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An approach to automation of oil field production including a computer oriented system entailing consideration for remote terminals, communication facilities, communications between the actual process, (in this case the oil wells themselves), and the central logic. The system also provides for communications between the oil field operators and the central logic.

Nowhere in the oil field are experience and "rule of thumb" employed more frequently than in estimating chemical treatment volumes to be used to stimulate production. The majority of chemical treatments performed are attempts to improve fluid flow by removing restrictions around the wellbore. Usually, if the production rate has declined more rapidly than expected, it is an indication that a restriction exists or is forming. Darcy's equation for fluid flow through concentric cylinders empirically describes "skin damage".

Software and a manifolding system for automating closed-chamber drillstem tests have been developed. This paper describes the software, the manifolding and, briefly, the data acquisition system that provides the interface between them. In addition, it presents improved correlations for determining the maximum influx rates of gasfree and gas-saturated water. The typical test procedure is outlined in the paper and an actual example of a closed-chamber test illustrates the paper.

Lining and coating of oilfield tubular goods have long been common solutions to downhole tubular corrosion problems in oil and gas operations. Thermoplastic linings and spray-coated resins have been replaced in numerous applications recently with filament-wound composite materials. Notably, the introduction of Fiberglass-Epoxy Resin liners in downhole and surface steel tubular goods has provided opportunities for continuous operation in corrosive environments under higher temperatures and greater volumes of corrosive substances.

This paper shows how an existing water holding tanK designed to separate oil and water is economically modified to increase fluid retention time. A case history from a waterflood in Andrews County, Texas where this design is used is discussed. The results of this study show increased retention time reduced oil carryover and suspended solids in the injection water.

A variety of sour gas sweetening processes have been commercially available for a number of years, and reports of new processes appear regularly. Many of these processes present severe problems in economics and operating consistency for selectively removing hydrogen sulfide from sour gas, especially in the presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide. This presentation describes a new one-step process which selectively removes H2S, even in the presence of CO2, and converts it directly to elemental sulfur. Only one vessel is used and this operates unattended or with minimum manpower.

This paper explains the development and the applications of a simple, accurate, and efficient computer program for decline curve analysis of both oil and gas wells. By utilizing root extraction technique in numerical methods, the decline exponent n of a given oil/gas property with production rate - time data can be computed directly and the initial decline rate Di can then be determined. With the values of n and D., the governing decline equation *or the property can be formulated and used to predict its future performance.

Presents latest equipment and methods used in analysis of electrical systems and methods of obtaining more efficient and profitable electrical system operation.

The science of business management has progressed as rapidly in recent years as the science of engineering. However, much of this knowledge has been utilized by only the larger businesses with professionally trained managers. The manager of a small business has frequently come from another profession, such as engineering, and was not exposed to management training during his formal education; and since going into business for himself, he has had neither the time nor the financial resources to m-educate himself in the field of business management.

Flowmeters available to the petroleum industry fit into a wide range of operating principles and are diverse in the physical phenomena employed. Flow measurement may be made from (1) velocity, (2) mass transfer rate, (3) volumetric transfer, or (4) interference. Our industry pumps fluids that range from (1) clean, homogenous newtonian to (2) heterogenous non-newtonian slurries. Application of flowmeter type to fluid type requires more than casual attention. This paper presents a summary of flowmeter types currently available and gives advantages and disadvantages of each.

An experimental paraffin control technique has been developed and tested in several West Texas Chevron operated leases producing from the Spraberry formation. The results were encouraging. The methods described below provide a structured framework for testing and analyzing paraffin control and for applying the procedures developed.

A recurring problem in foam fracturing is sand suspension; i.e., the suspension of high sand concentrations in the liquid phase of a foam frac system. A process has been developed which enables the liquid phase to be pumped directly from the blender to the high-pressure pumps without recirculating to suspend high sand concentrations. This process for foam frac is improved by using a unique gel-gel breaker system for the liquid portion used in generating the foam.

Pressure buildup analysis has been used for many years to evaluate the performance of wells and estimate the properties of reservoirs. Usually, the application of pressure transient theory to the evaluation of well tests requires that accurate bottomhole pressure measurements be made. In the case of a well producing by beam pumping, the direct measurement of bottomhole pressures is impossible, since the presence of the pump in the tubing physically precludes the use of wireline pressure gages and permanent downhole pressure installations are usually not economically attractive.

