*INJECTION PUMP INCREASES NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION
*REVIVING OLD GAS WELLS
*LOGGING TOOL TO MEASURE DENSITY - THROUGH CASED WELLS
REPORT PINPOINTS US PRODUCER TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
Current and emerging petroleum technologies are not reaching enough segments of the domestic oil and natural gas producing industry especially independent producers, according to a report by the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC). Lack of producer awareness of cost-effective technology limits exploration successes and shortens the life of marginal wells, which account for almost 20 percent of total US oil and natural gas production "Technology and Related Needs of US Oil and Natural Gas Producers," released March 15 by PTTC, identifies specific technology needs and regulatory concerns in 10 domestic producing regions. The report concludes that inadequate access to geologic and production data, a lack of environmental compliance approaches, and a need for objective methods for determining the performance of technologies are among the most pressing concerns of today's domestic exploration and production companies.
The report is based on a series of regional "problem identification workshops held between 1991 and 1995 by the PTTC Regional Lead Organizations. The workshops - and those conducted by other organizations prior to PTTC's formation, including the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association and the Kansas University Energy Research Center gathered information directly from more than 600 producers nationwide. The detailed report is available for $100 by calling national headquarters at (202) 785-2225
PTTC's findings generally agree with 1995 R&D studies by the National Petroleum Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission "Current public and private sector technology transfer mechanisms are not increasing producer awareness of cost-effective technologies. There is a technology gap for independents, most of whom don't have the resources for researching the latest oil and natural gas technologies," said PTTC Chairman Chris Hall, president, Drilling & Production Co., Torrance, Calif.
"This report strongly indicates that technology marketing efforts of service and supply companies should take into account specific regional needs," Hall said. "The PTTC results reveal significant problems yet to be addressed by technology providers, especially in the area of educating producers in specific applications"<--BACK TO FRONT PAGE
INJECTION PUMP INCREASES NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION
Injection pump technologies transferred through PTTC resource centers have the potential for substantial reduction of produced water problems associated with oil and natural gas production in Louisiana and other states. Early last year the Central Gulf RLO, based in Baton Rouge, La., sent information on downhole injection (DHI) pumps to David Fite, a Shreveport independent producer Fite tried the DHl pump in a marginal well scheduled for plugging and abandonment- The well was saved, and he has since decided to franchise the DHI pump.
After receiving information on the pump from the RLO, Fite contacted Clarence Michaels of Envirotech Tools for specific details. He then ran the DHI Pump in the well, which had tested at 175,000 mcf and 250 barrels of water per day (bwpd). Fite also applied research results from Dr. Andrew Wojtanowicz of LSU's petroleum engineering department, who has been assisting the region. Fite found that water from a deeper zone in the wellbore had been channeling to the producing zone. Using tests and models developed by Wojtanowicz, the channel was squeezed and the extra water eliminated. The approach reduced the total produced water by 50 percent or 130 bwpd and increased production to 180,000 to 200,000 mcf/day. It also changed the mechanical design of the well, reducing the size of the downhole pump from a 2 1/4-inch insert pump to 1 3/4-inch working barrel (a more efficient mechanism) and reduced costs. Currently there are about 12 producing wells using the DHI. Fite has decided to franchise the DHI Pump under the company name of ArkLaMiss Envirotech Tools. Contact Fite Oil and Gas, at (318) 424-0544 or Keith Long at PTTC Central Gulf Region at (504)388-1804.<--BACK TO FRONT PAGE
An improvement on an old method of reviving water-plugged natural gas wells uses a self-agitating soap stick method to open up the well and sustain production, according to its inventor, Glenn Osterhoudt of Arlington, Texas. Osterhoudt's research was sponsored by DOE's Energy-Related Inventions program. Hydrostatic pressure of the water in a gas well can completely plug the well and stop gas production. Current water removal methods have disadvantages: most operators rely on swabbing some may pump it out; others pump in a displacing gas or use an old soap stick design. Osterhoudt's process involves a blend of surfactants and -gas producing chemicals that produces the"self- agitating" necessary to transform the static column of fluid into a column of foam without needing any assistance from the well itself. It allows the existing bottom hole pressure to restart flow from the well. Incremental cost of the method is about $1.50 per stick more than the older method. The process permits an operator's on-hand personnel to treat wells. Results in field tests sponsored by the DOE have been positive. Case studies verified by PTTC show the invention was successful in restoring gas production in more than 90 percent of suitable wells treated. Operators who used the process recommended it over the older designs. Contacts: DOE Inventions and Innovation Program 202-586-2079<--BACK TO FRONT PAGE
.LOGGING TOOL TO MEASURE DENSITY - THROUGH CASED WELLS
Halliburton Energy Services, in conjunction with Gas Research Institute (GRI), is developing - a wireline logging tool capable of measuring formation density behind casing and cement, Density measurements help log analysts determine formation properties and locate hydro-carbons. By converting the density measurements to formation porosity and comparing the results to neutron-porosity measurements, natural gas zones can be identified.
