bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Economics of Overdevelopment
Authors: Gill John D. 
Published: June 2014

The purpose of this paper is to invite attention away from the obvious, direct monetary costs of oil-field overdevelopment (as distinguished from"social costs ") to a consideration of the role played by the exerciseof freedom to create even allegedly excessive? plant facilities in contributingto the maintenance of equilibrium in the whole economy and in promotingmaterial progress.
The obvious and most commonly discussed effect of overdevelopment of oilfields is illustrated by the allegation that already the excessive developmentof the East Texas field has cost upward of $162,000,000; in other words, thedrilling of 12,500 wells more than the number estimated as the requirement foreconomical recovery of the reserve has unnecessarily raised the total cost ofdevelopment that amount.
Many other illustrations of so-called excessive development of oil poolscould be presented. Some of them, like Cushing, Powell and Long Beach, might bedrawn from the era antedating widespread discussion in the trade of suchmatters as optimum well spacing, reservoir energy, the conservation rate ofdepletion of reserves, etc. Numerous other cases can be found in the records ofthe current era, which began with the introduction of rationalized restrictionof production. Besides East Texas, there may be mentioned Oklahoma City, Centralia and, more recently, the town-lot development of Bloomingdale, Michigan.
It should be made clear that the author is trying neither to justify norcondone avoidable, uneconomic waste in any function of industry nor todisparage the fullest economic utilization of technical knowledge. The aim isto show the need for a broad view of the economy, including the importantrelationships between its competitive and complementary parts as contrasted toa narrow, provincial view which emphasizes individual gain or loss rather thanthe general good. Moreover, it is only because of a conviction that theconclusions to be drawn from the experience of the oil industry have a wideapplication to industry in general that the author has undertaken to discussthe subject.
T.P. 1084
Exploring Drill Holes by Sample-taking Bullets
Authors: Leonardon Eugene G. , McCann D.C. 
Published: June 2014

The search for oil has required, and without a doubt supplies, a tremendousamount of information on the structure, composition, physical properties, andhistory of sedimentary rocks. The earliest and? most complete source ofknowledge is the sample or core of the rock itself, the uses of which are wellknown. The purpose of this paper is primarily to discuss a new method forobtaining these cores, and to illustrate its use in connection with electricallogs.
Most cores have been obtained through a special adaptation of rotary drilling, and the results have been remarkably good, considering the mechanical problemsinvolved. Unfortunately, because of the time and expense, this method cannot beused for the entire length of the drill hole. Even though ingeniouscontrivances have been evolved in order to reduce the time spent in roundtrips, such as wire-line coring equipment, mechanical coring still remains tooexpensive to be carried out continuously. In practice, therefore, one isfinally compelled to estimate the probable depths of the more interestinghorizons and, allowing a wide margin of safety, to core through those sectionsonly. It is true also that interesting results have been obtained by examiningthe cuttings brought to the surface by the mud circulated in the well duringthe process of drilling. Be that as it may, the inescapable fact remains thatkey horizons may be passed inadvertently, for one reason or another, while thedrilling operations are being performed. The only continuous record of theformations encountered is that furnished by electrical surveys.
Obviously, it would be desirable to make the electrical survey first and totake the samples from the wall of the hole according to the indications on theelectrical log. In this way, it would be possible to core only the exactsections desired, eliminating the otherwise inevitable estimates as to thepoint at which to start coring, and thereby reducing to a minimum thisexpensive operation. At the same time this method would provide a maximum ofuseful samples.
A device for taking samples of the formation from the walls of a hole thereforeoffers the possibility of recovering cores from zones otherwise lost as asource of this type of information.
T.P. 1062
Gravitational Concentration Gradients in Static Columns of Hydrocarbon Fluids
Authors: Sage B.H. , Lacey W.N. 
Published: June 2014

Variations in the composition of the liquid phase of natural reservoirswhich are continuous through significant ranges in elevation have been noted bypetroleum technologists. In general, there is a greater gas-oil ratio and thegravity of the oil is higher in production from the upper parts of theformation. In the present paper the possible changes in composition withelevation which would result from the attainment of thermodynamic equilibriumin a uniform gravitational field have been evaluated for a naturally occurringhydrocarbon liquid, a binary hydrocarbon liquid phase and a binary hydrocarbongas. The results indicate a progressive decrease in the mole fraction of thecomponents from methane through the butanes with increasing depth, accompaniedby a corresponding increase in the amount of the heavier components making upthe system. The magnitude of these variations is perhaps insufficient toexplain completely the variations in the properties of the liquid phase thatare encountered at various elevations within a particular producing horizon.However, the changes are significant and the treatment presents an example ofthe application of thermodynamic data to the evaluation of the properties ofhydrocarbon fluids under the conditions approaching those encountered innatural reservoirs.

