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Identifying and Remediating High Water
Production Problems in Basin-Centered Formations
Tight fractured gas reservoirs are plagued
by interstitial and formation brines that readily overcome gas
production during high gas flow rates. In a DOE-supported
project, Advanced Resources International, Inc. (ARI)
developed a database of 8,000 chemical analyses of produced
water from 3,200 wells in the Greater Green River and Wind
River Basins. This database and other geologic studies allowed
ARI to construct regional atlases and conceptual models of
producible water. These products and field work within the
Wild Rose Field (Wamsutter area of Greater Green River Basin)
provide useful information to operators to reduce costs,
improve production rates, and increase the longevity of wells.
Work is finished and the draft report is expected to be
finalized soon. The database can be downloaded from DOE's
National Energy Technology Laboratory’s website.
View project information online at
www.netl.doe.gov/technolog
ies/oil-gas/NaturalGas/Projects
_n/E&P/Adv%20Diagnostics/
RA_A_41437RemediatingHigh
Water.html. For further technical information,
contact DOE's Tom Mroz (Thomas.Mroz@netl.doe.
gov) or ARI's Randy Billingsley (rbillingsley@qwest.com).
FutureGen
Project Launched
In early December, DOE Secretary Samuel
Bodman signed an agreement with the FutureGen Industrial
Alliance to build FutureGen. The nearly $1 billion
government-industry project will produce electricity and
hydrogen with zero emissions, including CO2. Over
the next year, site selection, design activities, and
environmental analyses will lay the groundwork for final
project design, construction, and operation.
The FutureGen Industrial Alliance, which
includes both domestic and international companies, will
contribute $250 million. The Industrial Alliance plans to
issue a site selection solicitation in early 2006, to develop
a candidate short list by mid-2006, and to select the final
site in mid to late 2007. The FutureGen plant will be sized to
generate approximately 275 megawatts of electricity, which is
roughly equivalent to a medium-size coal-fired power plant.
The plant is expected to start operations around 2012.
FutureGen's goal is to generate electric
power with zero emissions that is only 10% higher in cost than
today's electricity. At the heart of the project will be coal
gasification technologies that can eliminate common air
pollutants |
and convert them to useable by-products.
Mercury pollutants will also be removed. These technologies also will
turn coal into a highly enriched hydrogen gas, which can be
burned much more cleanly than coal or, alternatively, it can
be used in a fuel cell or fed to a refinery to help upgrade
petroleum products. For carbon sequestration, the initial goal
will be to capture 90 percent of the plant's CO2.
Beyond mere disposal in saline aquifers, the CO2
might be applied in enhanced oil or coalbed methane recovery.
Access the full Tech Line online at
www.netl.doe.gov/public
ations/press/2005/tl_future
gen_signing.html.
NETL-Supported E&P Technologies Receive R&D
100 Awards
Two of four DOE-supported technologies that
recently earned "R&D 100 Awards" from R&D 100 Magazine are for
E&P applications. The R&D 100 Awards are presented annually to
the 100 most technologically significant products introduced
into the marketplace over the past year. The O&G-related
winning technologies include:
Drill String Radar™—Stolar Research
Corporation's Drill String Radar™ is a breakthrough technology
using radar navigation for horizontal directional drilling in
an undulating coalbed or oil/gas reservoir. Developed for use
on a drill string, the technology sends electromagnetic waves
into the earth that react with the underground rock layers to
provide a "map" of the geologic structure around the drill
bit. Stolar's research partners also included CONSOL Energy
Inc. and West Virginia University.
Short-Radius Composite Drill Pipe—Advanced
Composite Products and Technology Inc., in cooperation with
NETL, has developed a short-radius composite drill pipe made
from carbon fiber composites rather than steel. The flexible,
lightweight drill pipe is particularly amenable to horizontal
drilling. Able to stay bent for extended periods without
suffering fatigue damage, the composite pipe allows access to
these formations from old wells.
Access the full Tech Line online at
www.netl.doe.gov/publications/
TechNews/tn_4_rd_awards.html.
EOR and CO2
Sequestration at Weyburn
Canada's
DOE-supported "Weyburn Project" successfully sequestered five
million tons of CO2, increasing oil production by
an additional 10,000 bopd. Projections are that the Weyburn
Field will remain viable for another 20 years, produce an
additional 130 million barrels of oil, and sequester as much
as 30 million tons of CO2.
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The CO2 used in the
project is a byproduct of coal gasification at the Great
Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D. In Phase II
researchers will compile a best practices manual to serve as a
world-class industrial reference in the design and
implementation of CO2 sequestration in conjunction
with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects. They will also
expand their efforts to the neighboring Midale Unit, develop
more rigorous risk-assessment modeling techniques, improve
injection efficiencies, and monitor CO2 flooding
and storage with a variety of methods, including seismic wave
technologies and geochemical surveys.
The Weyburn Project is a
multinational effort led by Canada's Petroleum Technology
Research Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, and co-sponsored by
the operator, EnCana. In addition to DOE, the project receives
funding from industry and government organizations in Canada,
Japan, and the European Commission. The Weyburn Project is
endorsed by the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, an
international climate change initiative.
Access the full Tech Line
online at
www.netl.doe.gov/public
ations/press/2005/tl_weyburn_
mou.html.
Industry Coiled Tubing Drilling/Re-entry
Experience
Recent presentations during PTTC/DOE
Microhole Technology Integration (MHT) meetings highlighted
industry experience with coiled tubing drilling/re-entry.
Watch for details about the next MHT
Integration meeting—March 22, 2006 in Houston (www.microtech.thepttc.org). |
DOE
Digest