bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Engineering Study of the Lafitte Oil Field
Authors: Vance Harold 
Published: June 2014

The Lafitte field, the largest oil reserve in South Louisiana is inJefferson Parish, some 25 miles due south of the City of New Orleans.
The discovery well, The Texas Company's No. I., Louisiana Land and ExplorationCo., in the southeast corner of sec. 19, T. 17 S., R. 24 E., was completed onMay IS, 1935. The initial production of this well was 960 bbl. of 34.9 A.P.I.gravity oil per day, through choke, with a tubing pressure of 1600 lb. per sq.in. Producing depth was 9558 to 9572 ft., the total depth being 9572feet.
The development of the field has been at the rate of three to eight newproducing wells per year. Up to Jan. I., 1944, 60 producing wells and three dryholes had been drilled, while two of the original producing wells had beenabandoned.
Although the field is not unitized, The Texas Company was the sole operator inthe field until the Lafitte Oil Co. completed its No. I Jefferson Parish, nearthe center of the west line of the NW /4 sec. 20, T. 17 S., R. 24 E., on July27, 1941. No additional wells have been drilled by the Lafitte OilCompany.

Drilling and Well-Completion Practices
All drilling operations have been conducted with the steam-driven rotaryequipment mounted on submersible barges.
A canal is dug to the well location and the drilling unit is floated intoposition. The seacocks are then opened and the barge settles to the bottom.After the well is completed, seacocks are closed and water is pumped out of thebarge. This procedure permits the barge, with drilling equipment still inplace, to be floated and moved? off the location.
The conventional open-hole and the gun perforation method of completing wellshas been used in this field. Where possible, the initial completion is from thedeepest sand and recompletions are made progressively up the hole, by pluggingback with cement to the upper sand and gun perforating opposite the newsand.
The oil string usually is 7% in., 26 to 34-lb. casing. Three wells have beencompleted using 9%-in. 44-lb.casing set below 10,000'Feet.
Fig. I shows the completion and recompletion practices on one well in thefield. This figure also shows the relative locations of the different producingsands as shown on the electric well log.

Structure
The structure is an elongated dome, cut by two north-south faults, whichdivides the field into three segments. The west segment is the higheststructurally and contains most of the recoverable oil and gas. The centersegment is less important and the east segment is of little value.
Figs. 2,4,6,8 and 10 are depth contour maps on top of the five main producingsands in the field.
T.P. 1869
Significance of Declining Productivity Index
Authors: Millikan C.V. , Beardmore Herbert F. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Declining Productivity Index, as considered herein, is a productivity indexthat has a substantially and consistently decreasing value when measured over aperiod of a few hours. If not recognized, it may be interpreted as representingan unsettled or unstable condition in a producing well. It forms the basis of anumber of predictions as to future performance compared with the performance ofwells in which the productivity index does not decline. The most important ofthese are that:the rate of oil production will decline more rapidly,the gas-oil ratio will usually increase abnormally,the amount of waterultimately produced will be negligible, if any,stop-cocking will increase current production and decrease gas-oil ratio.
When such relative well performance is indicated, it follows that certain reservoir performance andoperating practices may be anticipated:disappointing recovery,longernatural flow,no active water drive,better evaluation of acidizing, shooting and reworking,intermittent operation of wells,smallerpumping equipment required.
It is significant that the basis of these importantpredictions is bottom hole pressure tests that can be made immediately aftercompletion of the wells.

