JANUARY 8, 2008
Industry
Highlight:
Rack-and-Pinion Design Enables Rig to Perform
Extended-Reach Laterals at Shallow Depth
Horizontal Well Drillers second-generation rig uses
rack-and-pinion design, which allows horizontal drilling at
shallower depths than possible with conventional rigs. The rig was
tested on 10 wells in Indiana. The first well was drilled, from 400
ft to 700 ft with 5,000 foot laterals, and completed in 16 days.
Following wells were similarly drilled and completed in 14 days.
Where it has taken three rigs in the past, this was done with one.
DOE Highlight:
NETL-Developed Water Management Model
Interests Industry
Devon Energy plans to evaluate a NETL-developed computer model
that screens candidate impoundment locations for minimum
environmental risk associated with storing or disposing produced
water from natural gas. The GIS-based decision-support model
incorporates digital elevation data and helicopter electromagnetic
geophysical results to screen potential sites for CBM produced
water-disposal impoundments. The goal is to identify sites with
maximum soil absorption. Contact Jim Sams, ph 412-386-5767 for more
information. (Excerpted from NETL's Netlog R&D Newsletter,
January 2008, page 3)
PTTC Highlight:
PTTC's Network News Provides Insightful,
Multi-disciplinary Coverage
PTTC's national newsletter, Network News, strives to cover
information of interest across multiple disciplines and geographic
areas, packaging information from varied sources in concise
articles. If you've not already read the recent December issue, PTTC
encourages you to scan the following articles as well as others in the issue:
-
Reducing Risk in Reporting Reserves (Page
3)
-
Closed Loop Drilling, Extra Cost or Cost
Savings? (Page 6)
-
DOE-Supported Deep Trek Projects Reach
Milestones (Page 7)
-
Exploitation in a Mature Play (Page 11)
-
Recent Developments in Distributed Power
Generation and Other Cost Savings
(Page 14)
PTTC welcomes Jerry Anderson and the Conservation Committee of
California Oil and Gas Producers (CCCOGP) aboard in the West Coast
Region. Jerry is already working on a February workshop, to be
delivered in Bakersfield, Long Beach and Ventura, on "Recent
Advancements in Production Enhancement Techniques." Check the
calendar for details as they become
available.
Trivia Question: Located about 5
miles north of Albany in Shackelford County, Texas, the Cook Oil
Field, for a period of time, was the largest shallow oil field in
the world. The 1926 discovery well flowed 1,000 bopd from its 1,240
depth. Within three years, the Cook Field produced 10,000 bopd. What
is unique about the field is the circumstances that led to siting
the discovery well. What were those circumstances?
Trivia Answer: Despite earlier dry holes on the Cook Ranch,
the geologist with Roeser and Pendleton, Inc. believed that there was
oil to be discovered. Drilling this well was the last roll of the dice
for this company before going broke. As they were hauling their rig to
the selected site, it broke down. The rig could go no further unless
additional money was raised for repairs and that was impossible. So they
drilled right there and brought in a
gusher. A year later Roeser and
Pendleton drilled a well at the location they had first intended. It was
a dry hole!
