Global events have confirmed that oil and gas remains a cyclic industry, and the cycle is causing at least some pause in
capital intensive drilling/development projects. Pausing is well justified, but there is no reason to pause in applying technologies
to realize opportunities in mature reservoirs.

Wresting more from mature properties is not easy. First, one must execute a cost- and time-efficient process for winnowing
decades of data on his leases and in the region. There are excellent data management tools available today. Commercial data
providers have captured and made most public domain data available electronically.

There also are affordable software tools to process and display data. Visualization helps tremendously in understanding what
makes a reservoir tick. Somewhere in the process this author recommends applying neural network and artificial intelligence concepts. These concepts allow one to discern and quantify relationships that are not intuitively obvious. Anyone who doesn’t
understand how artificial intelligence can help should consider contacting Bill Weiss with The Correlations Company in New
Mexico. He has applied the concepts to myriad applications.

There are two components to examine: the reservoir itself and the completion/operating system. Has the completion interval
been understimulated? Current completion practices may dictate a quite different stimulation procedure than was performed
during initial completion, even if initial completion was only a few years ago. Has some pay in the completion zone been
overlooked? Obviously, one can reapply conventional log analysis techniques, but many operators have found it fruitful to apply
more comprehensive technologies such as petrophysical/imaging technologies that really do define key rock parameters.

Has the producing interval been damaged? One should recognize that damage is not always readily apparent from looking
at decline curves. If a zone was damaged during initial completion, that is all one may ever see in its production history.
One shouldn’t overlook well testing/pressure transient testing in at least a portion of the wells in the field. There are software
packages available that ease interpretation.

Is anyone convinced that there is no more romance in the producing interval? Don’t forget to look behind pipe. When the well
was initially completed, analysts may not have been focusing on identifying all zones with hydrocarbon potential. Beyond looking
at the logs, one should review initial drilling and well site geologist reports. There are secrets residing there, and it may have been
decades since the early data were re-examined. This is especially true for properties that have changed hands many times.

For gas wells, liquid loading is a common culprit. The Artificial Lift Research and Development Consortium is facilitating recommended practices for gas well deliquefication, which is available online at http://alrdc.org/recommendations/Gas%20Well%20Deliquification/. It pays anyone operating very many mature gas wells to be aware of these industry-documented practices. One also should consider participating in next year’s Gas Well Deliquefication Conference, scheduled for Feb. 23-26 in Denver.

A good resource for those operating mature oil leases is the PTTC-developed Produced Water Manual, which is available
online at http://www.pttc.org/pwm/produced_water.htm. Content goes well beyond merely looking at practices for reducing and managing produced water. The manual outlines a plethora of well bore management practices focused on preserving well/equipment integrity, and reducing operating costs while doing so. Although a few years old, the concepts are timeless.

In developing this column over several days (pesky horde of higher priority interruptions), one thing became very apparent to me: just how much Denver may really be the epicenter of North American activity. One of the planning things I do each year is to identify events that are relevant to PTTC’s mission and audience. Following is a list of events I found for Denver, and I probably missed some:

• CERA Natural Gas Conference, Feb. 23-24 in Calgary (No offense, but I consider Calgary to be Denver North.);
• SPE Rocky Mountain Petroleum Technology Conference, April 14-16;
• Pennwell’s Rocky Mountain Unconventional Resources Conference & Expo, April 14-16;
• COGA’s Rocky Mountain Energy Epicenter Conference, July 7-9;
• Enercom’s Oil & Gas Conference, Aug. 9-13; and
• IADC’s Well Control Conference of the Americas & Expo, Aug. 25-26.

Nestled in the midst of the schedule is AAPG’s June 7-10 annual meeting with the theme, “Image the Past, Imagine the Future.”
Did AAPG planners know three-four years ago that Denver would be the hotbed it is today? One thing is certain: PTTC will be in
Denver several times during 2009. Look for our presence.

“Epicenter” aside, also consider two major unconventional resource conferences slated for Fort Worth (Hart’s on April 6; Pennwell on Sept. 29-Oct.1).

So for anyone busy realizing opportunities in mature reservoirs, it’s not really a pause after all, is it?