Volume 11, No. 2, 2ndQuarter 2005

 

 Petroleum Technology Transfer Council   

        WWW.PTTC.ORG

Productivity in the Domestic E&P Arena

Equipment, steel and drilling rig scarcities aside, operators must get the most from their human resources to seize the domestic E&P challenges in front of them today. Factors that contribute to high productivity include knowledgeable, insightful workers using efficient tools to solve technical problems and realize opportunities that continually present themselves. There is little time or money to relearn past lessons gained from either within the company or from the E&P industry at large. This requires both individual and company commitments to stay current and work smart.

PTTC's activities can be a major contributor to productivity. Bottom-line oriented workshops deliver regionally-focused technology insights in a

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In This Issue

Environmental Corner.................. 3
Tech Transfer Track................... 4-6
Oilfield Training........................... 8
Gulf Coast Carbon Center............. 9
DOE Digest............................ 10-11
Industry View.............................. 12
PTTC Tech Info......................... 13
Upcoming PTTC Events............. 15

PTTC is a national not-for-profit information network formed in 1994 by oil and natural gas producers. Programs are funded by matching funds from the US Department of Energy (DOE) with funds from State Governments, Universities, State Geological Surveys and Industry. This program would not be possible without contributions from the DOE Office of Fossil Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Wolverine Gas and Oil’s Covenant Discovery
 by Mike Seal, PTTC Rocky Mountain Region

Utah currently ranks as number 15 in the oil producing states, but if there are a few more discoveries like the Wolverine Gas and Oil Covenant Field in Utah, it could be moving up in the ratings. As reported in the April edition of the AAPG Explorer, the Covenant Field discovery in Central Utah opens up one of the most promising onshore plays in the United States in recent memory. It also highlights the importance of the independents to the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry - Wolverine purchased its acreage from Chevron in 1999 when the majors were pulling out of the Rockies.

Doug Strickland, exploration manager for Wolverine, is quoted as saying "I honestly expect this to be a billion-barrel province. I expect we'll find another 10 fields out there." Wolverine's discovery well, the 17-1 Kings Meadow Ranch, hit nearly 500 feet of Navajo Sandstone pay in Utah's Sevier County in late 2003. This well was completed and began producing in May 2004. A second well was completed in September 2004. It was announced at an SPE workshop in Salt Lake City on May 20th, that these two wells are currently producing 1,600 BOPD and 160 BWPD and to date, they have produced over 376,665 barrels of good quality, 40 degree gravity crude. The discovery well has produced 273,666 barrels.

Tom Chidsey, petroleum section chief with the Utah Geological Survey, has provided some background to this discovery. The last major new oil find in Utah was the 1975 discovery of the Pineview Field in the northern part of the state. Pineview has produced over 31 million barrels of oil and is still pumping nearly 15,000 barrels per month. Oil companies have been exploring central Utah for over 50 years with no success (58 dry holes) until now. The major reason for this is the extremely complex geology of the central Utah thrust belt, also referred to as the "Hingeline."
 

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