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The competitive position in which oil companies now find themselves -- with other energy suppliers as well as in their own industry -- has demanded that they deliver, to the market, oil products as efficiently and cheaply as possible. This position has required a look at all phases of the industry: exploration, drilling, production, transportation, refining, manufacturing, and marketing. One factor which has received considerable study and development has been multiple zone completions.

This paper will provide a comparison between multistage horizontal pumping systems and reciprocating positive displacement pumping systems. We will compare their applications, costs and advantages and disadvantages.

A new surface energy mechanism, based on recent joint industry-university research using nanoparticle dispersions (NPD) is now available to the oil and gas industry, and is being laboratory and field tested for improving stimulation fluid recovery, remediating wellbore damage issues such as paraffin, waterblock and deep induced imbibition, as well as for enhancing the recovery of oil, gas and water following their application by a variety of intervention methods.

A net oil meter has been developed that provides accurate measurement of the water and oil fractions and production rates of oil/water emulsions. The net oil meter incorporates integral mass flow rate, density and temperature measurements in a single package, coupled to a powerful microprocessor based transmitter. This transmitter is designed for easy installation in the oil field and on off-shore platforms. The net oil meter provides both improved productivity and precision. The equipment simplifies net oil measurement with more results, and includes automatic well testing.

Past field history has proven the effectiveness of internal plastic coatings as a primary tool for the control of corrosion in secondary and tertiary recovery programs. In recent times, new coating materials have been developed that have been found to enhance the previous performance of coatings by providing materials with greater flexibility and impact resistance. This paper discusses the basics of these new materials as they apply to the various corrosion mechanisms found in enhanced oil recovery.

Efficient oil recovery by waterflooding requires that certain fluid and reservoir properties lie in an appropriate range. The mobility ratio of the oil being produced to the water being injected is one such parameter which fortunately can be adjusted by one technique or another to obtain satisfactory recoveries. The most recent technique for adjusting the water oil mobility ratio is to dissolve small amounts of a water soluble polymer in the injection brine. It has been found that very small quantities of polymer greatly reduce the mobility of injection fluid thus increasing oil recovery.

Injection profiles of West Texas waterflood projects have been improved by the application of sequential zirconium complexed polymer treatments. Alternating stages of polymer and a new zirconium complexor were applied using specially designed skid mounted injection units. These units automatically monitor waterflood rate and adjust chemical pumps to maintain constant chemical concentrations. A small scale injection unit has been built to imitate the larger unit.

A compact cyclone multiphase meter (CCM meter) developed by Statoil and Kvizrner Process Systems utilizes a compact gas liquid cyclone to separate liquid and gas, before individual measurement of the two phases by conventional single phase instruments, followed by re-mixing downstream of the measurement section. The most unique feature of this cyclone is the simple control scheme which provides for large turn down ratios. The instrumentation has been implemented into the water cut analyzer electronics to provide for a complete stand alone system.

Variable Speed Drive technology has been adapted to work with rod pumping to increase run life, decrease failures and reduce operation costs. This paper will show the technology being used and show several examples of systems installed and the benefits from this technology.

Each year more and more wells go on the pump. The Oil and Gas Journal predicts that in 1957 over 29,000 wells will be placed on artificial lift. In addition, this publication comments on a trend of a 7% increase in the number of wells put on the pump each year. The decision of whether or not to place a particular well on the pump is based entirely on the economics involved. This evaluation includes estimates of the expected production, the cost of the equipment needed, and the expected annual maintenance costs.

The steel API sucker rod connection design used in beam and progressing cavity pumping systems has been an industry standard since the 1920"s. During these many years of continuous use, improvements have been made both large and small, yet this three part connection system is responsible for the majority of rod string connection failures. After 31/2 years of development, we now bring to the industry a new API modified four-part design with a method and system for precise make-up which expands load bearing capabilities and extends the working life of sucker rod connections.

Carbon/Oxygen (C/O) logging applicable in cased wellbores measures energy and intensity of inelastic and capture gamma rays resulting from pulsed neutron irradiation of subsurface formations. Continuous C/O logs therefore define the relative abundance of elements, such as C, 0, Si, Ca, H, etc., which in turn relates to lithology, porosity, and hydrocarbon saturation distribution in potential reservoir rocks independent of formation water salinities.

To anyone who has been associated with the operation, selection, or purchasing of production equipment over the past 20 to 30 years, it is obvious that in the beginning oil producers made money in spite of operating equipment, and methods, rather than because of them. In the very early days of cable tool rigs, the well was drilled and pumped with the same engine, and surface equipment. Upon completion the rope, jars, and drilling bits were pulled out, and sucker rods and common barrel were installed. Very seldom, if ever, was any type of counterbalancing used.

