bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Results on the Displacement of a Fluid By Another in a Porous Medium
Authors: Delclaud J.P.
Published: December 2007

Reservoir engineers have many problems in forecasting the oilfields exploitation if they use the laboratory data on the relative permeability curve vs saturation. permeability curve vs saturation. This leads one to wonder whether this concept is valid in transient flow, whether data have been made by suitable methods, whether the static relation between capillary pressure vs saturation is preserved in variable flow, whether lack of familiarity with combination laws concerning this function is not the reason for the dissatisfaction of the engineers. The present paper deals with the first three points. present paper deals with the first three points. Three series of oil displacement by gas have been made on a homogeneous sandstone core. Pressure in the two phases and saturation Pressure in the two phases and saturation (gammagraphy) have been measured all along the core. Pressure profiles have been found by the least-square method. Relative permeability has been calculated on each point and at each time by continuous equations.

These studies have shown us that the relation relative permeability vs saturation is the same all along the transient fluid flow and that the relation capillary pressure vs saturation is the same as the one established by the restored states static method. Thus, the validity of this concept concerning transient fluid flow is proved. The Welge, Johnson, Bossler and Naumann method arrives at different results from those we have obtained. To explain this difference we show that the theoretical hypotheses of their method are far removed from reality.

In conclusion, experimental results are simulated by numerical model taking into account capillary phenomena. The limit conditions established by experiments and used in numerical simulation are (1) inflow side (constant gas-injection pressure; pressure gradient is zero in oil) and (2) outflow side (out-gas pressure equal to the displacement pressure; pressure in oil is zero). The pressures are relative pressures. pressures

Introduction

When sweep efficiency of one fluid displacing another has to be predicted, the approach to the problem is nearly always identical. Laboratory displacement tests are performed on small samples that are supposed to performed on small samples that are supposed to be representative of the reservoir. After analyzing the data by the simplified method of Welge, Johnson, Bossler and Neumann, the relative permeability-saturation relationships are derived. In order to characterize more completely the porous medium, the capillary pressure-saturation relationship is also pressure-saturation relationship is also determined by the restored-state technique.
Attic Oil Recovery by Steam Displacement
Authors: McBean W.N.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 43rd Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME to be held in Bakersfield, Calif., Nov. 8–10, 1972. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The Metson Pool of the Midway-Sunset Field in California is a steeply dipping, viscous oil reservoir. Steam-type thermal recovery operations have been in progress in the pool for seven years.

Cyclic steam stimulation efforts have been designed to take advantage of both natural and induced productive mechanisms. These cyclic operations have proven effective in all but the extreme updip sections of the formation.

An attic steam injection program was initiated as a pilot project in October, 1970 and has since been expanded to include six steam injection wells across the updip edge of the formation. The short term objective of this program is to economically displace and recover oil at the top of the structure by conventional steam flood mechanisms. The long-term objective is to accelerate recoveries from downdip cyclic operations by repressuring and stimulated gas drive mechanisms. A special operating technique has been introduced to this program that allows better control of the development of the steam zone and better use of the beneficial effects associated with steam channeling.

HISTORY

The Metson Pool of the Midway-Sunset Field is located in Sections 23 and 24, T11N, R23W, SBB and M, Kern County, California. The discovery well was completed in 1953 pumping 10.5 deg. API oil at a rate of 27 BPD. pumping 10.5 deg. API oil at a rate of 27 BPD. Development drilling for primary production was limited due to the low oil rates.

The Metson sand is of Miocene Age and is encountered at an average depth of 1,050 feet. The sand has a 30% porosity and permeabilities ranging from 1 to 4 darcies. The average dip of the productive sands is 70 degrees. productive sands is 70 degrees. Cyclic steam stimulation was introduced as a recovery process in late 1965. Response to initial stimulation efforts was good with most wells exhibiting oil rates in excess of 100 BPD after steaming and yielding oil-steam ratios for individual cycles of 0.8–1.3. However, cyclic response declined as the number of cycles progressed. progressed.
Administration and Regulation of the California Ad Valorem Taxing System
Authors: Campbell-Taylor R.B. , Bertholf Harold W.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 43rd Annual California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME to be held in Bakersfield, Calif., Nov. 8–10, 1972. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

