Petroleum Technology Transfer Council
PEOPLE AND CONNECTIONS
Shortening the Technology Application Life Cycle

Technology—The Engine That Drives O&G Production

DECEMBER 6, 2007

 

Industry Highlight: Multiple Organizations Continue to Deliver "Unconventional Reservoir" Info to Industry

1/8-9 PTTC Eastern Region: Fractures in Devonian Black Shale of the Appalachian Basin  
2/10-12 SPE ATW: Unconventional Reservoirs Conference; New Strategies for Shale, Tight Gas and Coalbed Methane  
2/11-12 AAPG Winter Education Conference: Risk, Uncertainty and Decision-Making in Unconventional Resource Plays  

DOE Highlight: Deep Trek Project Delivers HT/HP Chips for Deep Drilling
New electronic components developed by Honeywell International in a DOE-supported "Deep Trek" project are designed to withstand the HT/HP environment found in deep wells. Four separate components, each with a special purpose, now exist.

  • EEPROM, an electrically erasable, programmable, read-only memory chip—it can retain information when the power is off.

  • FPGA, a field-programmable gate array—this receives instructions from the EEPROM and can be reprogrammed in the field if there is a change in purpose.

  • OpAmp, a chip that amplifies and conditions low-level signals received from downhole sensors.

  • ADC, an 18-bit analog-to-digital converter, represents a 16-fold improvement over existing technology.

A Recent GAO Analysis of DOE's Oil & Natural Gas R&D Activities

PTTC Highlight: Newly Formed Board Springing Into Action

Gene Ames III (geologist - past Chairman of PTTC Board), The Nordan Trust (independent), San Antonio, TX

Chris Hall (engineer - past Chairman of PTTC Board, Producer Advisory Group Chairman of West Coast Region), Drilling and Production Co. (independent), Torrance, CA

Terry Hollrah (geologist), Hollrah Exploration (independent), Oklahoma City, OK

Fletcher Lewis (geologist/engineer - Producer Advisory Group Chairman of Midcontinent Region), Fletcher Lewis Engineering (consultant), Oklahoma
City, OK

Randi Martinsen (geologist), University of Wyoming (academia), Laramie, WY

Barry (Nick) Tew (geologist), Alabama State Geologist & O&G Supervisor (state government), Tuscaloosa, AL

Tom Williams (engineer - member of Texas Producer Advisory Group), Noble Drilling as VP Technology (recently retired), Houston, TX.

Trivia Question: Where was the well recognized as the largest U.S. oil well gusher located?

Trivia Answer:  The Lakeview No. 1, located in Kern County, California, began gushing at a depth of 2,440 feet on March 14, 1910. Initial flow from the gusher was 18,800 bopd. Peak flow while gushing, which lasted 18-months, was estimated to be 90,000 bopd. During the 544 days it flowed, the Lakeview No. 1 produced 9.4 million barrels of oil during the gusher. The Lakeview reservoir was a narrow, channel sandstone only a few feet wide by a mile long. In fact, the Lakeview No. 1 actually missed the sandstone by several feet, but pressure was so great that oil forced its way through shale into the wellbore.