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The South Cowden (San Andres) Unit is the site selected for one of three mid-term projects to be conducted under the DOE Class II Oil Program for Shallow Shelf Carbonate Reservoirs. The proposed $21 million dollar project is designed to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of an innovative CO2 flood project development approach.

There are a number of important considerations in the design of any sucker rod pumping system. To get the best design for a specific application each of these variables must be evaluated in terms of the particular requirements of that specific system. A system which might be ideal for the operating conditions of one area might be a very poor selection for use in another area with different operating conditions.

In designing a submersible pump for an oil well application, the engineer can benefit greatly from the proper use of well data and conditions under which the pump will be operating. It would, of course, be easy to select a pump size if it were already established that the well could produce some given amount of fluid needed to make it a profitable operation. However, the submersible, like any other piece of equipment must be designed with a number of factors taken into account.

Three dimensional hydraulic fracture simulators have become increasingly popular in the Permian Basin. The choice of input parameters to these simulators can be critical to obtaining reasonable results. When sufficient effort is put forth to estimate these parameters, fracture height can be predicted prior to the job. This can be critical if water bearing zones are in close proximity to the hydrocarbon zones of interest. Field examples are discussed from the Delaware, San Andres, and Spraberry to demonstrate the value of proper parameter selection for 3D models in predicting fracture height.

The fiberglass sucker rod design process has come a long way since the introduction of fiberglass sucker rods in the late 1970"s. For the past 15 years fiberglass sucker rods have continued to gain acceptance in the oil field as a viable means to enhance the capabilities of beam pumping systems. With the advent of affordable predictive computer programs, in combination with this continued success and acceptance, more producers are finding themselves faced with the challenge of designing beam lift systems that utilize fiberglass sucker rods.

The presence and magnitude of natural fractures in a potentially productive zone may have a significant effect on the completion of that zone. Their existence may dominate the pore space of the rocks and control the production rate. In addition, the method and materials required to stimulate this heterogeneous system may require special attention. This paper discusses the detection of fractures from the pressure buildup behavior of a drillstem test, and how this behavior may be distinguished from unconnected layered zones and flow capacity discontinuities.

Abnormal Pressure can be detected during drilling operations in world-wide environments. Five practical detection tools: rate of penetration, shale densities, "d" exponent, flowline temperature and pseudo-porosity have been used for this purpose. Actual formation pressures have been predicted in certain instances. Some, or all of these tools were utilized in the U.S. Gulf Coast, African area, Southeast Asia and the North Sea.

A significant application of multiple tracers is their use in tracing different proppant concentration stages and/or types of proppant to determine their effective wellbore distribution at the fracture entrance. Extensive fracture intervals heterogeneous formations with large containing multiple perforated intervals or hydraulic fracture treatments that utilize the limited entry technique provide one of the best opportunities for using multiple tracers to evaluate proppant distribution.

A significant application of multiple tracers is their use in tracing different proppant concentration stages and/or types of proppant to determine their effective wellbore distribution at the fracture entrance. Extensive fracture intervals heterogeneous formations with large containing multiple perforated intervals or hydraulic fracture treatments that utilize the limited entry technique provide one of the best opportunities for using multiple tracers to evaluate proppant distribution.

There is evidence that the current need for natural gas reserves has made certain low permeability reservoirs, heretofore considered marginal or uneconomical, candidates for development. Accurate estimates of the gas in-place in these reservoirs will not only be important for pipeline contracting purposes, but will become fundamental requirements for establishing the most economic well spacing and the best facilities and operations design. Considerable effort has been directed to the problem of estimating the gas initially in place and in predicting future performance of natural gas wells.

For reservoir history matching, simulated model output is conditioned to observed historical field data by modifying the model parameter so that the simulated data matches the history data. The matched model which is dependent on the historical data utilized for matching is used for reservoir production forecast. The vital question to be answered by reservoir engineers is the waiting period duration in order to have sufficient historical data for matching. In this work an answer is provided for this waiting period.

Rod guides used to centralize sucker rods inside tubing have evolved dramatically over the past 20 years. The primary function of a rod guide is to extend the life of the production equipment by preventing metal-to-metal contact. Basically, the portion of a rod guide between the largest O.D. on the rod string and the I.D. of the tubing is all that can prevent the damaging metal-to-metal contact. This protective volume of the rod guide is often referred to as erodible wear volume (EWV). It is an important indicator of rod guide performance.

A new pressure transient wave method is presented for measuring fluid levels in wells, The method uses flow induced pressure phenomena to measure acoustic velocity externally from the well in a known length of coiled tubing. Similarly with a flow induced pulse in the well a fluid level is measured by sensing the distance traveled by the pressure wave. The method is flexible. The pressure wave can be created automatically or manually by venting a small amount of gas from the well, by abruptly releasing high pressure gas into the well or by implosion if the casing pressure is high.