In the State of California local government revenues are raised through a tax on property including mineral rights. Although this ad valorem system is administered by the various counties and regulated by the Stat it often requires active participate by informed taxpayers. However, few petroleum engineers understand the petroleum engineers understand the system sufficiently well to work effectively with it. This paper explains California's ad valorem tax system and each parties' respective responsibilities, rights and remedies so as to provide the petroleum engineer with an understanding that will allow him to be of assistance in assuring that a fair and equitable tax burden is levied on the petroleum properties he operates.

Introduction

In the year 1922, the State's taxing agency stated in its annual report that "Many of the counties are adding new sources of revenue (which will be used) … for the relief in some instances of the … property tax." The rise in values and taxes in the half-century since that report was published has been meteoric. The full cash value of locally assessable and taxable property in 1972 was an awesome 3233 billion, and local revenues of more than $6 billion were two-thirds as much as the total value of fifty years earlier. In the past five years alone, the value of assessments has risen at a compounded rate of three percent per year, and local taxes have increased at an average annual rate of eleven percent. Public and political interest in the property tax has accelerated, and some relief from that tax has already been achieved, in varying degrees, by a complex system of exemptions that tends to expand every year.

How then does this affect us as petroleum engineers? First, ad valorem petroleum engineers? First, ad valorem taxes have become a major expense in lease operations (averaging about 0.20/bbl.) often exceeding such items as electricity, fuel, dehydration or overhead.
Stress and Strain Rate Dependence of Bentonite Clay Suspension Gel Strengths
Authors: Lord D.L. , Menzie D.E.
Published: December 2007

The current investigation conducted in concentric cylinder viscometer and cylindrical tube geometries with a bentonite clay suspension was successful in establishing criteria for the often observed dependence of gel strength or yield stress on what has been inappropriately termed shear rate. Rather than being dependent on the shear rate associated with fluid hydraulics, these thixotropic fluid structural yield stresses are demonstrated to be dependent upon such solid mechanics considerations as shear stress rate and shear strain rate. The concentric cylinder or Couette viscometer was shown to be capable of assessing the gel strength dependence on shear stress rate. Strain rate data were limited because of the poor resolution obtainable at higher stress rates from the instrumentation employed with the viscometer. Similar gel strength-stress rate data were generated by subjecting steel tubes containing gel to loadings imposed by compressed air and suddenly applied pump rates. Theoretical considerations lead to a data correlation of yield stress, Y, as a function of shear stress rate,. This correlation was of the form, Y = b 1n () + C, where C and b are constants. It was further shown that constants C and b could be correlated as exponential functions of rest time.
Model Calculations for Wetting Studies: The Role of Contact Angle and Adsorption in Wetting Energetics
Authors: Whalen James W.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the Oilfield Chemistry Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Denver, Colo., May 24–25, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

This distinction between low energy surfaces on which liquids exhibit finite contact angles and high energy surfaces on which liquid spreading occurs is extended to the vapor-solid interface, where it is assumed that multilayer adsorption at saturation pressure of the vapor occurs in the liquid spreading case, while submonolayer adsorption is characteristic of the nonspreading case.

An empirical relationship is established between contact angle and adsorption at saturation pressure. Thermodynamic quantities of interest in wetting phenomena are calculated on the basis of energetic parameters in the adsorption expression.

Introduction

Wetting refers to the interaction between liquid and solid phases in the presence of saturated vapor. Traditionally, the subject has been approached from the observational standpoint (does a liquid drop spread on the subject solid or does it retain a semblance of its drop character?). Interpretation has centered on the mechanical properties of the interfacial systems in analogy to treatments applied to the more accessible liquid-vapor interface. This approach is reflected by the Young Equation,

, (1)

where terms refer to interfacial tensions, the particular interface being identified by subscripts indicating the phases present and being the angle (measured through the liquid) characterizing the three phase line of contact. Interfacial tensions are recognized as numerically equivalent to interfacial free energies but Eq. 1 remains an expression which reflects but does not quantize the wetting phenomenon since SV and SL are not amenable to measurement.