Cement squeezes have been used for many years for various operations such as casing leak repairs, sealing of thief zones, and zonal isolation. While they have been successful in many of these operations, they often require more than one attempt before success is achieved, or they are not successful at all. This paper presents the development of a system based on a combination of a porosity-fill sealant with particulates. The particulates provide leakoff control, which leads to shallow matrix penetration of the sealant.

In the past, in wells that were candidates for fracturing or acidizing treatments, it was found that the use of temperature and radioactive material were very beneficial in evaluating where the fluid and propping agents, if any, were located in the formation. Both of these methods had their drawbacks. This paper deals with overcoming some of the problems associated with radioactive material only.

Over the last thirty years various polymers have been added to water to create the base fluid used in fracture stimulation treatments. Advances in improving these base fluids have been concentrated on developing polymers which are relatively free from damaging residue, while retaining the properties required to achieve the designed viscosities. Little attention has been focused on the effects of mixing these polymers under field conditions, where the majority of the hydration process is taking place in the low shear environment of large frac tanks.

The vast majority of new wells being drilled for both oil and gas production are horizontals. At some point most of these wells will require artificial lift to produce the liquid hydrocarbons and/or dewater the gas wells, but artificial lift of horizontal wells presents many challenges.

In the oil field industry drilling, completion, and production are all the responsibility of different departments. Each phase in the life of an oil or gas well is being scrutinized and restructured as an independent event. Oil and gas wells are typically drilled, completed, and put on production with an emphasis on completing each task in a manner to minimize costs. If a problem is created in either the drilling or completion operation, the production department will be forced to deal with results of the problem which can last for the well's lifetime.

Gas problems can cost a company valuable time, money and resources. The presence of gas in the pumping zone causes various problems like gas lock, gas pound and gas interference resulting in reduced pump efficiency and pump failures. In order to overcome these problems the in-house research department developed and patented an innovative design called the Don-Nan Gas Separator, which diverts the gas away from entering the pump intake and thus reducing pump failures and improving the pump efficiency.

The use of permeability tensors is required for modeling fluid flow in anisotropic and heterogeneous reservoirs that present multiple zones of directional permeability or those categorized as naturally fractured reserv0irs.A general procedure for characterizing complex reservoirs by integrating data and methods from different disciplines, and utilizing the permeability tensor is presented.

Infill drilling of wells on a uniform spacing, without regard to reservoir performance and characterization, must become a process of the past. Such efforts do not optimize reservoir development as they fail to account for the complex nature of reservoir heterogeneities present in many low permeability carbonate reservoirs. These reservoirs are typically characterized-by: -Large, discontinuous pay intervals -Vertical and lateral changes in reservoir properties -Low reservoir energy -High residual oil saturation -Low recovery efficiency.

A cooperative study of the Grayburg"San Andres reservoir is being conducted in response to the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Class II Oil Program. The project is cost shared by Laguna Petroleum Corporation (operator) and the DOE. The purpose of this study is to preserve access to existing, wellbores by identifying additional reserves. Production problems associated with shallow shelf carbonate reservoirs are being evaluated by a technical team integrating subsurface geological and engineering data with 3-D seismic data. Engineering analysis. subsurface control from wireline logs.

A cooperative two-phase study of the Grayburg/San Andres reservoir is being conducted in response to the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Class II Oil Program. The study's purpose is to preserve access to existing wellbores by identifying additional reserves. Phase I was an integrated Geological, Geophysical, and Engineering study to determine if state-of-the art technologies, including 3D seismic and sequence stratigraphy, could be integrated into a reservoir simulation to enhance oil recoveries in this 66 year old field.

A detailed study of fluid mechanics in well stimulation is presented in this paper. The importance of density, viscosity, friction loss, compressibility, fluid loss or leak-off and sand carrying ability (gel strength) in designing and performing fracturing treatments will be discussed.

In recent years, the cementing industry has embraced the concept of right-angle-set as a desirable feature in the thickening time set profile of oilwell cements. Right-angle-set can be characterized as the rapid thickening of a cement slurry from a stabilized viscosity to a final set of 70-l 00 Bearden Units of Consistency (Bc). This is a dynamic-state phenomenon that usually takes place in the final 30-45 minutes of thickening time. Cement slurries exhibiting right-angle-set thickening time profiles were generally thought of as being preferable over slower "gel" type sets.