DOE Digest

Stripper Well
Consortium (SWC)
Selects 2005 Projects

Low-Cost Portable Production Well Tester (Oak Resources, Inc. —Oklahoma). Current low cost portable testers ($10,000) are not accurate enough. First generation portable electronic test units were about $125,000 (after prototyping and proving). Second generation electronic testing units with capabilities across the full range of well conditions developed during an existing SWC project cost about $80,000. This project will develop and test 10 field/area-specific units. Since full capabilities are not required for field/area-specific units, anticipation is that cost can be driven down to $25,000 range. Product acceptance and market forces would then further lower the price range.

G.O.A.L Automated Casing Swab for Open Hole Completions (Brandywine Energy and Development Company, Inc.—Pennsylvania). Beam Pumps, tubing velocity strings, small diameter tubing and plungers and other conventional techniques are often employed with some finite success in open-hole completions. This project will refit two existing 6.25"or larger open-hole completions with a re-fit well system comprised of a slip lined 3.0" or 4.0" ID spooled non -metallic tubing, metal to non metal connectors, open hole packer assembly, casing stand /stop, and modified G.O.A.L. PetroPump with unique variable diameter seal cups to automatically lift fluids.

Desalination of Brackish Water and Disposal into Waterflood Injection Wells (Texas A&M University—Texas). A joint venture has been created for a two-year pilot project in Andrews, Texas, for inland brackish ground water (BGW) desalination with byproduct disposal into an operating waterflood. Andrews will use Texas A&M's mobile desalination unit. SWC funds will be related to the oil field brine disposal operation. ExxonMobil will inject the concentrate from the reverse osmosis process in their Means field waterflood, realizing cost savings in make-up water requirements.

New Technology for Unloading Gas Wells (Colorado School of Mines (CSM)—Colorado). This project will evaluate a variety of devices. Work will include: (1) studying baffle assemblies, (2) resolving the discrepancy between lab and field performance of vortex tools, (3) transient design simulation of gas well loading and unloading, and (4) test a gas-flow powered pump. One-day short courses on liquid lifting using CSM's flow loop for hands-on demonstration will be continued.

Wedge Pump for Casinghead Pressure Reduction (W&W Vacuum & Compressors, Inc.—Texas). The patented Weatherbee Wedge Pump is thought to have significant advantages over conventional equipment for casinghead pressure reduction.

Existing technology cannot pull the volume of vacuum (throughput) necessary and it struggles handling typically high BTU casinghead gas without running into problems handling liquids. This project will build three prototype models and a test stand to simulate common wellhead conditions. Prototypes will be bench tested.

Effect of Completion & Production Practices on Recovery from Knox Formation (James Engineering, Inc.—Ohio). Various drilling, completion, and production methodologies have been applied to the Knox Formation (Rose Run Sandstone and the Beekmantown Dolomite). Completion and production technical issues include: cased-hole versus open-hole completions, matrix acidizing versus fracture stimulation, perforation concentration and interval selection, fluid removal methods, paraffin treatments, operating wellhead pressures, gas sales line pressures, as well as general operating procedures. This study will evaluate the critical factors associated with completion and production practices and the effect on the ultimate reserves predicted.

Real Time Remote Field Monitoring of Plunger Lift Wells (Tubel Technologies, Inc.—Texas). This project will develop a low cost surface system to monitor the plunger lift process in wells, transmit well production streaming audio signals to remote locations, monitor in real time the performance of the entire field and determine if and when the wells stop producing. This new system will acquire the information generated by plunger movement and monitor the fluids and gas being lifted. The information will be transmitted to a central control area where the operator can listen. An automated computer system will also be developed.

Demonstrating Hydroslotter Technology in New York Wells (Hydroslotter Corporation—Canada). Hydroslotting is a two-step abrasive hydrojet completion process. The first step cuts two 180°-phased slots through the casing, cement, and deep (up to 10 ft) into the formation. The second step cycles proprietary remedial chemical reagents via the newly created slots. Effectively, near-wellbore damage is transferred to the distant slot tips. Hydroslotting will be demonstrated in five different well environments in three New York geological zones: Onondaga, Medina, and Theresa. At least one demonstration will be close to a gas-water contact.

Disproportionate Permeability Reduction in Gelled Polymer Systems (University of Kansas (KU), Center for Energy Research—Kansas). A two-well field test involving KU and Vess Oil Corporation, a Kansas independent, will be conducted to determine if the water production rate following a polymer gel water shut-off treatment can be reduced by a process in which the gel that has formed in situ is dehydrated following placement by slow injection of oil. Oil flow channels formed by the dehydration process exhibit preferential permeability to oil over water.

Interaction of N₂/CO₂ Mixtures with Crude Oil (Pennsylvania State University—Pennsylvania). A nitrogen huff and puff process has been ongoing in the Big Andy field in eastern Kentucky for over 6 years. The nitrogen obtained through membrane separation technology contains up to 5 percent oxygen. A prior SWC project investigated the phase behavior of N₂/O₂ gases in the presence of hydrocarbon. Field experience has indicated that periodic injection of CO₂ mixed with nitrogen improves well performance. This project will evaluate the behavior of N₂/CO₂ injection and its impact on the recovery process using crude oils from the Big Andy Field and the Chipmunk sandstone in New York.

Uncovering Bypassed Pay in Central Oklahoma (Schlumberger Consulting Services (Schlumberger)—Oklahoma). Schlumberger, the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Sand Resources will develop a methodology to uncover behind pipe potential in mature oil fields. Sand Resources operates 12 stripper wells in the NW Noble Field in Cleveland County. Senior OU petroleum engineering students with faculty guidance are evaluating undeveloped, behind-pipe reserves. Schlumberger, through the use of its Moving Domain Software, will aid in the evaluation and, at the same time, develop a methodology that would be made available to other operators. Schlumberger will identify areas with potential within a five-county region (Cleveland, McClain, Oklahoma, Garvin and Logan counties).

Non-Polymer Water Shut-off Treatment (IMPACT Technologies, Inc.—Oklahoma). A non- polymer water shut off treatment was developed and field tested in Kansas by a major in the 1970s and refined through further testing in the 1990s by an independent. Twelve injection wells and one production well have been treated in 10 properties in central Kansas. This project will test the process in at least 23 more wells. Process advantages include being very low cost (about 50% of current gel polymers), non-toxic, and easy to handle/ mix and pump in the field.

Further Developing PAAL's Elastomeric Casing Plunger Cup Design (PAAL, LLC—Oklahoma). Older methods use cups with the major outside diameter larger than the casing inside diameter. Since cup diameter with PAAL's design cup diameter is smaller than the casing inside diameter, cups do not experience unnecessary wear during descent. Wells with tapered casing strings, as well as those previously excluded due to squeeze cement casing leak repairs, can be produced. Much remains to be determined though about elastomers. This project will modify an existing PAL casing plunger to provide test chambers to expose various elastomers to downhole conditions.

For more information visit www.energy.psu.edu/swc.