Melrose has cataloged the thermodynamic relationships relevant to the energetics of wetting in a common notational structure and, in so doing, called attention to the energetic parameters which should be accessible to parameters which should be accessible to experiment. These are embodied in the following two equations:

(2)

(3)
A New Weighting Material for Drilling Fluids Based on Synthetic Iron Oxide
Authors: Menzel Dieter
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 48th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgement of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

A new weighting material based on synthetic iron oxide has been developed. Early laboratory tests with this material indicated that although up to API specification for barytes, it nevertheless failed to give a satisfactory performance test under the conditions stated by OCMA. Further investigations showed that particle size distribution and total surface area had to be controlled to achieve the most satisfactory performance and also suggested that a new performance and also suggested that a new specification might well be required for any weighting material.

Introduction

Until now ground barytes with a specific gravity of 4.2 has been the most common weighting material for drilling fluids. The demand of the free world is now approx. 2 million tons per year corresponding to 55% of the total barytes production. The USA used 1.2 million tons per year barytes drilling mud grade in 1972. Because of increasing drilling activity one can expect a considerable growth in barytes consumption in the next few years. In some of the new exploration regions outside of the USA it may prove difficult to obtain sufficient high quality barytes.

In the past numerous trials have been undertaken to substitute barytes with other heavy metal compounds with specific gravities higher than 4.2. None of these materials however proved successful, because the price was too high, the required amounts were not available in sufficient quantities or else the properties in drilling muds showed properties in drilling muds showed disadvantages. Weighting materials such as galena, lead oxide, natural iron oxide or barium carbonate have only been used to a limited extent.

A new weighting material, FER-O-BAR+), based on synthetic iron oxide; has now been introduced. This material is a) generally applicable, b) available in sufficient quantities, c) produced with constant quality, d) comparable with barytes price.

The properties of the new product are described below.
Application of Sparse Matrix Techniques in Reservoir Simulation
Authors: Woo P.T. , Gustavson F.G. , Roberts S.J.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 48th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgement of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The matrices arising in reservoir simulation are sparse in that most elements are zeros. These matrix equations can be solved efficiently by sparse matrix techniques, which take advantage of the zeros. The approach consists of two steps:The matrix or grid is reordered to preserve the sparsity.The preserve the sparsity.

(2) The system of equations with the reordered matrix is then solved by using an efficient Gaussian elimination or factorization algorithm that avoids operating on zeros. This paper compares several schemes that are effective for reordering the matrix. It also presents two general purpose sparse matrix algorithms that efficiently solve any type of reservoir simulation equations with any ordering. One of the algorithms is up to 8 times faster than the conventional band matrix algorithm; and the other, up to 18 times faster. Sparse matrix techniques are also competitive with iterative techniques. For large matrices, the algorithms' storage requirement can be readily met by a computer with virtual storage.

Background

The linear pressure and saturation equations in reservoir simulation usually have been solved with iterative rather than direct methods. This was thought to save time and storage. However, the increasing complexity of simulation problems has substantially increased the number of iterations required. We have found that in some situations, such as coning or compositional simulation, many iterative methods (including SIP 22) will not converge to an acceptable solution within a reasonable number of iterations. Even in situations where iterative methods converge, selecting an optimum iterative method and optimum acceleration parameters is tedious and sometimes parameters is tedious and sometimes expensive.
Thermal Properties Of Oil Reservoir Formations
Authors: Bailly Florent H. , Mangold George B.
Published: December 2007

This paper is to be presented at the 37th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Los Angeles on October 7–10, 1962. Permission to publish is hereby restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words, with no illustrations, unless the paper is specifically released to the press by the Editor of the Journal of Petroleum Technology or the Executive Secretary. Such abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in Journal of Petroleum Technology or Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal is granted on request, providing proper credit is given that publication and the original presentation of the paper.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines with the paper.

Introduction

In situ combustion is a method of oil recovery which has come to stay. Most know the number of fire floods that are in progress, two few know, in detail, the state of knowledge which has been obtained collectively from all those projects in progress. A symposium on the subject might be forthcoming someday.

