Regional Roundup

PTTC Resource Centers

Appalachian Region Director: Doug Patchen West Virginia University 304-293-2867, ext. 5443 dpatch@wvunrcce.nrcce.wvu.edu www.karl.nrcce.wvu.edu	Central Gulf Region Director: Bob Baumann, Louisiana State University 225-578-4400 rbaumann@lsu.edu Coordinator: Don Goddard, 225-578-4538 dgodda1@lsu.edu www.cgrpttc.lsu.edu	Eastern Gulf Region Director: Ernest Mancini University of Alabama 205-348-4319 emancini@wgs.geo.ua.edu http://egrpttc.geo.ua.edu

Midwest Region Director: David Morse Illinois State Geological Survey 217-244-5527 morse@isgs.uiuc.edu Coordinator: Steve Gustison 217-244-9337 Gustison@isgs.uiuc.edu http://pttc.isgs.uiuc.edu	North Midcontinent Region Director: Rodney Reynolds Kansas University Energy Research Center, 785-864-7398 reynolds@cpe.engr.ukans.edu Coordinator: Dwayne McCune, 785-864-7398 dmccune@cpe.engr.ukans.edu www.nmcpttc.org	Rocky Mountain Region Director: Sandra Mark Colorado School of Mines 303-273-3107 smark.95@alum.mines.edu www.pttcrockies.org

South Midcontinent Region Director: Charles Mankin Oklahoma Geological Survey, 405-325-3031 cjmankin@ou.edu Coordinator: Michelle Summers, 405-325-3031 mjsummers@ou.edu www.ogs.ou.edu/pttc.htm	Southwest Region Director: Robert Lee, Petroleum Recovery Research Center, 505-835-5408 ee@prrc.nmt.edu Coordinator: Martha Cather, 505-835-5685 martha@prrc.nmt.edu http://octane.nmt.edu/sw-pttc	Texas Region Director: Scott Tinker, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, 512-471-0209 scott.tinker@beg.utexas.edu Coordinator: Sigrid Clift, 512-471-0320 sigrid.clift@beg.utexas.edu www.energyconnect.com/pttc

West Coast Region Director: Iraj Ershaghi University of Southern California 213-740-0321 ershaghi@usc.edu Coordinator: Idania Takimoto, 213-740-8076 pttc@archie.usc.edu www.westcoastpttc.org

December 2002 Case Study—Petroleum Technology Digest

Frac Modifications Identified Through Virtual Intelligence (VI) Increase Production

Dave Callison, Joe Jones*, Occidental of Elk Hills, Bakersfield, California; Bob Shelley, and Rusty Lockman, Halliburton Energy Services, Houston, Texas

Bottom line: Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc. used Artificial Neural Network Modeling to identify changes that would improve the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing treatments in its Western Shallow Oil Zone (WSOZ) completions at Elk Hills in California. Modeling demonstrated practices that would improve production. These include changes in pay selection and perforating practices, stimulation fluid type and volume, and breaker selection. Modeling demonstrates that altered completion/frac procedures could double production. Implementing these completion/stimulation changes resulted in an average completion value increase of $170,000 during the first 6 months of production. This article describes the modeling objectives and field validation that led to these successes.

A joint project of Gulf Publishing (World Oil) and PTTC. See case studies online at www.pttc.org/case_studies/
case_studies.htm

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Fractured Reservoirs - Learning From The Expert

Ron Nelson, Broken N Consulting Inc., authored the popular 1985 and 2001 editions of "Geological Analysis of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs." With more than 27 years of industry experience, he is well recognized as a leading industry expert on fractured reservoirs. 142 individuals gathered together in Washington, Pennsylvania on Dec. 3 to pick up insights from Dr. Nelson in an Appalachian Region workshop.

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Table of Contents	Vol. 8, No. 4 4th Quarter 2002