Download Papers

This paper discusses the theoretical advantages of ultra high sand concentrations (UHSC) in hydraulic fracturing treatments. Results from several treatments are presented. For comparative purposes, results from conventional, lower sand concentration treatments are presented. Mechanical aspects of handling ultra high concentrations of sand (10 lb/gal and greater) at injection rates from 40 to 70 BPM have been a major consideration in conducting these treatments. Sand concentrations, at these rates, have been unattainable in the past partially due to sand handling problems.

This paper will present a summary of jet pump theory and performance, and an algorithm for applying jet pumps to the wide range of conditions encountered in oil wells. Nozzle and throat sizes available from National Production Systems, Kobe, Inc., and Guiberson Hydraulic Pumping Systems, the three major suppliers of oilfield jet pumps, will be presented. Appendices will include hand-held calculator application programs for a TI-59 and an HP-41C.

Incomplete pump fillage is often associated erroneously with a "pumped-off well", meaning that the pump displacement exceeds the production capacity of the reservoir, ignoring the fact that there are two other causes of partial liquid fillage: gas interference and the presence of a flow restriction or excessive pressure drop at the pump intake. The result of a misdiagnosis is to incorrectly set the mode of operation of pump-off controllers, variable speed drives or timers thereby loosing significant amounts of production.

The economic benefits to be obtained from use of a through-tubing bridge plug have long been known by the petroleum industry. However, early attempts to produce a reliable through-tubing bridge plug for casing were not successful. Sustained engineering effort was begun by Schlumberger in the middle 60's to devise a through-tubing bridge plug that would give consistent plugging results. Many problems that had not been previously recognized were highlighted.

Because of the complexities of pumping dense phase C02, it is recommended that one supplier provide all components. These should be completely skid mounted with pump, driver and accessories,- valves, headers and controls all preassembled, wired and tested.

Sand problems can cost a company valuable time, money, and resources. Various methods have been used to reduce sand problems experienced in rod pump operations. This presentation will propose an alternative solution utilizing pump screens and tubing screens to handle the sand problem and increase production and profit capability. Illustrations will be examined, which explain how pump and tubing screens function, and case studies will be reviewed that discuss the benefits and limitations of the screens.

Sand problems can cost a company valuable time, money, and resources. Various methods have been used to reduce sand problems experienced in rod pump operations. This paper will present an alternative solution utilizing Pump Screens and Tubing Screens to handle the sand problem and increase production and profit capability. Illustrations will be examined which explain how the Pump and Tubing Screens function, and case studies will be reviewed that discuss the benefits and limitations of the screens.

Sand problems can cost a company valuable time, money, and resources. Various methods have been used to reduce
sand problems experienced in rod pump operations. This presentation will propose an alternative solution utilizing pump
screens and tubing screens to handle the sand problem and increase production and profit capability. Illustrations will be
examined, which explain how pump and tubing screens function, and case studies will be reviewed that discuss the
benefits and limitations of the screens.

Hydrochloric acid has been used for more than 40 years to improve production in oil and gas wells. Many techniques have been used to improve results of hydrochloric-acid treatments. One of the most important advances has been recognition that fracturing occurred during the majority of acidizing treatments. This enables the use of fracturing principles to increase live acid penetration. Unfortunately, actual results did not correlate with predicted results. This prompted the use of many techniques to improve results. Some of these are listed below. 1. Acid retardation 2.

The necessity of developing cleaner fluids for the purpose of well stimulation has been the topic of current discussion among oil company and service company personnel alike. In fracturing, the incorporation of specific quantities and types of gelling agents and fluid-loss additives has been considered only as means by which to obtain effective viscosities for proppant transport, fracture width development, and efficiency via low leak-off of fluid away from the direction of fracture penetration.

Acrolein (2-propenal) is a potent biocide and sulfide scavenger which has been used to mitigate bacterial and iron sulfide problems in secondary oilfield recovery systems. The effectiveness of acrolein is due to its _,_-conjugated double bond which reacts with sulfhydryl and amine groups on bacterial proteins as well as irreversibly reacting with sulfide ions in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and iron sulfide.

In recent times, a tremendous amount of effort has gone into the development on nonaqueous fracturing fluids. These fluids, usually alcohol or high-gravity hydrocarbons, which may contain propane, carbon dioxide or nitrogen, have been utilized in the stimulation of many formations. The above systems, while normally being successful, have some shortcomings. Generally the fluids are expensive and many require specialized equipment. With the introduction of a new fracturing fluid based on mixtures of alcohol and water, a lower cost alternative is now available.