This brief paper is not based on an intimate knowledge of, or connection with, any fire flooding project, but it is prepared after many years of analysing formations and reservoir rocks utilizing differential thermal analysis. The resultant thermograms of "thermal signatures" of the rocks have made it possible to determine and identify minerals. It has been possible to use these signatures for correlation. Research on thermogram differences with varying percentages to knowns has given data on the method's value in quantitative as well al qualitative work. In both the energy release, or absorption, the signature gives a net, thermal energy, a quantitative value per gram of mixture, covering the thermal gradient and showing temperature points at which energy anomalies of release or absorption occur.

In fire flooding operations the formations themselves can no longer be considered as an inert porous and permeable structure which remains unresponsive to the thermal energy being used to strip it of the contents of its pores.
Performance of a Simulated Fractured Matrix Reservoir Subject to a Bottom-Water Drive
Authors: Yazdi Mojtaba , Crawford Paul B.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 48th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The water flooding performance in homogeneous or isolated layered systems has been well documented in the technical literature; however, the literature does not indicate that work has been conducted on the flooding performance of a fractured matrix reservoir performance of a fractured matrix reservoir subject to a bottom-water drive. It is generally believed that flooding of a fractured matrix reservoir would not recover much of the oil because the water would move faster through the fracture ant there would be an early breakthrough of the water, yet this has not been demonstrated for a bottom-water drive.

A model to represent one element of a fractured matrix reservoir was constructed. The model was positioned vertically and water was injected at a constant rate in the bottom and oil was produced from the top of the model. The experiments were made with different initial water saturations using unconsolidated sands.

In this study it was observed that imbibition rather than the direct displacement of oil by water was the dominant mechanism in the recovery of oil from a fractured matrix.

The oil-water interface was observed to be four to fifteen inches higher in the matrix than in the fracture. For some systems the oil-water interface stabilized at about five inches higher in the matrix than the fracture.

Oil recovery from the fractured matrix ranged from 27 to as high as 77 percent of the initial oil-in-place. Low initial water saturations resulted in a greater percentage oil recovery.

It is concluded that thick, fractured matrix reservoirs may be engineered for successful flooding by bottom-water drives.

Introduction

The fractured reservoir and the detrimental effect of fractures on secondary and tertiary recovery programs has been recognized for many years. It has been thought that water flooding of a fractured reservoir may not recover much of the oil because the water would move through the fracture and there would be an early breakthrough of the water. Much of the oil would be bypassed.
Correlation of Activity Coefficients for the System Methane-Ethane-Propane At Low Temperature
Authors: Bukacek Richard , Leipziger Stuart
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 48th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The method of stepwise regression has been used to evaluate the parameters in the fourth-order Margules representation of activity coefficients for the system methane-ethane-propane. Binary and ternary data in the temperature range from 50 to 225 degrees F and pressure range to 800 psia have been correlated. Activity coefficients psia have been correlated. Activity coefficients are found represented with a standard deviation of about 5 percent. The value of the stepwise regression procedure is illustrated.

Introduction

In prediction of vapor-liquid equilibria, activity coefficients play a key role in defining departure from ideal behavior in the liquid phase. Since activity coefficients are best estimated on the basis of experimental measurements, and since highly accurate vapor-liquid equilibria data are difficult to obtain, development of methods for treating these data are of considerable interest. It is usual to evaluate the binary interaction terms by use of binary data and a correlation device such as the Margules equation. In such a procedure, the ternary data available are used only for testing the resulting correlation, and perhaps to determine values for higher-order perhaps to determine values for higher-order interaction terms. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of stepwise regression in correlating data on multicomponent mixtures and determining which correlation parameters are relevant. By this technique all of the pertinent data contribute to determination of the pertinent data contribute to determination of the useful parameters.

EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY COEFFICIENTS

In this work we have followed the convention of Prausnitz and his coworkers, as summarized by Zellner et al. Thus, activity coefficients may be defined from experimental measurements as follows.
Use Of The Temperature Log For Determining Flow Rates In Producing Wells
Authors: Curtis M.R. , Witterholt E.J.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the 48th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

In the literature on Temperature logging, relationships exist which may be used to predict the temperature responses in producing wells as a function of volumetric flow rate, time of production, fluid gravity, geothermal gradient, and various thermal coefficients. These relationships indicate that under "ideal conditions" the temperature curve recorded above a producing zone as a function of depth exponentially approaches an asymptote parallel to the natural geothermal profile. This asymptote is displaced from the geothermal profile by an amount depending on the mass flow rate and the time the well has been produced. Theoretical examples will illustrate the use of these relationships to predict the temperature responses in producing wells for cases of flow rates up to 1,000 B/D producing wells for cases of flow rates up to 1,000 B/D and for production times up to 1,000 days. With the knowledge of the predictive equations, the reverse problem is considered. Temperature logs are examined to locate intervals exhibiting this exponential behavior. A coefficient in the basic relation is adjusted to make the relation fit a given exponential segment. Then, knowing the time the well has been produced, the mass flow rate is computed. If fluid-density information is available, the volumetric flow rate is computed. This method has its greatest applicability when used in conjunction with spinner-type flowmeters to detect fluid flow in the casing annulus. For use of the method, production times should be greater than 10 days, and producing zones should be separated by at least 100 feet.
How Amoco Approached Automation in West Texas
Authors: Wadlington W.H.
Published: December 2007

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

Amoco's position in West Texas is rather unique in that we have a high concentration of wells in a relatively small geographical area. This situation caused us to take a different approach to automation from any other in the producing industry that we know of today. Amoco's operations in West Texas include four Area offices and about 5,000 producing and water injection wells which are prime producing and water injection wells which are prime candidates for computerized automation.

The basis for our approach to automation in West Texas was developed from information learned from a pilot project in the Smyer Field in Hockley County, Texas. This pilot project was designed to test all applications which reasonably offered an opportunity to reduce labor or accelerate production. As a result of this pilot, we decided that future Amoco operated automation projects in West Texas would be based around the following concepts:Pumpoff Control of Beam Pumped WellsAutomatic Well TestingData GatheringAlarm Monitoring

These basic concepts permitted developing modular standard software applicable to all West Texas projects. projects. Once the basic concept for automation in West Texas was established, it was then necessary to develop an optimum computer system for this large number of wells. Economics and other advantages dictated that a Master-Mini, two level, hierarchical computer system would be best.

The plan established for automation in West Texas included running multi-conductor cable to each producing well for pumpoff control and monitoring various statuses. It soon became evident that with conventional telemetry equipment available at that time, cabling costs would approach $1,100 to $1,200 per well and would be prohibitive. The obvious way to reduce cabling costs was to increase the number of RTU's which would in turn reduce cabling costs. We finally interested one telemetry vendor in designing and developing a small RTU referred to as a Mini RTU. We believe this was the first telemetry gear actually designed primarily to meet the requirements of oilfield automation.
The Poromechanical Behaviour of Felser Sandstone: Stress- and Temperature-Dependent
Authors: Hettema M.H.H. , de Pater C.J.
Published: December 2007

We report an experimental study on the poromechanical behaviour of a sandstone rich in clay minerals. With the use of Biot's theory of poro-elasticity, results obtained from mechanical experiments performed in a triaxial cell at temperatures up to 200 C are compared with results of acoustic experiments performed under atmospheric pressure at room temperature. The sandstone exhibits non-linear stress- strain behaviour depending on pore water saturation and temperature. The poro-elastic parameters were also found to be stress and temperature dependent. Inconsistencies found between the parameters determined by various independent experimental techniques show, that the theory of poroelasticity does not describe the pore volume changes of this clay-rich sandstone well.