Introduction
"Productivity index" is the number of barrels of oil produced per dayper pound per square inch of differential pressure between the reservoir andthe bottom of the well. ?Declining Productivity Index," as consideredherein, is a productivity index that has a substantially and consistentlydecreasing value when measured over a period of a few hours.
Productivity index can be determined only when the rate of production can bestabilized. In most wells the rate of production and bottom-hole pressure ateeasily stabilized to give a constant productivity index for a period of manyhours. A few produce so erratically as to preclude probability of an acceptabletest in the usual sense. A satisfactory productivity index can be determined insome wells only by gauging the production accurately by hours, measuring thebottom-hole pressure continuously, and from these data calculating theproductivity index for successive hours. Such figures frequently will have adecreasing value-that is, a declining productivity index-and when plotted ondouble logarithmic cross-section paper with productivity index as ordinate andtime as abscissa will be a straight line curve. The angle between the curve andthe abscissa is referred to as the rate of decline.
Declining productivity index may appear to be the result of change inpermeability to oil due to decreasing saturation of oil and increasingsaturation of gas in the reservoir.
T.P. 1872
Formaldehyde as an Inhibitor of Corrosion Caused by Hydrogen Sulphide
Authors: Menaul P.L. , Dunn T.H. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
This paper discusses the results of an investigation made to develop a methodof combatting corrosion of subsurface oil-well equipment caused by brinescontaining hydrogen sulphide. Carbon monoxide, aldehydes, and certain cyanidecompounds were found by laboratory tests to effectively inhibit corrosion ofsteel by sulphide brines. Experiments were made for one year in eight wells inWest Texas fields using formaldehyde as an inhibitor. It was found that theinhibitor treatment successfully prevented the severe corrosion previouslyexperienced in these wells, and effected important net savings in operatingcosts.

Introduction
Corrosion of oil-field equipment has long been a problem in areas producingsour crudes. These areas include the major fields of Arkansas, Western Kansas, West Texas and New Mexico. Corrosion in these fields is caused primarily by thechemical action of hydrogen sulphide in the presence of water and by electriccurrents entering the wells through flow lines. Hydrogen sulphide isnon-corrosive to iron or steel in the absence of water but under the usualconditions prevailing in oil wells where more or less water is present, hydrogen sulphide is very corrosive. This type of corrosion occurs over the pHrange below 9, which includes all natural oil-field brines. If air is presentin addition to hydrogen sulphide and water, corrosion proceeds at an extremelyrapid rate. It was reported several years ago that a string of oil-well tubingwas literally dissolved within 50 days where an air lift was used on a wellproducing considerable water and hydrogen sulphide. Air is generally absent inwells producing sour crude.
After hydrogen sulphide corrosion starts, it proceeds with increasing severityand its correction becomes progressively more difficult. This characteristic ofsulphide corrosion has been attributed to the formation of galvanic couplesbetween the iron and steel equipment on one hand and the products of corrosionon the other.
Severe corrosion of subsurface oil-well equipment leads to a multitude oftroubles. In addition to destruction of costly equipment, producing sands oftenare damaged by flooding with water leaking through corroded casing; badmechanical conditions may develop in a well due to obstructions caused bycorroded equipment lost in the hole, or partly collapsed casing; pumpingoperations are interfered with, and severe emulsification problems may resultfrom the homogenizing action of corroded balls and seats.
A typical case of severe corrosion caused by hydrogen sulphide was reported inHoward County, Texas, where it was necessary to pull tubing once a week torepair leaks after the tubing had been in use for only one year. On one well inthis area a string of tubing was pulled II times in 8 months; II joints oftubing being replaced because of leaks.
T.P. 1970
A Neutron Method for Measuring Saturations in Laboratory Flow Experiments
Authors: Brunner E. , Mardock E.S. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
A method of measuring oil saturations in cores or sand packs by neutronscattering is described. This method permits local saturations to be measuredin a core enclosed in a steel pressure vessel without interrupting the flow.Calibration data and a saturation distribution measurement obtained with theapparatus are included by way of illustration.