Although density logs produce high quality logs in open holes, present technology cannot provide reliable measurements in most cased-hole environments. Potential uses for a reliable cased-hole density tool include searching for natural gas in older wells that were not logged with open-hole density tools.
In addition, the tool will provide general formation evaluation in wells in which the hole conditions prevented open-hole logging Since neutron tools are routinely used in- cased holes, the development of this tool could greatly expand formation evaluation and gas detection capabilities in cased wells With the conceptual design complete, the design team is concentrating on building a prototype. Laboratory measurements indicate the tool will be able to measure formation densities through half an inch of casing and two inches of cement. Logging at 600 feet per hour, the precision of the measurements is expected to be within 0.03 g/cc.
Halliburton anticipates the tool will he available commercially in 1998
DOE WORKSHOP VALUED BY MONTANA PETROLEUM ENGINEER"I have never before realized benefit this quickly at any
investment in training or education," said petroleum engineer
Tom Hohn following the Class 1 (Fluvial-Dominated Deltaic
reservoirs) workshop Feb. 8 in Billings, Mont. Hohn wrote a
letter to Rocky Mountain producer advisory group Chairman Bob
Nance, praising the workshop's organization and subject matter.
Five PTTC Regional Lead Organization assisted in hosting
DOE's traveling workshop in January and February.
"The opportunity to see this much information on fields and
reservoirs analogous to what we work with everyday has been
rare," he said "Although some of the techniques are prettyhigh-
tech, it is clear that much of the technology is available tothose-
of us who don't have -huge budgets to work with.
Hohn said he has since visited the PTTC home page on the
Internet and used the computer models discussed at the Class 1
workshop. "I feel that the future for the domestic industry to a
large part lies in improved management of the reservoirs we have
already found, as well as exploring in better ways," he concluded.
"For people like myself to be competitive in this arena, we need
resources like the PTTC to learn the new technology and
application".
<--BACK TO FRONT PAGE
DISCLAIMER
PTTC recognizes that products and services featured in this columnmay not be unique in the industry and welcomes information about otherproviders. No specific application of products or services is endorsed. PTTCidentifies technologies that can he successfully transferred through itsregional and national program.
- Contact Technical Manager John Benton at (303) 293-9933.
.NEWS FROM AROUND THE PTTC REGIONS
| Appalachia Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, WestVirginia, Virginia, Tennesse, Eastern Ky. | Rocky Mountains Colorado, Idaho, Montana.,Nebraska, Nevada, N. D., S. D., Utah, Wyoming |
| Central Gulf Louisiana | South Midcontinent Arkansas, Oklahoma |
| Eastern Gulf Alabama, Florida., Mississippi | Southwest New Mexico, Arizona |
| Midwest Illinois, Indiana, Western Ky., Michigan | Texas Texas |
| North Midcontinent Kansas, Missouri | West Coast Alaska, California, Oregon,Washington |
APPLACHIA
The Appalachian Regional Lead Organization (RLO) is the
eighth PTTC region to establish its own Internet home page. The
region is holding a workshop on "Electronic Access to Oil and
Gas Data in the Appalachian Basin," on March 27 in
Morgantown, W. Va., in conjunction with the Appalachian Oil
and Natural Gas Research Consortium. It will feature
presentations on the Internet, state and national databases, and
uses of databases in daily business operations.
On April 9 the region will co-host a workshop on major West
Virginia natural gas plays. Similar workshops will be held later in
the Pittsburgh and Buffalo areas. The regional resource center at
the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on the West
Virginia University Campus is expected to open this summer; it
will include data from the DOE Morgantown Energy Technology
Center's natural gas atlas of geologic and engineering data for
more than 4,800 reservoirs.
CENTRAL GULF
Central Gulf Region hosted a very successful "3-0 Seismic
Applications" workshop Jan. 11-12, in New Orleans, More than
240 people attended the technology workshop, held in
conjunction with the LSU Basin Research Institute, and a second
workshop is being considered in Houston. On April 15-17, the
region is co-hosting a workshop in New Orleans on "Offshore
Lease Abandonment and Platform Disposal". A workshop on
horizontal drilling is also tentatively planned for September. A
recent addition to the resource center's core collection includes a
CD-ROM master disk index to SPE journals and proceedings
from the early 1950's through 1994, The region is surveying
producer interest in accessing data on the Internet, and has
updated its 1996 Environmental Handbook for release at the
Louisiana Independent Oil & Gas Association annual meeting.
RLO Director Robert Baumann was the keynote speaker on a
recent six-city tour of Louisiana sponsored by the state's oil and
gas associations.
EASTERN GULF
The Eastern Gulf Region is hosting a combined meeting of the
national PTTC board of directors and regional directors on
March 24-25 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It will be followed by an open
house at the resource center and a technology workshop,
"Archiving and Dissemination of Oil and Gas Information," on
March 26. Work continues with BDM-Oklahoma on a reservoir
management demonstration project for the Citronelle Field,
Mobile County, Ala. In addition, the RLO is continuing to work
with DOE and BDM-Oklahoma on a R&D project for small
independent producers.