P. 347
The Assay of Chemicals for Oilwell Stimulation
Authors: Mancillas Gene , Burroughs James E.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME Symposium on Formation Damage Control, to be held in New Orleans, La., Feb. 7–8, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

Mixtures of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids have been successfully used in the stimulation of sandstone reservoirs. Occasionally, however, an inadequate response to these acids results and in some cases additional well damage has occurred. This poor response may be partly due to the improper concentration partly due to the improper concentration of HC1-HF acid used in the treatment. Laboratory data show that the concentration of an acid formulation can have a significant influence on the results of a treatment. This makes the rapid and accurate assay of the acid solution to be used, an important factor in a successful treatment design.

This paper will describe an analytical procedure that employs a mixed titrant in procedure that employs a mixed titrant in conjunction with ion selective electrodes and Gran's Plots to determine the amounts of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids in mixtures. The proposed procedure will be compared to other analytical methods and the effect of (other experimental parameters and contaminants will be discussed. It will be shown that the method can be routinely performed by semi-skilled technicians under performed by semi-skilled technicians under field conditions. The procedure was tested for precision and accuracy on laboratory and field prepared acid mixtures. Analysis of field mixtures using this procedure reveal that conventional field mixing methods do not always produce uniform solutions.

Introduction

The use of hydrochloric-hydrofluoric acid mixtures in matrix treatments of sandstone formations can be effective in stimulating production and injection wells. Occasionally however, an inadequate response to these acids results and in some cases additional formation damage occurs. This poor response may be partly due to the poor response may be partly due to the improper concentration of acid used in the treatment.
Sand Detection In Production Lines
Authors: Vriezen P.B. , Wunnink G.J.
Published: December 2007

Two systems have been developed for the detection of sand in surface gas lines. One systemis based on the detection of sand grain impacts on a piezoelectric crystal and the other uses anerodable resistor placed in a gas stream. Laboratory experiments and tests on the well site have proved the suitability of both techniques. Quantitative calibration of the two systems under operational conditions is in progress.

Introduction

In areas where Band production of oil or gas wells forms a potential problem, it is advisable to install sand detection devices. Early remedial action on a sand producing well will increase the chance of success of the treatment. To ascertain the need for such action, the sand detectors should preferably provide quantitative information on a continuous basis.

Apart from conventional wellhead sampling, only one system of sand detection is known to be in use. With this method a preselected level of erosion is detected by the sudden pressure change in a thin-walled metal capsule when it is finally penetrated by the sand. At least two continuously monitoring sand detection systems have been proposed. One system uses an erodable radioactive disc; metal losses due to erosion are determined by measuring the resulting decline in the level of radioactivity of the disc. The other method has been proposed by Stein et al. for downhole detection of sand influx in a well. He states that the additional noise generated by sand impingement ontubing is proportional to the total kinetic energy per unit time of the impinging particles. The mass flow of the sand produced is derived from the actual acoustic noise level minus the level that is expected at given flow conditions.

As no suitable continuously monitoring sand detection system was known to be commercially available, scouring experiments were initiated, which resulted in the development of two prototype detection systems. In the first system apiezo-electric crystal is used to produce sand impact signals. Only those impacts can be detected whose peak amplitude can be discriminated from the background noise caused by the turbulent gas stream. The amount of sand produced can be derived from the number of impacts counted, the amplitudes of their signals and the velocity of gas flow. The system has to be calibrated under actual field conditions. The second system involves direct measurement of the erosive effect of sand in a gas stream. It is based on measurement of the increase in resistance of an erodable resistor which is placed in a sand-laden gas stream. Adequate sensitivity can be achieved by selection of suitable erodable elements. Here again calibration under field conditions is necessary.
Operations Carried Out on a Subsea Wellhead in a Water Depth of Approximately 210 Feet
Authors: Houot Georges , Issarte Jean-Pierre
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the SPE-European Spring Meeting 1974 of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May 29–30, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Netherland Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, P. O. Box 228, The Hague, the Netherlands. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

A subsea completed oil well lying offshore Congo was brought into production with the aid of a 48 m × 16 m barge carrying production, stimulation and wire line production, stimulation and wire line equipment.

The success of the operation was mainly due to the use of a subsea lubricator and associated barge-mounted swell compensating device.

The feasibility of bringing subsea completed wells into production working from a floating support was amply demonstrated by this successful operation.