Introduction
In laboratory flow experiments designed to study the mechanism of oilproduction it is frequently necessary to measure the oil saturation in a coreor sand pack containing oil, gas, and perhaps brine. It is sometimes desirablethat the saturation measurement refer to a relatively small portion of thecore, so as to eliminate end effects; that it be made without interrupting theflow, and that it be applicable to a core enclosed in a steel pressure vesselcapable of withstanding the pressures encountered in petroleum reservoirs. Noneof the usual methods of measuring saturation meets all of these requirements.To measure the gas saturation by observing the apparent compressibility of thegaseous phase would require the interruption of the flow and would give anaverage saturation for the. whole core. An electrical conductivity method isavailable for measuring brine saturations, but it is not applicable to oil. Aradioactive tracer might be used if a suitable substance could be found thatwould dissolve in the oil, emit gamma radiation, and not be adsorbed on thesand, the steel core holder, or in an aqueous phase. The large gamma-raybackground from the mass of radioactive oil in other parts of the apparatusmight, however, be undesirable.
There remain for the saturation measurement methods involving the absorption orscattering of some penetrating radiation produced outside the apparatus. Itmight be possible to use X-rays or gamma rays; but these radiations would be somuch less strongly absorbed and scattered by the oil than by the steel walls ofthe core holder and by the sand that it seems doubtful that much precisioncould be attained. In a beam of neutrons, however, there is a radiation that isvery penetrating and, moreover, its scattering by substances containinghydrogen, such as oil, is qualitatively different from that occasioned by othermaterials. It would seem possible, and has proved to be quite practicable, tomeasure oil saturations accurately under the required conditions by means ofneutron scattering. The first, to our knowledge, to suggest neutron scatteringas a means of measuring oil saturation were F. Brons and J. A. Bottema, of theAmsterdam laboratories of the Bataafache Petroleum Maatschappij, who made a fewpreliminary experiments to test the method while they were engaged in exploringthe possibilities of neutrons for well-logging purposes.
T.P. 1986
The Engineering of Oil-well Abandonments
Authors: Schoeneck William E. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
This paper presents the problem of oil-well abandonment as a group of studiesinvolving the compilation of physical well data, the use of special curves, maps and interpretative procedures, in order that operations can be analyzedand means for reducing costs can be effected.
Methods for the calculation of the economic limit of production and resultantoil reserves are suggested in order that profitable production may be continuedand premature abandonment prevented.

Introduction

Purpose
Extensive studies have been made and much has been written on the proceduresfor prospecting, drilling, completion, production and repair of oil wells, butthe writer has long felt the need for a study of the procedure that should befollowed when considering the abandonment of a well. The production fromnumerous well bores of a fluid material (a circumstance peculiar to the oilindustry) that is continually decreasing in quantity leads to an increasingratio of operating cost to production. It is for this reason that oil fieldsare not abandoned as a whole and detailed consideration of each well isrequired before it can be determined whether more is being expended than willbe returned on any well or lease in question. It is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to compile, correlate, and present all matters worthy ofconsideration in the problem of oil-well abandonment; to suggest interpretativeprocedures, the possibilities for corrective measures conductive to economicalproduction, thereby extending both profitable reserves and lengths oflife.

Scope and Approach
Compiling data and outlining a study having the complexity of the problem athand and naturally subject to the personal experiences of one who undertakesthe study; however, the chosen approach and grouping of the subject materialmay be helpful in the consideration of abandonment problems. Consideration hasbeen given to wells that make gas and water incident with the production ofoil; but considerationhas not been given to either gas or wells orcondensate-producing wells, for wells of the latter type have sufficientproblems to warrant separate investigation. The major subdivisions of thispaper- physical considerations and economic considerations and economicconsiderations- do not imply that either of these phases can be consideredindependently, but rather that the two are mutually dependent and are thecomponent parts of and engineering study.
T.P. 1946
A New Technique for Determining the Porosity of Drill Cuttings
Authors: Westbrook M.A. , Redmond J.F. 
Published: June 2014

A method is presented for obtaining porosities of consolidated formationsfrom the drill returns. The method provides a means of determining the bulkvolume of a large number of particles, such as drill cuttings, by employing acapillary diaphragm for removal of surplus surface liquid from saturatedcuttings having pores of capillary size, which reduces the amount of errorpresent in former attempts to determine the porosity of drill cuttings. Themethod makes it possible to obtain a considerable amount of supplementary dataon consolidated formations.