Theoretical Considerations
Muskat has discussed the work of earlier authors relating to the equilibriumrelationships of multicomponent systems in a gravitational field. He alsopresented explicit solutions for several cases and discussed the physicalsignificance of gravitational concentration gradients.
In engineering work it is customary to consider the pressure, the temperatureand the composition of a phase to be the independent variables sufficient toestablish its state.
T.P. 1004
Physical Properties of Hydrocarbons and Their Mixtures
Authors: Gilliland E.R. , Lukes R.V. , Scheeline H.W. 
Published: June 2014

Knowledge of a large number of the physical properties of the hydrocarbonsis needed in the calculations and studies of the production engineer. Sinceexperimental data on these properties of the individual hydrocarbons and theirmixtures are available in only ~ relatively few cases, the use of generalizedcorrelations has developed rapidly in the last decade. The generalizedcorrelations of pressure, volume and temperature, enthalpy, and vapor-liquidequilibria, on the basis of reduced temperatures and pressures, are outstandingexamples of this development. These correlations are of particular value to theproduction engineer interested in the flow of oil and gas, since they can beused to estimate the conditions under which segregation of phase occurs as wellas the composition, density, al).d relative amounts of the phases. Thetechnique of using the correlations for such estimations has been published byseveral authors and will not be considered in this paper. A considerable numberof data have been obtained to check the generalized pressure-volume-temperaturecorrelations, and these data indicate that such relations hold for thehydrocarbons from methane to heptane. The accuracy is in general sufficient formost engineering pressure volume-temperature calculations. However thegeneralized correlations of enthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria have ingeneral been developed from the pressure-volume-temperature correlations bythermodynamic calculations and only a relatively few experimental data areavailable to check these calculated values. The calculations from pressure, volume and temperature are likely to lead to large errors in the calculatedenthalpy and vapor-liquid equilibria. Thus, in the calculations of enthalpies, slopes of the pressure-volume-temperature data are employed, and determiningthese slopes can greatly amplify small errors in the original data. In thevapor-liquid equilibria calculations it is necessary to have the pressurevolume-temperature relations of the mixture, and the latter properties are muchmore questionable than those of pure components, particularly in the criticalregion.
T.P. 1060
Interfacial Tension between Water and Oil under Reservoir Conditions
Authors: Hocott C.R. 
Published: June 2014

The distribution and movement of fluids in oil reservoirs are influenced toa great extent by capillary forces, which depend upon the size and shape of thepores in the reservoir rock, the surface characteristics of the rock, and theinterfacial tension between the fluid phases. This paper presents the resultsof an investigation of the interfacial tension between salt water and crude oilcontaining dissolved gas under reservoir conditions.

Apparatus and Procedure
In the preliminary phases of this investigation, it was found that a scumformed at the oil-water interface, which made measurement of interfacialtension by either the ring or capillary rise methods unreliable. Accordingly, the drop-weight method, in which a fresh interface is continuously formed, wasselected. In this method, a tip through which drops of one fluid can beexpelled is immersed in a second fluid. At the instant that the drop becomeslarge enough to fall, the gravitational force tending to pull away the dropexactly balances the interfacial force tending to hold it. From the size of thedrop, the dimensions of the tip, and the density of the two fluid phases, theinterfacial tension may be calculated.
The apparatus consists of a circulating pump for bringing the oil toequilibrium with gas at the desired pressure, a displacement pump for formingthe drops, an interfacial tension cell in which the drops are formed, and adensity cell to determine the density of the oil. The density of the water isdetermined separately in another apparatus. A flow diagram of the assembledequipment is shown in Fig. 1.
The interfacial tension cell contains a stainless-steel dropping tip suspendedfrom the top and extending below the surface of the oil. The tip is acylindrical rod with a small hole in the center through which the water wasforced to form the drop on the lower face.
T.P. 1006
Surface Chemistry of Clays and Shales
Authors: Garrison Allen D. 
Published: June 2014

The chemistry of clays and shales has been assuming increasing importance inthe petroleum industry, and two factors have greatly influenced this trend. Thefirst has been the growing evidence that the marine shales are source beds, andthat the petroleum compounds have migrated to the sand reservoirs overlying orunderlying these shales: the second has been the demand for drilling fluidsbetter adapted to penetrate these marine shales without difficulty andexpense.