Introduction

The great majority of wellheads in offshore fields either producing or under development are installed above the surface of the sea on fixed platforms. In water depths of 70/100 m (230/330 ft) and over, the installation of such platforms is difficult and very costly. For this reason, when possible, deviated wells are drilled so as to group together a large number of wells, up to 25 or 30, on one platform. This solution cannot always be adopted, however, as for example in the case of shallow pay zones, where deviated wells would not drain a sufficiently large area.

It was obvious that alternative methods of developing such offshore fields would have to be sought using wellheads installed on the sea bed. In fact in very deep water this would appear to be the only practicable method of producing.

Such subsea completions could use "wet" type wellheads either with or without temporary capsule or "dry" wellheads with permanent capsule. The system we present is for use on the "wet" type of wellhead.
Mud Displacement In Primary Cementation
Authors: Zuiderwijk J.J.M.
Published: December 2007

Displacement experiments were carried out in a pilot-plant model, to arrive at means of improving zonal isolation. Scaled and full-sized annuli, with and without hole enlargements, were simulated. Various displacement fluids were investigated. The amount of mud left behind was derived indirectly by measuring the remnant radio-activity caused by the mud, containing a radio active tracer. Special attention was given to the influence of hole enlargements, fluid velocity, density and rheological properties of mud and displacing fluids on the mud displacement. The most significant parameters were found to be the displacement velocity and the flow properties of the fluids. The study showed that depending on the conditions and the properties of mud and displacing fluids, a good displacement efficiency can be achieved both for low and high displacement rates.

Introduction

Lack of zonal isolation believed to be caused mainly by inadequate mud removal, the presence of an excessive mud filter cake and contamination of mud and cement.

A considerable amount of work has been carried out and is published, in this field. However, opinions on how to solve the various problems encountered are still divided and there is no clear insight into the importance of parameters such as fluid velocity, density and rheological properties of mud or cement and the use of preflushes. In addition many studies on this subject were based upon small test series with scaled models.

In experimental studies carried out at the Koninklijke/Shell Exploratie en Produktie Laboratorium, Rijswijk (The Netherlands), a different set-up was used which permitted large series of experiments to be carried out in which one parameter could be varied at a time.

Based on the results of some 270 tests, conclusions could be drawn on the relative importance of the various parameters that influence mud/cement displacement and parameters that influence mud/cement displacement and thus zonal isolation.

THE MUD/CEMENT DISPLACEMENT PROCESS

After drilling the borehole and running the casing the following situation will prevail in the borehole;

-the space between casing and borehole is filled with mud,

-a mud cake is present on the borehole wall; its thickness varies from significant in places opposite permeable zones to virtually nil at locations opposite impermeable zones, e.g. shale layers,

-a gauge hole with washed-out sections.

Ideally, the mud cake and all the mud should be fully displaced by the cement slurry to obtain a good solution between different zones.
The Merits of Some Alternative Development Plans For Offshore Oilfield Development
Authors: Cline W.B. , Heather D.I.
Published: December 2007

This paper was prepared for the SPE-European Spring Meeting 1974 of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May 29–30, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Netherland Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, P. O. Box 228, The Hague, the Netherlands. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The paper relates the financial performance requirements of offshore oil and gas performance requirements of offshore oil and gas development projects to the technical risks associated with such programs and the financial circumstances of the participating group. The minimum negative cash participating group. The minimum negative cash flow approach, with higher levels of operating costs, is compared to the high capital investment exposure approach, with corresponding lower operating costs, in terms of an example situation.

The writers then go on to broadly review the more recent development proposals for North Sea applications and proposals for North Sea applications and outline where the degree of flexibility for each plan generally places it in the context of risk capital exposure.

Introduction

Not too many years ago it would have been almost unthinkable for an operator to take the decision to initiate a full scale major oilfield development scheme on as little evidence as may be available from the discovery well; as few as two confirming appraisal wells plus the detailed seismic survey results. Yet due to the substantial emergence of offshore oil and gas development projects in increasingly arduous circumstances, the trend toward the necessity for far more expensive decisions based on less and less confirming technical data, is fast becoming an accepted fact of life.