Introduction
Porosity is a direct measure of the volume of the voids in a formation. It maybe used for estimating the permeability of a formation provided that acorrelation of these two properties has been obtained from the analysis ofcores from the particular formation, and it forms a desirable aid ininterpreting electric logs. 1 These useful applications have emphasized theimportance of developing a method for determining the porosity of theformations penetrated by a well by some means other than coring, for even inexploration wells it is neither economical nor practical to core allformations. Also, in wells where at the outset the coring program appearscomprehensive, it is frequently found that, after certain layers are drilled, more complete information is required for evaluation. Porosity values, ifobtainable, would be of great assistance in such cases.
In soft formations it is usually possible to obtain porosities after drillingwith cores taken by side-wall coring devices. In hard consolidated formations, that coring procedure is not always practicable and other methods fordetermining porosities must be resorted to. A first choice is the examinationof drill cuttings, if an analytical procedure is available that is bothaccurate and reasonably rapid. Such a procedure has been devised and isapplicable to sand and limestone cuttings having pores of capillary size.Although improvements can yet be made, it is believed that the new technique issufficiently well developed to warrant description.

Preparation of Sample
The well samples containing the cuttings representative of the particularintervals are first washed through a No. 6 gauge screen. The cuttings remainingon the screen are large enough to use for the porosity measurements. From thesized sample, the cuttings to be examined are separated from the shale andother extraneous particles. It is recommended that 10 to 15 c.c. of theselected cuttings be used for measurements, although only 4 to 5 c c. were usedto make the comparative tests described later in this article. These cuttingsare extracted and dried by the same methods used for preparing core samples forporosity and other measurements.
T.P. 1943
Phase Relations of Hydrocarbon-water Systems
Authors: McKetta John J. , Katz Donald L. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Recent experimental data on the methane-butane-water system have been combinedwith data in literature to present:the water-vapor content of naturalgases,the solubility of water in hydrocarbon liquids, andthesolubility of natural gases in water.

Introduction
Since water is presented in petroleum reservoirs, experimental data regardingthe behavior of water in hydrocarbon- water systems is of increasingengineering importance. A survey of literature shows that data of these typesare fragmentary at temperatures above the hydrate region. Experimental datataken from the authors? recent investigation of the methane-n-butane-watersystem are presented. The compositions and specific volumes of the coexistingphase were determining in the three-phase region and two-phase region andtemperature of 100'F, 160'F, 220'F, and 280'F and pressures in 3000 psia.Correlations of these data with those in the literature are presented toprovide methods for predicting the behavior of naturally occurringhydrocarbon-water systems.
The water contents of various vapors, the water contents of saturatedhydrocarbon liquids, and the solubility of hydrocarbons in water will bediscussed.

Water Content of Natural Gases
The experimental data presented by Dodson and Standing relating to thecomposition of the coexisting vapor and liquid phase in the natural gas-waterand natural gas-brine system constituting the most complete source ofpublishing information concerning the behavior of heterogeneous systemsconsisting of hydrocarbons and water at elevated temperatures and pressures.Several papers report the water content of the hydrocarbon phase in equilibriumwith water. The data of these papers are in substantial agreement as to thewater concentration at given temperatures and pressures.
T.P. 2123
Use of Plastics in Consolidating Loose Sands in Wells
Authors: Smith R.H. , Polk A.C. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
The physical properties of the materials are listed, together with a shortexplanation of how this material binds the sand grains together withoutmaterially reducing the effective permeability of the sand. The chemical can beused in wells with bottom-hole temperatures ranging from 105?F to more than350'F. A description of the equipment required and the techniques used forapplying these plastics to the wells is included.

