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In many cases fast identification of the type of problem occurring in a oil, gas, injection or gas storage well is needed before remediation of the problem can start. The longer it takes to identify the problem the more expensive the problem becomes in lost production. Misidentification of the problem can lead to mistreatment which at best does nothing to help the well and could cause additional damage further complicating the well problems. What is needed is a set of simple tests that can be done in the field to tell the difference between organic and inorganic type problems.

In order to select the appropriate inhibitor for a given application, two outstanding pieces of information need to be known. They are: "How much corrosion will occur in a given length of time under the specified conditions?" and "How much corrosion can be accepted?" The amount of corrosion that will occur in a given length of time can be determined by running a test which will duplicate the desired conditions; but, the amount of corrosion that is acceptable is somewhat arbitrary.

This paper briefly summarizes the laboratory studies that have led to the development of the new, high-strength bauxite proppant, describes field applications of the proppant, and discusses the results of a detailed economic analysis for a particular field. We expect that wide-spread use of the new proppant will be economically justified in the future.

There are, at present time, eight sucker rod manufacturers in the United States. They all manufacture sucker rods and coupling according to the specifications set forth by the American Petroleum Institute. In view of this, any discussion of the care and handling for sucker rods and couplings would quite naturally apply to any and all makes of sucker rods and couplings, regardless of the manufacture.

The purpose of this discussion is to present some of the factors involved in the design, operation and maintenance of field compressor installations and to point out some of the advantages of using the packaged compressor units for this service.

This paper will examine the design, economic factors, field installation, performance, and field testing of regenerators(exhaust heat recovery systems) installed on existing industrial gas turbines. The information contained in this paper was primarily derived from the conversion in the field of four industrial gas turbines of the 10,750 brake horsepower (ISO) range from simple cycle to regenerative cycle operation.

It is important that all electrical contractors on location perform quality work. The end product of their work must meet OSHA regulations, NEC and API code standards. OSHA regulations are enforced by the federal government, whereas, industrial codes do not generally have the force of regulations. Reduction of field operating expenses will be achieved by upgrading the electrical systems. Better electrical systems will reduce field downtime and this will generate more production.

The advantages and techniques of extended period batch treating as compared to conventional treatment are presented. Results of field tests in central Kansas are reported.

A new gelled acid was evaluated in the West Texas, Southeast New Mexico and Oklahoma areas. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine how successful a gelled acid, prepared from xanthan polymer, would be in the following formations: Ellenburger, Blinebry, San Andres, Clearfork, Canyon Lime, Strawn Lime, Grayburg, Devonian, Drinkard Dolomite, Viola and Chester. Treatment depths vary from 4,000 to 22,000 ft. Treatment temperatures vary from 70_ to 310_F. Treatments were performed on both oil and gas wells. The age of the wells stimulated varies from new to 30 yr old.

Initially, the waterflood operator must establish that he has a biological problem. This evaluation is best accomplished by a complete microbiological examination, made in the field, or of the waterflood system. If such a problem is found to exist, then the choice of a chemical as an effective bactericide depends upon economics, compatibility with water, plugging tendency, and toxicity.

An acidizing technique has been developed for treating carbonate reservoirs that will give deep penetrating fractures with high flow capacity. Production results from these treatments have been excellent. The technique uses the principle of hydraulic fracturing with a thickened fluid. Instead of using a proppant in the fluid, acid is used to produce flow capacity by controlled etching of the fracture system. Overall treatment success has been good. New and old producers with varying productive capacity have been treated.

Previous methods to detect and locate fluid flow behind well casings such as temperature, radioactive tracer, or acoustic noise have been successful but often difficult to interpret. An alternative method which is specific for detecting water flow (or CO2 flow) is the oxygen activation log. This paper presents field examples from West Texas of the Water Flow Log which is based on a new approach to oxygen activation logging.

