Table of Contents

Vol. 6, No. 4
4th Quarter 2000

Ziff Energy Group Finishes Study On Operating Costs

The third edition of a study evaluating operating costs for producing fields in the Gulf of Mexico has been completed, says Ziff Energy Group. Schlumberger is serving as technical/operations advisor for the Best Operating Practices section of this study, which focuses on well interventions, the company explains.

The third edition of the Shelf “Reducing Field Operating Costs” study analyzed operating cost data for calendar year 1999, a tough period when operators were coping with much restrained spending budgets in the aftermath of the 1998 oil price fall.

Ziff Energy’s study features extensive trending analysis relative to prior year results, both on a field and company level, the company explains. Gas properties that were included in both the current and previous editions of the study had average production declines of 12 percent compared to 1998 levels, but operators were able to reduce their total costs by 11 percent. Ziff Energy suggests combined oil and gas fields made greater gains: a 4 percent production loss was more than offset by a 9 percent reduction in operating costs.

For one-fifth of the fields, operators were able to reduce absolute costs while increasing production. By contrast, a quarter of the fields showed a decline in production and an increase in total operating costs-often leading to soaring unit production costs.

For information, contact Ziff Energy Group at 5151 San Felipe, Suite 550, Houston, Tx. 77056; phone 713-627-8282.

Canadian Priorities for E&P R&D

The Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC, see spotlight in PTTC's 3rd Qtr 2000 issue) hosted a workshop to identify exploration and production R&D priorities on September 26 in Calgary. 70 representatives from industry, government and academia heard 22 presentations on proposed or ongoing R&D projects.

Three breakout groups addressed the following topics and identified and prioritized R&D needs. Findings by topic area are: Greenhouse gas, CO2 and sour gas collection, transport, and sequestration, reservoir characterization-highest priority areas are updating the inventory of CO2 sources and validating and monitoring CO2 sequestration.

Improved conventional light and medium oil and natural gas recovery methods-For oil, highest priority areas are non-hydrocarbon (greenhouse gas or CO2 injection) recovery processes, 4-D reservoir description, and low pressure production methods. For natural gas, highest priority areas are water coning, artificial lift technology transfer, and unconventional gas recovery processes.

Improved heavy oil recovery-highest priority areas are integrated application of monitoring technologies, improved understanding of the recovery processes, and techniques for accessing trapped oil.

Details are available on PTAC's website at http://www.ptac.org/techresw.html or by contacting Kerri Markle of PTAC at kmarkle@ptac.org, phone (403) 268-6381.