Introduction
Recovering oil and gas from unconsolidated sand formations offers one of themost troublesome of all production problems. These sands generally present noparticular trouble while drilling is in progress, but after the well has beencompleted and a pressure differential has been established across the face ofthe producing zone, the formation begins to "slough," resulting in?sanding up" of the well. The term "sanding up" means thatsufficient volumes of sand have moved into the well bore or casing to cause aserious reduction or complete halt of all flow of oil, water or gas. In rarecases a well may produce only a small amount of sand and still continue to flowor pump, the sand being carried to the surface in the fluid stream. However, insuch instances, the result may be a costly repair bill due to the effect of thesand on surface and pumping equipment.
The difficulty of producing petroleum from sands that are loosely cemented haslong been recognized by petroleum engineers but only within the last few yearshas any new approach to the problem been undertaken. This involves the use ofplastics that are capable of bonding the individual sand grains in placewithout materially reducing the effective permeability of a formation.
The successful application of plastics for the consolidation of poorly cementedsands is relatively recent but now it is widely used in many of the moredifficult areas on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana.
This relatively new use of plastics in the oil fields has been preceded by muchlaboratory and field research on the use of various chemicals for solvingnumerous well-completion and work-over problems. Plastics now are being usedsuccessfully to control gas-oil and water-oil ratios, in zone isolation, therepair of casing leaks, the elimination of caving in cable tool drilling wellsand in the setting of liners and casing. Sand-consolidating plastics, however, are basically different from all others in that they must not form animpervious seal.

Field Practices
The approach to the sanding-up problem usually has been the mechanicalobstruction of the movement of the sand grains.
T.P. 2147
Apparatus for Determination of Volumetric Behavior of Fluids
Authors: Sage B.H. , Lacey W.N. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Apparatus and a method for determining the volumetric behavior of hydrocarbonsat pressures up to 10,000 psi and at temperatures between 0? and 460'F aredescribed. The equipment is suitable for measuring the total volume of thesystem and the volume of a liquid phase as functions of state within theseranges of temperature and pressure.

Introduction
During the past two decades there has been a marked increase in the ranges oftemperature and pressure encountered in underground hydrocarbon reservoirs ofcommercial interest. In addition, greater interest in the intensivecharacteristics of the fluids found in these reservoirs has developed.

Apparatus
Several types of apparatus have been developed in the authors' laboratory forvolumetric measurements of hydrocarbon systems. The earliest equipmentdescribed was characterized by constant volume, and the weight of materialpresent was varied systematically in order to attain the different pressuresdesired in the study. Later another apparatus was built in which the effectivevolume of the cylindrical cell, which confined a hydrocarbon sample of constantweight was varied by injection or withdrawal of mercury. The effective totalvolume of the equilibrium cell was measured by ascertaining the position of themercury surface but no measurement could be made which gave knowledge of thevolumes of individual phases existing within the hydrocarbon system.
A third apparatus was designed for use at higher pressures and temperaturesthan the earlier equipment would tolerate. This apparatus was of the variablevolume type but was built in the general form of a U-tube, the mercury levelbeing measured at the surface which was not exposed to the hydrocarbon system.This arrangement avoided the need of subjecting measuring equipment to theextremes of temperature at which studies were made, but it gave no provisionfor measurement of the volumes of individual phases. Although this lastapparatus was satisfactory as to accuracy and convenience for many purposes, need was felt for measurements of the volume of the liquid phase of thehydrocarbon system.
For this reason a fourth equilibrium apparatus was designed and constructed andit is the purpose of the present paper to describe it. The equilibrium cell hasa working range of temperature from 0? to 460'F at pressures up to 10,000 psi.Provision for measurement of both total volume and liquid-phase volume makes itparticularly suitable for the equilibrium study of heterogeneous systemsconsisting either of simple mixtures or of complex field samples ofhydrocarbons.
T.P. 2269