a new marketing manager for their Kansas region. S. Paul Nunley, most...

Dual-lateral well tests major gas, condensate near Houston. (Magnum Hunter Resources Inc)
September 7, 1998... Irving, Texas-based Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. is a partner in a group that made a significant medium-depth gas discovery recently using dual-lateral horizontal drilling technology. The Wash McAdams Well No. 3-H, located in Walker County...

Companies expand activity in Italy's Appenine region; horizontal wells to cut production costs.
September 7, 1998... The U.K.'s Enterprise Oil Plc, London, with its co-venture partner ENI sPa, Italy's national oil company, is expanding production in southern Italy's Basilicata region, thanks to horizontal drilling technology. And even though the company...

AOSIS reports on IOR, heavy oil. (Alberta Dept of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services)
September 7, 1998... The Alberta Dept. of Energy, Oil Sands Information Services (AOSIS) makes the following off 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)....

DOE names winners in first of five recovery initiatives aimed at forestalling U.S. well, reservoir abandonments. (Department of Energy)
September 14, 1998... Nearing the end this month of the federal government's fiscal year 1999, the Energy Dept. is shelling out $6 million in last-minute budget dollars in a cost-shared initiative to develop new technology. The monies are directed at helping...

Federal, Saskatchewan governments create new C$11 million research center at Regina. (Saskatchewan)
September 14, 1998... The Canadian federal and Saskatchewan provincial governments have created a Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) to be located in Regina, Sask. The new laboratory, with a capital cost of some C$11 million, will undertake research to...

ARCO ponders miscible gas injection program at Ashtart field in Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia. (ARCO Mediterranean Co.)
September 14, 1998... If they can get the project economics right in negotiations with the government, ARCO Mediterranean Co. could subject an oil field off Tunisia to a carbon dioxide injection program. It would be one of only a couple of offshore C[O.sub.2] floods...

Operator bestows rare accolades on closed-loop system; drilling time cut 30-40%, says Statoil.
September 14, 1998... Norway's Statoil says it has adopted a new closed-loop drilling system that can help complete wells up to 40% faster, affording it considerable savings. The company began using the new technology last year. Statoil says the AutoTrak[TM]...

ARCO plans to use monorail at Ecuadorian oil field; new 20-inch pipeline proposed for Oriente heavy oil. (ARCO Oriente Inc.)
September 21, 1998... The Ecuadorian unit of Los Angeles-based ARCO is planning to use a monorail to move equipment in and out of a heavy oil field located in the vast Oriente jungle. ARCO Oriente recently released plans to develop the Villano field in the Block 10...

Shell CO2 officials foresee miscible flooding projects in Kansas' shallow oil fields by 2000.
September 21, 1998... Houston-based Shell C[O.sub.2] Co. Ltd. says it plans to introduce carbon dioxide flooding in shallow off formations in Kansas as early as 2000. And the company is hoping to engender some cost-shared funding from both the state and federal...

Alberta Energy launches hostile takeover of Amber Energy; cites Pelican Lake synergy.
September 21, 1998... It had to happen, sooner or later, and last week it did. Calgary-based Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. took the first shot at picking up Amber Energy Inc. at what they consider a bargain price. In a surprise move, AEC offered Amber shareholders about...

Next year's gas prices to rise by 13%, says EIA; 1997's oil reserves up for first time in decade.(Industry Overview)
September 21, 1998... The Energy Dept.'s statistical agency says it expects natural gas wellhead prices to rise by 13% in 1999. That is, if the first-quarter winter months are truly cold instead of unseasonably warm, as they were this year. Recent data from the...