The RLO also is planning a "Waterflood, Pressure Maintenance,
and Saltwater Disposal" technology workshop for Aug. 13-14 in
Jackson, Miss., and a May workshop on industry regulations, in
cooperation with the Midcontinent Oil and Gas Association, in
Jackson, Miss.
MIDWEST
The Midwest Region hosted one of the DOE traveling Class 1
workshops on Feb. 22 Also in Grayville, Ill., the RLO held a
technical workshop on horizontal drilling on March 15. It
featured case histories on the Illinois and Mississippian basins
and mature waterfloods, with AAPG distinguished lecturer Ross
Clark speaking. Discussions are underway for holding a problem
identification workshop this year during a Michigan Oil and Gas
Association meeting Displays are being set up and staff is
learning software in preparation of the official opening of the
Midwest region's resource center in Champaign, Ill. Tom Davis
joined the RLO staff as coordinator for PTTC regional activities.
The RLO plans to set up a booth and make a presentation about
the PTTC at the annual meeting of the Illinois Oil & Gas
Association.
NORTH MIDCONTINENT
The North Midcontinent RLO hosted one of the DOE traveling
Class 1 workshops, held Jan 18 in Wichita, Kan. Usage of the
region's home page continued to climb, increasing more than 45
percent from January to February. New links include a Digital
Petroleum Atlas, updates to the Kansas Bibliography, and a new
section providing access to petroleum-related software. RLO
Director Lanny Schoeling submitted a manuscript to the Society
of Petroleum Engineers, "Development of an Improved
Waterflood Optimization Program in the Northeast Savonburg
Waterflood".
In March, Schoeling will make PTTC presentations as part of the
Distinguished SPE Lecture Series in four cities in Texas and
Louisiana. Planning continues for a technical workshop on casing
leak solutions to be held in May- In addition, the region plans to
repeat for the third time its workshop on "Internet Access for
Petroleum Producers".
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
The Rocky Mountain RLO hosted two DOE Class I workshops in
February, in Denver and Billings. In addition, the Rocky
Mountain Region staffed an information booth during a Jan. 30
reception of the American Institute of Petroleum Geologists in
Denver. The RLO is working with the North Midcontinent
Region to develop a summer workshop on accessing data on the
Internet, and Director Roger Slatt will make the keynote address
at the March 21 annual SIPES meeting.
Further, a display is being planned in cooperation with the
independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States for
highlighting the industry with exhibits in downtown Denver. The
RLO plans to bring more activities to states in the region outside
of Colorado, particularly Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota. The
effort should be helped by a 51,500 contribution received in
support of PTTC's activities by the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas
Association, thanks to producer advisory group member Alan
Woods of Amoco production Co. and RMOGA Executive Vice
President Cliff Dodge.
SOUTH MIDCONTINENT
In addition to hosting the first of the Class 1 workshops on Jan.
16 in Bartlesville, Okla., and a second on Feb. 13 in Oklahoma
City, the South Midcontinent region held an "Information and
Technology Availability" workshop Feb. 1 in Oklahoma City,
The RLO has at least four more technical workshops planned this
year, covering platform carbonates and several geological plays
in the region. To encourage producer usage of the regional
resource center, work continues on cataloging the state's well
samples - and samples have been loaned for presentations at
public schools. The region's basic Internet home page has gone
on-line. Also being set up is a fax-back system for reports. The
RLO is developing a mailing list for about 300 Arkansas
operators, Plans are underway for a problem identification work-
shopin Arkansas later this year.
SOUTHWEST
An open house for the Southwest regional resource center was
held March 7 in Socorro, N.M. The region's PAG met the same
day to discuss technology workshop subjects. The RLO held a
workshop on well stimulation, in conjunction with the Four
Corners Oil & Gas Conference, March 19- 20, in Farmingron. A
Sun workstation and Photon Systems 3-D Seismic Interpretation
software have been installed in the resource center. The New
Mexico legislature appropriated another $ 100,000 for the
expansion of the GO-TECH and PTTC efforts (pending the
governor's approval).
TEXAS
The Texas regional resource center in Austin continues to receive
requests for publications, 3-D seismic information, completion
technologies and Texas production statistics - a recent example
being a producer interested in references to reservoir data for
Winkler County. His request was handled using the GeoRef CD-
ROMs,the center's reference files and the Bureau of Economic
Geology database. Texas RLO outreach efforts included
presentations on PTTC's programs by TIPRO at a Feb. 14-16
Institute of Gas Technology meeting in Houston, a Feb. 20-21
Railroad Commission Gas Forum, and the Feb. 25-26 meeting of
the West Central Texas Oil and Gas Association. The RLO also
is displaying an exhibit about the resource center at the March
20-23 annual meeting of SIPES. Meetings of the Play-based User
Groups are planned for later this year.
WEST COAST
Pending approval by the PTTC board, lraj Ershaghi of the
University of Southern California will become the West Coast
RLO director in April, according to PTTC Executive Director
Deborah Rowell. Meanwhile, a Jan. 24 technology workshop was
held in Long Beach, Calif., in conjunction with the local SPE
chapter The workshop reviewed produced water control methods,
which was one of the high priority needs West Coast producers
identified during a problem identification workshop last
September.