Tracking the fall of the plunger down the tubing can be used to optimize the operation of plunger lifted wells. Acoustic fluid level instruments can be used on plunger lifted wells to acquire a series of plunger/fluid level soundings and/or to record the acoustic signal produced as the plunger falls down the tubing. Five different data acquisition and analysis methods can be used to monitor the position of the plunger, as the plunger falls down the tubing during the controller's shut-in time period.

A matter of concern in most secondary recovery projects is control of the movement of injected fluids. If the injection pressure exceeds the fracture gradient of the confining layers of rock, the injected fluids will not be optimally placed. Historically, operators have seen evidence of exceeding fracture gradients in pay zones using Hall plots, fall off tests, square root of time plots or step rate tests. All these methods require fracture stimulation of the rock and though they describe the pay zone stresses adequately, they lack data on the boundary rock.

In determining the net lift and bottom-hole pressure in a pumping well, the first thought that comes to mind is, "What equipment is necessary?" The dynamometer and its related equipment are the only tools required. The dynamometer test data necessary are the traveling valve check and the standing valve check. Although this sounds simple enough, it should be pointed out that there are several precautions which should be observed in taking these valve checks.

Management has become a professional employing skills and disciplines which are quite independent of trade or professional skills and disciplines. Engineers, accountants, teachers, and doctors can no longer conclude that proficiency in their particular profession gives them proficiency in management, nor does any profession preclude such proficiency. Conversely, it should not be assumed that any particularized schooling will of itself make a manager. Management is a skill in itself, often inherent in professional and skilled people together with their titled skill.

It became apparent some 20 years ago that oil wells produced by artificial lift were becoming more corrosive and more demanding of downhole equipment. This paper relates to the case history of sucker rod coupling failures that caused accelerated attention by manufacturers toward product improvement programs and ultimately the development of the sprayed metal coupling. The metals used and the processes involved in the manufacture of couplings are discussed in some detail.

It is usually a difficult task for drillers to choose a suitable roller cone bit in order to efficiently drill through interbedded formations. When experience and/or drilling log information indicate the interbedded formation is drillable with an insert type roller cone bit, a conical type insert bit is usually chosen because of the durability of its cutting structure. This paper discusses the development and applications of a new type of roller cone bit with chisel inserts that are able to drill very efficiently through interbedded formations.

It has long been recognized that there exists a significant technology gap between the performance of the best water based drilling fluids (WBF) and invert emulsion fluids. WBF fall behind with respect to shale inhibition, wellbore stability, rate of penetration, and fluid stability. Strengthening of restrictions regarding use and discharge of invert emulsion fluids, coupled with the challenges of extended reach and deepwater drilling (low fracture gradients, narrow ECD windows, high lost circulation risk) have challenged WBF development.

Recently, an intrinsically safe, high pressure, gas gun was developed and presented at the 2010 SWPSC. This development was certified for Div 1/Class 1 well locations. Extending this development was the need to manufacture this gun for 5000 psi well service for operations in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide fluid service. This presentation will discuss the industry requirements for materials selection according to standard NACE MR0175/ISO 15156.

This paper reviews basic techniques required to determine an equation suitable to describe a given set of data points. In general, the data is matched against ten of the more corrrnonc urves encountered by the petroleum engineer. The conversion of each of the ten curves into a psuedo-linear equation is discussed. Coefficients for each equation are determined by the least squares method and the method of averages. A microcomputer program that incorporates these concepts is presented. The program is written in BASIC for the Apple II microcomputer.

The newest technological advancement in the Progressing Cavity Pump (PCP) industry has been the development of composite stators and rotors. Included in this design concept is a reversing of the conventional elastomer and hard surface interface. The stator, in this design concept, is made of a hard composite material and is placed in a steel tube jacket. The rotor can be made of steel or composite material and coated with an even thickness of a soft and durable polyurethane.

Attendees of the annual Gas Well Deliquification Workshop have expressed interest in having a set of industry-accepted recommended practices for selection of artificial lift systems for gas well deliquification. The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC) has initiated a process to define these practices and make them readily available to the industry. This presentation will describe the process being used and the progress that has been made. It will invite participation by others in industry.

Even though progressing cavity (PC) pumps have been used by the industrial world for many years on liquids containing abrasive fluids, PC systems are a relatively new means of artificial lift in the oil field. One of the more obvious differences between the newer PC and the traditional beam pump is that the rod string rotates rather than reciprocates. PC pumps are now being used on increasingly deeper wells and on a wider variety of production fluids following their introduction in shallow wells to produce heavy, sand-laden oil.