bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mechanical Installations for Gas-air Lifts in the Seminole Area
Authors: Swarts Clifton R. 
Published: June 2014

The use of compressed air or gas in oil wells for raising crude oil to thesurface has, within the last year, become a dominant factor in productionengineering. Previous application of this principle was largely confined to oilwells that had been pumping for a considerable length of time. In the Seminolearea, the gas-air lift has been applied to wells immediately after natural flowhas ceased and in some cases while the wells were still flowing. This earlyapplication of the gas-airlift has been watched with intense interest by thepetroleum industry, both with respect to methods of application and mechanicalinstallations and to the effects on immediate and ultimate production.

Methods of Application
The Seminole pool at its inception contained sufficient gas associated withthe oil to cause natural flow. As no free gas was found in the main productivehorizon, the Wilcox sand, all the gas present was dissolved in the oil, hencethe natural flowing life was short, rarely lasting over 45 days. When naturalflow ceased, high fluid levels were common, and as depth and crookedness ofholes were obstacles to efficient pumping, the gas-air lift was used almostexclusively in raising the oil to the surface.
Because of the high gravity of the oil, 41? A.P.I., and its high gasolinecontent, and also because of the desire to obtain production before offsetwells became productive, quantity of production was the aim of the operatorsand a method of flow was used whereby this aim could be fulfilled. One of theoutstanding features of this method consisted in flowing the wells through theannular space between the tubing and casing. By this means a greater quantityof fluid could be handled than by flowing through the tubing of the size inordinary use. Wells that would produce only a few hundred barrels on the pumpwere by this method made to produce as high as 7000 bbl. on the lift. A fewdays or weeks of production at that rate meant a large recovery of oil.
Casing of 6% in. diameter was commonly used as a production string with a5316-in. liner set on top of the oil sand.
Mechanical Installations for Gas-lift Pumping as Practiced in the California Oil Fields
Authors: Miller H.C. 
Published: June 2014

The gas-lift method of flowing oil from wells is the outstanding feature ofpetroleum technology today. Its forerunner, the air-lift, was used successfullyfirst, in the Baku fields of Russia, in 1899, and later in the Gulf Coastfields of Texas and Louisiana and the Kern River field of California. It isstill used to a limited extent in certain oil fields. The use of compressednatural gas for lifting oil from wells has supplanted the air-lift method in ameasure in those fields where a sufficient quantity of gas accompanies the oilto make the gas-lift possible, or where natural gas is plentiful andinexpensive. We find, therefore, in California, that natural gas is used atpractically every well where a gaseous medium is employed to flow the oil.
The use of natural gas has many advantages over that of air. It is possibleto recover and save the gasoline from the gas that accompanies the oil to thesurface. This gasoline would be wasted if air were used as the lifting medium.Also, certain proportions of air and gas form an explosive mixture that cannotbe handled safely by compressors. Another advantage that gas has over air isthat gas under pressure is more soluble in oil. Gas in solution in oil reducesthe viscosity of the oil that is being produced and causes it to flow morereadily through the tubing and flow lines.
The gas-lift has made it possible to recover many thousands of barrels ofoil from deep wells in California that could not have been produced otherwise.It would not have been economical, had it been mechanically possible, toproduce such wells as the world's deepest producing oil well (Miley Athen'sNo.6, Rosecrans field, California) by any other method of pumping known today.At this well, production is obtained from between 7305 and 7591 ft. and 11months after completion of the well, production was being maintained on thegas-lift at approximately 2000 bbl. a month,
The crookedness of the hole, or its diameter and depth will not prevent thesuccessful application of gas-lift pumping when other conditions arefavorable.
New Developments in Air-gas Lift Operations in the Mid-Continent Area
Authors: Millikan C.V. 
Published: June 2014

New developments in air-gas lift practices in the Mid-Continent area sinceour Fall meeting in Fort Worth have done much to increase the efficiency ofinstallations, and thus bring within economic limit of air-gas lift many wellswhich could not have been flowed profitably before. After the gas-lift had sothoroughly demonstrated its value in the Seminole field, its use spread toother areas and many installations were made of which the economy could bequestioned. In the Seminole area, when production began to decline it wasnecessary either to increase the efficiency of the air or gas-lift or to putthe wells on the pump, and pumping was not a process of lifting oil to whichany operator looked forward with confidence. These conditions have resulted inthe development of many practices which increase the efficiency and permitwells to be flowed with air or gas which earlier could not have been flowedeconomically, and wells which have been flowing to continue to a lower rate ofproduction. The practices which have come into more common usage in theMid-Continent area recently are mostly revivals of and improvements onpractices which have been known in air-lift work for several years. Many arepeculiar to the individual well on which they are used.