Along with the development of new tools there are continuous improvements of existing tools and techniques. It is the purpose of this paper to review some of the new radioactivity tools that have been developed and also review some of the existing tools that have undergone significant improvements. The following major subjects are discussed: The casing potential profile, the densilog, small diameter radioactivity instruments, radioactivity tracer injector, and the perforating-formation collar chart.

Over 400,00 oil wells are now produced by rod drawn pumps. These vary in depths from "post holes" of less than a hundred feet to some of the deepest wells drilled, where the setting depth of the pump may be as much as 12,000 feet. The volume output of these pumps is just as varied as their setting depth. It may range from less than a barrel a day in small stripper wells to more than 2,000 barrels a day in wells where large bore pumps and high operating speeds are employed.

The costs of drilling, completing and producing oil and gas wells are continuously increasing. Therefore, the present day operator is seeking new and improved methods to more efficiently produce oil and gas. The savings available in dually completing a well are forcibly evident over the costs of drilling and completing two singly completed wells.

Progress is essential to survival. In no other industry is this more pronounced than in the oil industry. With reserves becoming harder and harder to find, we must continually strive to increase out efficiency in recovering oil from known reserves in order to maintain an adequate oil supply to meet future demands. Increasing out efficiency is important for other reasons too; one reason, perhaps closer to home, is to reduce production costs. Operating companies and service companies are constantly trying new processes and techniques, sometimes with success, sometimes without.

Dynamometers have been used for many years to analyze beam-pumped wells. The evolution from mechanical systems to modern computerized systems have provided the industry with sophisticated dynamometers for the diagnosis of wells. Typical modern systems require significant capital outlay and specialized training for proper operation; this has limited the use of dynamometers for well analysis. This illustrates a need in the industry for a simple, accurate dynamometer data-gathering tool which is easy to setup and use.

The EPA announced the most sweeping changes to air and emission regulations in decades last year; several of which reach back to include all new tank batteries installed since August 2011. This talk will focus on explaining the new regulations in understandable terms, and define steps which operators can take in the field to help minimize their impact. The talk will focus on EPA Subpart OOOO, known as "Quad O" regulations, the key dates for implementation, reporting requirements, and steps necessary to take in the field.

Expanding cements have been credited with improving cement bonding to casing and formation, and for providing better Zonal isolation. Historically however, results have been inconsistent apparentiy due to misapplication and lack of meaningful job analyses. This paper discusses ditterent types of expansive cements, the mechanism of chemical expansion, and relates cement transition volume changes to the need for expansive cements.

Expansive cements have been used in oilfield operations to produce better cement bonding which has been reported to help control annular flow, reduce water:oil ratios, and increase casing life by minimizing corrosion from well brines. Previously used chemical cement admixtures have been limited to bottomhole temperatures below 170F, with best results seen at lower temperatures (80 to 120_F). A new cement additive has been developed which produces significant linear expansion in laboratory tests at temperatures above 170F, with quicker expansion development seen as temperature increases.

Since the advent of hydraulic fracturing as a well stimulation tool, a variety of fluids and treatment methods have been proposed and used to improve well productivity. Fluids used in this process over the years include water, lease oil, refined oil, water-oil emulsions, acid-oil emulsions, gelled oil, gelled water, and gelled acid. A recent development has been the introduction of thick fluids with low pipe friction for hydraulic fracturing.

Sucker rods connection-related failures represent today one of the main limitations of beam pumping applications. More demanding field operative conditions are pushing connections to their limits, which become thus the weakest link of the system. API Sucker Rods Specifications (11B) haven"t changed much since the 70"s. The fact that stress distribution is poor in current connection together with their tendency to get loose due to the lack of thread interference, are the main causes of stress concentration points which finally lead to failures.

Polished rods have been used for more than 100 years and are the main component of sucker rod pumping worldwide. Only in the last five (5) years have manufacturers. Supply companies, and oil companies put their efforts into preventing premature polished rod failures. Even though information about polished rods was not very plentiful or available. information about polished rod liners was nonexistent. The history of polished rod liners goes back to at least 1916 where they were offered for sale by Oilwell Supply Co.

A review of the performance of a 148 producing well automation project operated by remote off-lease supervisory equipment. The experimental project, initiated October 1961, is located on Gulf's Ida Hendrick "A" Lease, Keystone Field, Winkler County, Texas. Solid-state circuitry of modular design transmits and receives information over a four-wire voice frequency, telephone circuit stretching seven to nine miles between field points and area office master control. The supervisory equipment includes a tape-punch-five channel circuit for automatic data processing input.