Author Finds Lessons For Oil and Gas Operations 'Thinking On Maturity'

Several recent experiences—both personal and professional—got me to ruminating about maturity. Tied together, there are lessons for those of us developing and producing this nation’s oil and gas resources.

On a personal level, I had the chance to visit the farm in South Dakota where I grew up and check out my alma mater’s campus some 37 years after graduation. Looking at the outline of grandpa’s sod hut still visible in the prairie, I couldn’t help but admire my grandparents’ grit. If I have an ounce of that grit, I am a lucky man.

That grit is evident in many of those developing today’s oil and gas resources. Those working the night tower on a rig in February in Wyoming, as a younger friend of mine has done, have some of that grit. Any independent who experienced several dry holes before making the “find” exhibited that grit.

As to visiting my college campus, it looked smaller than my memory has it. Some of the familiar–the mature–remained, but there was a lot of new.

These personal experiences came just days after participating in the 16th Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Minot, N.D. I must say I have caught some of the Bakken fever, and have “the Bakken Rocks” T-shirt to prove it. This new wave of energy development is founded on new technology. Still, the mature operations in North Dakota continue on as they do in most producing basins–the mature alongside the new. The Bakken in North Dakota is definitely in the early stages of that move to maturity. Still, there already have been many wells drilled. Looking across the state line into Montana, where the play is a few years further along, I couldn’t help but think, “Let us pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and evaluate what we have learned from early development.”

There are many efforts to do just that. Still, I think there is much more industry could do in that realm. In mature areas, groups such Ziff Energy perform benchmarking studies. Several companies contribute their data (more detail than one has with public domain data); independent parties evaluate that data (not biased by company perceptions); then trends are discerned and companies are shown how their efforts stack up against their peers.

Obviously, experience and insight are applied, but the opportunity is ripe for applying neural net concepts to “see” things not evident to the human mind. I am confident “new learnings” would be evident. Applying those new learnings to future development will save lots of money and increase recovery.

It’s not only the Bakken; the concept applies equally to shale gas development. The reservoirs there are unconventional, but their exploitation is rapidly moving to conventional. Yes, industry has advanced rapidly in its ability to figure out “the keys” to new plays, but there is still room for improvement.

Enough of the new, let us think about the mature for a moment. There has been a lot of effort lately in the realm of gas well deliquefication. Attendance at the annual conference developed by Texas Tech University’s Southwestern Petroleum Short Course and the Artificial Lift Research and Development Council grows each year. A thought to consider: Someday all those shale gas wells will be in their mature stages. Are we already thinking ahead to the technological adaptations that those wells will need? There are many subjects to think about: refracturing, production logging, liquid loading, shutting off and opening different intervals, and optimizing surface and lease facilities. There are benefits to applying “life cycle” thinking early in development.

This column is not an advertisement for upcoming PTTC workshops, but two recent workshops are relevant to the “maturity” topic.
A workshop in Midland, Tx., focused on how to start/fix/manage a waterflood.Waterflooding is certainly mature, but it behooves us all to “refresh” the concepts that industry knows and make sure we are applying them. Financial support from the AAPG Foundation enabled PTTC to capture this workshop on videotape, which will later enable us to affordably deliver content and insights elsewhere.

The second workshop, held in Shreveport, La., focused on carbon dioxide flooding and some of the new enhanced recovery
(think mature properties) opportunities there. It’s not coincidence that, when I was asked to provide examples of independents
applying technology in mature reservoirs, several of the companies that immediately came to mind were involved in CO2 flooding.

One closing thought. With today’s oil prices, many of the phone calls I receive are related to “resuscitating” mature oil wells and applying enhanced oil recovery. The properties are mature, but like the Bakken, the “fever” is there. But also like the Bakken, astute operators will “pause, think and apply lessons learned” before moving into action. Their bank account balances will appreciate that.