DOE Digest

DOE Selects Six New "Independents" Projects

DOE's "Technology Development with Independents" program works to assist small independents in testing higher-risk technologies. Since inception in 1995, 57 projects have been initiated. In this latest round of six awards (www.netl.doe
.gov/publications/press/2003/
tl_independents051303.html), DOE is providing $580K of funding with participants providing an additional $728K of funding. Those winning awards and the field locations are in several states.

Arnell Oil Company (CO) will demonstrate alkaline- surfactant- polymer (ASP) chemical flooding in the Poison Spider field in Natrona County, Wyoming. This technology demonstration will expand chemical flooding applicability to higher viscosity reservoirs.

Bass Enterprises Production Company (TX) in coordination with the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin and Trend Technology, Midland, Texas will demonstrate how independent oil producers can acquire and analyze advanced imaging data from small seismic test patches embedded in large-scale seismic surveys. 

Grand Mesa Operating Company (KS), in collaboration with TIORCO, Inc., Englewood, Colorado and the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, will demonstrate the feasibility of polymer gel technology to increase the recoverable reserves from Mississippian reservoirs in Kansas. If successful, the use of polymer gels will reduce water production, reduce well operating costs, and increase oil production throughout the region. 

Peden Energy (TX) will demonstrate that micro-turbines are more efficient and less costly to operate than traditional internal combustion engines/generators. Additionally, Peden Energy will install variable frequency drives (VFD) with computerized pump-off controllers on two pump jacks. The VFD responds to the down hole torque demand, adjusting and varying the pumping speed of the well. This pump-control ability has several benefits, including increasing oil production by ten percent and reducing capital expenses. 

TENECO Energy LLC (CO) will use regenerating biochemicals (e.g., microbes and organic surfactants) to reverse formation damage, restore permeability and improve production in the East Texas field. Successful application of biochemicals should remove well bore deposits and improve production. Partners include MICRO-TES Inc. and Oil Patch Pipe and Supply. 

Terra Exploration and Production Company (CA) will run newly- developed cased-hole well logs in a 

selected deep well in the Santa Fe Springs oil field in Los Angeles to identify bypassed oil. It is suspected that waterflooding of the more permeable sands has bypassed lower permeability yet oil-saturated sand intervals. Potentially productive zones will be identified, and nearby wells will be re-completed to increase recovery.

Soon after an early May meeting, the Stripper Well Consortium (SWC) announced the 13 projects that will receive funding during 2003. SWC base funding of $1.1 million comes from two funding sources (DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority). Participants also provide cost share. SWC focuses on the development, demonstration, and deployment of new technologies needed to improve the production performance of natural gas and petroleum stripper wells. Projects are selected by an Executive Council elected from among Consortium members. Sample projects from among the 13 are listed below.

Real-Time, Propellant Activation During Downhole-Mixed Fracture Stimulation Treatments, Realtime Zone, Inc. This project will develop and field test combining in situ solid propellant stimulation with downhole-mixed hydraulic fracturing. In the latter stages of a downhole-mixed hydraulic fracturing treatment, solid propellants will be safely pumped down the casing for later-staged admixture with oxidizers to generate an energy release in the near wellbore and formation fractures. The process may use encapsulated or otherwise time-delayed chemical reactions to facilitate placement of the activated propellant further into the reservoir formation prior to reaction. Concept is to further extend the created hydraulic fracture, plus develop secondary fractures. The process will be tested in a Permian Basin well. 

Low Cost, Downhole, Wireless Communications-Based Pressure & Temperature Gauge, Tubel Technologies. Leveraging knowledge gained through developing high-end products, Tubel will develop a low cost, downhole, wireless communications-based gauge that transmits acoustics data (of pressure and temperature) in real time through the production string. The new gauge can be deployed in production or injection wells. Battery pack of the downhole unit is expected to provide an operational life in excess of five years. 

Variable Capacity, Positive Displacement, Spherical Compressor/ Pump, W&W Vacuum & Compressors, Inc. The spherical geometry of the patented Weatherbie compressor/pump provides variable capacity capability at high efficiency. 

SWC conducts technology transfer meetings each fall to highlight results from ongoing projects. For 2003, workshops are planned in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Texas. Watch the SWC website for information on these upcoming workshops. Information on all funded projects is available on SWC's website (www.
energy.psu.edu/swc/funded.
shtml).

In the 4th Qtr 2002 issue of Network News, PTTC briefly mentioned the IntellipipeTM drilling system (www.
pttc.org/news/4qtr2002/v8n4nn9.
htm#IntelliPipe) developed by Grant Prideco and Novatek Engineering with some DOE funding support. The system can transmit real-time downhole data at one million bits per second, a dramatic improvement compared to conventional mud pulse telemetry. Key to the new system is a unique non-contacting coupler embedded in the drill pipe connections. The coupler permits data to be sent across the connection and on through a high-speed cable attached to the inner pipe wall.

The first phase of a field test at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) focused on the communication system along the entire length of the drill pipe, in a cased hole environment, down to 3,054 ft. Electrical signals were transmitted down the drill pipe and returned by repeaters placed strategically along the length of the drill string. This procedure allowed "fine tuning" of the system to optimize placement of the repeaters in the drill string. In a second phase, cement plugs were set in openhole, then the system was used to drill through the plugs. During the week-long field test, the drilling system operated according to established test criteria and demonstrated that no special handling or make-up procedures were required.

Visit Grant Prideco's IntellipipeTM website (www.intellipipe.com/) for more information about the drilling system, or for further information about the RMOTC field test, contact Ralph Schulte, RMOTC (Ralph.Schulte@rmotc.doe.gov).