Origin and General Composition of Clays and Shales
Clays, shales and surface soils are all closely related materials. They aremixtures of finely divided compounds formed during the weathering of the solidcrust of the earth. Their nature is essentially colloidal; that is, theirbehavior is determmed by the state of division of the materials and the surfacereactions of the smallest grains. Many of their chemical changes affect onlythe exposed areas and do not involve the interior of the grains of matter. Theextent of these reactions is more nearly proportional to the area of thesubstances than to their mass therefore it is possible for a small amount of amaterial in an extremely fine state of division to completely dominate thecharacter of the mixture.
More than 83 per cent of the crust of the earth is composed of threeelements-oxygen, silicon and aluminum. Consequently, the corrosion products ofthe crust are predominantly aluminosilicates, or compounds of aluminum, siliconand oxygen.
If we add the compounds of six elements-iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and hydrogen-more than 98 per cent of the crust has been accountedfor. These six elements, together with the first three, also appear in soils, clays and shales.
But direct chemical analysis is of little value in describing the nature ofsuch materials. Many chemical individuals may be present in variable amounts, and the extreme subdivision of anyone of the individuals may contributequalities that dominate the mixture.
T.P. 1027
A Resume of the Application of Gravel Packing to Oil Wells in California
Authors: Clark W.A. 
Published: June 2014

The production of sand in an oil well increases operating costs because ofabnormal wear in subsurface equipment, the necessity for frequent cleanouts, and the need for a means of disposing of the sand. Moreover, removal of sandfrom the zone can bring about the creation. of cavities from which bodies offormation, sand or shale, may slough into the hole, endangering the shutoff, impeding production or collapsing the liner. The procedure known as gravelpacking is attracting attention as a means of controlling these factors andcontributing to the productive life of a well. That gravel packing is nowsubstantially beyond the preliminary stage on the Pacific Coast is reflected inthe 191,000 bbl. of oil produced monthly by the 66 gravel-packed wells in 11 different producing sectors.

Reasons for Gravel Packing
Gravel packing, if properly carried out, can be expected to provide the following benefits:Prevent the movement of sand and thus eliminate sand production and sandfills, and prevent the formation of cavities.Provide a practical, relatively inexpensive, large-diameter hole, which willprovide well-known theoretical advantages.Support the walls of the hole by completely filling the space between theliner and the formation, regardless of its irregularities, and afford a supportfor liners.Provide for more efficient pumping operations in wells by:possiblyutilizing the gravel as a gas trap in pumping gaseous fluids,allowing deepsubmergence of the pump into the oil zone.
In a conventional well-that is, where the liner is set in an open hole-? eventhough perforation sizes are chosen according to known rules based on analysisof sand grains from samples from the zone, there is likely to be someproduction of sand.
T.P. 1079
Radial Filtration of Drilling Muds
Authors: Williams Milton 
Published: June 2014

It is generally recognized that fluid is lost from rotary drilling muds topermeable strata during normal drilling operations; but that this fluid is thefiltrate from the mud, rather than the mud itself, has been shown by variousworkers.
The presence of this filtrate in oil-bearing or gas-bearing strata isundesirable and harmful. The decreased permeability of the stratum to oileffected by the presence of water has been pointed out by severalinvestigators, and since, in the production of the reservoir fluid, thegreatest pressure drop occurs immediately adjacent to the borehole, it followsthat infiltered water is particularly objectionable in this region. Again, thisfiltrate tends to make electrical logs less reliable, since oil in theproximity of the borehole is probably flushed out to an appreciable extent bythe water Observation of side wall cores may be misleading for the same reason.Drill-stem tests in low-pressure areas may be of doubtful value where no oil isrecovered, unless sufficient time is allowed for production of water lost fromthe mud. The infiltered water may hinder drilling operations by softeningshales and causing sloughing; the "tight hole" occasioned by excessivedeposition of filter cake in the hole is a common occurrence. The filter cakeremaining on the face of the producing formation may itself sometimes bedetrimental to production.
In view of these implications of the importance of filtration of mud, aninvestigation was undertaken to determine the factors involved in theinfiltration process, and to correlate these in such a manner that the valuesobtained in routine filter tests employing a conventional filter of the"wall-building tester" type, together with data on size of hole, drillpipe, and rate of mud circulation, could be used to estimate water loss anddistance of penetration of the filtrate into strata.
Quantitative relations of filter-cake permeability, filtrate viscosity, andrate of filtration have been developed for filtration in the simple laboratoryfilter.
T.P. 1112
Temperature Surveys in Oil Wells
Authors: Millikan C.V. 
Published: June 2014