Previous methods to detect and locate fluid flow behind well casings such as temperature, radioactive tracer, or acoustic noise have been successful but often difficult to interpret. An alternative method which is specific for detecting water flow (or CO2 flow) is the oxygen activation log. This paper presents field examples from West Texas of the Water Flow Log which is based on a new approach to oxygen activation logging.

This paper presents three years of field experience showing dramatically improved rod string performance, resulting in lower intervention costs.
There are three key factors in achieving this improved performance. First and foremost is the rigorous application of best practices for rod handling, connection cleaning, preparation and lubrication. Second is the use of a fully automated rod tong which delivers accurate CD control on every connection in the string.

During the past 10 years, methods have been developed to adequately and economically protect lease surface vessels fabricated from mild steel and subject to corrosion. In general, these methods have fallen into 2 categories

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

Fluid loss into the formation matrix can be a serious problem during overbalanced workover operations, Invasion by the completion fluid can cause near-wellbore damage and can also cause problems associated with poor wellbore cleanout and loss of hydrocarbon reserves. In addition, fluid loss can increase costs associated with rig time and treatments devoted to restore the initial condition of the formation.

To investigate the causes of fluid migration behind the casing after primary cementing, pressure and temperature measurements were made in the annulus of seven wells during cementing operations. Sensors were attached to the outside of the casing as it was run into each well; in this way data were obtained from several depths. A logging cable, also clamped to the casing, was used to bring data from the sensors to the surface. In some of the wells these annular measurements were continued during subsequent completion or workover operations.

Production of natural gasoline and other liquefied petroleum gases from casing head or oil well separator gas and gas distillate is the primary function of a natural gasoline plant. In this role, it demonstrates just another step taken by our industry toward achieving maximum utilization and deriving maximum benefit from one of our country's important resources, natural gas.

In the beginning of this project the primary goal was to compare IPC and Bare tubing and discern which was more effective in lowering tubing failures and which was more economical. In this project, a sample of 62 wells was examined from the Sprabeny area as well as an additional 152 wells from the Preston Spraberry Unit "Best Practices" program. All wells were evaluated from January of 1996 to July of 2002. The question in concern was if IPC should be part of the optimizing process.

Numerous articles have been published on field application of dynamometers. However, dynamometers are not widely used. Use of dynamometers has been limited by the difficulty of interpreting dynamometer cards. This paper deals with recognizing rod-pumping problems through field analysis of qualitative dynamometer cards.

Scale and paraffin problems cost the oil industry billions of dollars in prevention, maintenance and repair each year. A new and innovative approach to well management, using a physical fluid treatment device, will be presented showing how it reduces well interventions and, correspondingly, improves production efficiency. Over 45 wells in West Texas were treated for scale and paraffin using a unique physical fluid treatment device over a period of 24 months.

Newly drilled water injection wells in the Shell operated Jordan University Unit in the Jordan(San Andres) Field of West Texas exhibited thin intervals of high permeability (and poor profiles) soon after injectivity began (Fig. 1). The wells had been selectively acidized (straddle packers were used to isolate each perforation while acidizing) with surface pressures of not more than 500 psi.

One of the more extensive uses of directional drilling anywhere in the world has been in the development of the East Wilmington Oil Field in Long Beach, California. The average well achieves a deviation from vertical in excess of 50' and wells with a build-up in the 70 to 80 range are not uncommon before they are dropped off to 50 or less when penetrating the completion interval. Over 780 wells have been drilled in this field to date, requiring the highest degree of control and accuracy in order to avoid intersection of other wells and to obtain proper bottom hole spacing.

The McKinley afterflow method has been successfully used to interpret drill-stem tests (D.S.T.) and short-time production tests where conventional analysis methods cannot be employed, or are difficult to apply." Although the afterflow method has other applications, this study will be limited to pressure buildup behavior. Throughout this paper the McKinley afterflow buildup method will be referred to as simply the afterflow method.