As the energy situation becomes more critical and more domestic oil is desired, new methods of stimulation are needed. Conventional methods generally have not been successful in treating thick or massive pay sections whether in cased or open hole. This has been true for squeeze cementing as well as fracturing and acidizing treatments. In the Levelland-Sundown areas of West Texas, most of the producing formations are thick, fractured limestones of varying porosity and permeability. The problem here has been to treat the low-permeability or tight zones as well as the more permeable zones.

Since the early days of oil production, operators have been plagued by emulsified oil. It has been estimated that about 70 per cent of all crude oil is produced in the emulsified form. Before this oil can be transported and refined the emulsified water must be removed. In the early days of the industry, pipe lines would accept oil containing upwards of 5 percent water, while today they will accept only 1 per cent water of basic sediment. Many methods of removing the water and emulsion from this production have been tried with varying degrees of success.

Are the new flaring regulations creating more headaches for you?

This paper covers the use of foam fracturing in the Ft. Worth Basin. It will discuss the design parameters and economic considerations in foam treatments. Finally, case histories will show results of production.

ARCO Oil and Gas Company has drilled two horizontal drainhole wells in the Empire Abo Unit. A horizontal drainhole well is one in which the wellbore is turned from vertical to horizontal in a short radius and the horizontal hole is then drilled out some distance into the formation. These wells were drilled to evaluate the mechanical feasibility of the drilling process and to examine the effect producing through the drainholes would have on the well's tendencies to form gas cones.

Historically, gas recovery was not considered a profitable proposition for producers in the Permian Basin. Today's commodity gas pricing makes it a viable revenue generator with a 10:1 recovery payback. Safety and environmental incident prevention, lost profit potential, responsibility to shareholders, and the economics and feasibility of thermal imaging create a convincing case for investing in infrared thermography. Pioneer Natural Resources operates 5600 producing wells and 1617 tank storage batteries, with more than 2,000 miles of flow and transmission line in the Permian asset.

The accumulation of paraffin deposits in pumping wells and flow lines presents a production and transportation
problem that is very costly to the oil industry. This problem has been attacked in many ways and, until a few years ago, the removal of such deposits was accomplished by mechanical means only. These usually involved lost time, extra labor, and special tools, all of which were expensive to the operator. Because
of the high cost of mechanical methods, it was found that, in many cases, the use of chemical solvents
was a more economical way to remove paraffin deposits.

One of the factors influencing the potential applicability of a tertiary recovery program to a specific reservoir is the amount and distribution of oil remaining in the reservoir. Experience has demonstrated that predictions for determining the yet-to-be-recovered oil saturation are frequently optimistic. More positive means for accurately assessing the reservoir oil saturation are needed. Two procedures have recently been used in Amoco's operations in an effort to better define reservoir oil saturation prior to the planning of a tertiary recovery program.

Two predominant methods, millipore filtration and turbidity, have been used in the past to measure the efficiency of filters. These methods are useful for empirical measurements of filtration but do nothing to quantify the various sizes of interest. The introduction of the Coulter Counter to industrial application has presented a new method for monitoring filter performance. Now, the efficiency of the filter can be determined at any size from 0.4 to 800 microns. This paper illustrates the use of the Coulter Counter in the development of a new filter design.

The Thermal Decay Time (TDT) log is used to detect hydrocarbons through casing. When used with a porosity log obtained in open or cased hole a water saturation can be calculated. The TDT water saturation computed in high porosity and high salinity situation approached the accuracy obtained from an openhole suite of logs. Since a high salinity and low porosity situation exists in many areas of West Texas, special interpretation techniques must be used to compute a semi-quantitative water saturation in these horizons.

In fluid-injection projects, the channeling or bypassing of injected fluids through fractures and high-permeability stringers results in poor reservoir sweep efficiency and low oil recovery. When the injected fluid is water, channeling problems have a less severe impact on the flood economics because water is relatively inexpensive, and it can be recovered and recycled through the reservoir to recover additional oil.

Well flow analysis is the examination of well performance based on fundamental mathematical models of flow in well tubulars and flow through porous media. It is used to assign the pressure drop to each part of the flow path existing between the well drainage boundary and the wellhead pressure. Many types of computer software are available to perform the calculations and plot the results in an easy to read chart of well head pressure versus flow rate. Multiple curves can be generated so that actual performance can be compared to predicted performance for different wellbore conditions.

Since the start of gas-lift, especially intermittent gas-lift, the need was felt for something to go between the base of a liquid slug and the gas that was pushing it up in a pipe.