Temperature measurement in wells is an old practice and geothermal gradientshave been of interest to geologists for many years. Their application to theoperation of oil wells is a more recent practice. It has long been recognizedthat temperature anomalies occur in drilling and producing wells butthermometers that could obtain a satisfactory record of the anomalies were notavailable.
The normal geothermal gradient is considered as being about one degreeFahrenheit for each 60 ft. of depth. This "normal" gradient varies indifferent areas, but whatever it may be in an area there is little variationfrom the surface to as deep as the drill penetrates. The normal gradient isappreciably changed by gas expanding from the reservoir into the borehole or bythe movement of fluid through a borehole while drilling, producing, orcirculating. It is the resulting anomalies and abnormal gradients from whichconditions in wells can be interpreted. Some of the applications of suchinterpretations are locating the position of oil or gas sands, permeable stratain a reservoir zone, gas-oil contact, source of water, casing leaks, and thetop of cement behind casing.

Thermometers
A thermometer for use in wells must be sensitive and have a low thermal lag.The sensitivity should permit recording 0.2?F. or less for differentialtemperatures although the actual temperature need not be more accurate thanIOF. The thermal lag should be as low as rugged construction will permit in order to allow surveysto be made in a minimum of time. Of the several kinds of thermometers, theserequirements are most easily obtained with the vaporpressure, expansion, andelectric-resistance types. Thermometers for use in wells may beself-contained-that is, the complete instrument is lowered into the well and arecord made of the temperature---or the thermal element only may be loweredinto the well and the temperature recorded at the surface. The vapor-pressureand expansion types are more adaptable for a self-contained instrument whilethe electricresistance thermometer is more suitable for surface recording oftemperatures.
The self-contained instrument can be run against high pressure on a single wireline with only one operator required. The instrument and its hoisting equipmentis easily portable and can be mounted on a small car. The disadvantages are asomewhat greater thermal lag and the necessity of completing a run before anytemperature or temperature anomaly is known.
A surface-recording thermometer has the advantage of being somewhat moresensitive and of having a lower thermal lag.
T.P. 1258
Colloid Chemistry of Clay Drilling Fluids
Authors: Loomis A.G. , Ford T.F. , Fidiam J.F. 
Published: June 2014

It is only within the past 10 years that serious attempt appears to havebeen made to improve rotary drilling fluids by the application of theprinciples of colloid chemistry, although the use of chemicals to control therheological properties of clay slips has long been known in the ceramicindustry. The main difficulty apparently lay in the lack of a complete analysisof all of the functions of a drilling fluid in the drilling of the well, together with the lack of adequate consideration of how colloid science couldbe applied to secure these ends, and particularly how apparent antitheticalproperties of the fluid could be compromised. Thus one analysis1 of the manyrequirements of a drilling fluid proved conclusively that the viscosity shouldbe low, in order that cuttings and entrained gas might be eliminatedefficiently in the settling ditch, while the loss in carrying capacityaccompanying low viscosity could be regained by increasing either the densityof the mud or the upward velocity of the mud stream in the annular space of thewell, and the danger of sticking of the drill stem due to rapid settling incase of enforced suspension of drilling operations could be eliminated byenhancing the thixotropic properties of the fluid.
The desired properties of the drilling fluid having thus been established, itwas a natural step to treat the fluid with viscosity-reducing chemicals, suchas salts of weak organic acids- for example, sodium tannate or gallate-and toadjust the pH to the alkaline side to such a degree of thixotropy as would give low viscosityand low yield point under the conditions of flow prevailing in the settlingditch, but rapid gelation and high yield point when quiescent in the annularspace during shutdowns. In fact, flow in the settling ditch should be justshort of turbulent while flow in the well, together with the flow of mud pastthe cuttings, is practically always turbulent. The use of chemicals other thanthose mentioned, such as Calgon (sodium hexametaphosphate) and certain otherphosphates together with sodium tannate, has now become standard practice andit is the consensus that this method of treatment has proved to be an importantstep in the development of the art of drilling oil wells.
It is safe to assume that the application of colloid chemical principles canalso help in solving other outstanding problems of drilling fluids, such as thedevelopment of cheaper and more efficient viscosity reducers; the developmentof chemicals that do not lose their effectiveness in a short time duringdrilling operations; the finding of chemicals to preserve the plasteringproperties of muds when concentrated brines are encountered or in drillingthrough salt beds; improvement in the plastering properties of poor muds byfurther deflocculation, and, conversely, the prevention of excessivedeflocculation of certain marine shales sometimes encountered; the preparationof muds suitable for the successful drilling of heaving shale formations; thefinding of chemicals to treat the mud to prevent or to diminish lostcirculation;
T.P. 1201