Intermittent Flowing
Some interesting results are being obtained in Seminole and other districtsby intermittent injection of gas. Gas is introduced during periods of 3 to 5min. at a rate considerably over that necessary to acquire the production at asteady rate of injection, and is then cut off for a period of 3 to 15 min. Twoto five wells are run from the same group of compressors. The total volume ofgas required is sometimes reduced as much as one-third of that required when itis introduced at a constant rate, without changing the amount of oilproduction. The maximum pressure required is usually higher, but the averageequal to or lower than that required for constant rate of flow. The effect onthe wells is usually an irregular rate of flowing which may cause inconveniencewhere recycling is practiced.
Recent Developments in Gas-lift Methods in California Oil Fields
Authors: Bell A.H. 
Published: June 2014

The general principles of the gas-lift will not be described in this paper.Only specific details that have not been fully discussed in previous papers, orresults that do not fully coincide with conditions previously described, willbe dealt with. The principal points to be emphasized and for which supportingdata are furnished are as follows:Gas-lift installations usually have comparatively high efficiencies ascompared with standard pumping equipment, when reduced to a basis of barrelsproduced per horsepower installed.Advantages of high-pressure plants from the standpoint of operatingefficiency and for the application of the gas-lift early in the life of flowingwells.Evidence of increased ultimate yield through conservation of gas by thegas-lift.Possibility of development of new equipment to increase efficiency of thegas-lift.Indications of the advantages of repressuring as a means of stabilizinggas-lift wells and as a means of increasing ultimate yields.

Types of Installation
The gas-lift installations of the more important companies in Californiahave been of the central-plant type wherever field conditions would permit.This has resulted in greater flexibility and lower installation costs per wellthan could be obtained with individual well units. In general discussions ofthe gas-lift method of production, the installation costs are frequentlyreferred to as being too high for economical operation. If the field conditionsare carefully analyzed and the plant designed with the idea of obtaining highoperating efficiencies, the installation cost per well can be loweredsufficiently to compare favorably with individual well-pumping units, when theoperating advantages are considered. Much greater production per horsepower canbe obtained with the gas-lift than is possible with pumping equipment.
The "Gas Factor" as a Measure of Oil-production Efficiency
Authors: Uren Lester C. 
Published: June 2014

Field studies and laboratory research have established the fact that, theexpulsive force which drives petroleum into wells, from the reservoir sands inwhich it is stored by nature, is primarily an expression of the energy latentwithin compressed natural gas dissolved or occluded in, or otherwise associatedwith the oil. Each barrel of oil produced is forced into the recovery well bythe expansive energy of a certain volume of compressed gas, originally storedwith the oil in the pores of the reservoir rock; and each cubic foot of gas soproduced with the oil and expanded to atmospheric pressure reduces by so muchthe total natural energy available for oil expulsion. This relationship betweenthe volumes of gas and oil produced has seemed so important that petroleumproduction technologists have come to regard the "gas-oil ratio," orthe "gas factor" as it has been more conveniently termed, as a measureof oil-production efficiency. Different methods of oil recovery and productiondevices are now compared on this basis and estimates of ultimate recoveryobtainable through their use are considered by many to be inverselyproportional to the values of their respective gas factors.
The writer has been among those who have given support to a widespreadmovement toward a proper recognition of the significance of the gas factor as aguide in the control of producing oil wells, and does not wish to oppose itsmore extended application. It seems necessary, however, in view of the almostelemental faith with which the principle of the gas factor has been received inmany quarters, to point out that it is a most complex factor, and one whichcannot be regarded as an absolute index of production efficiency without dueregard to other contributing factors by which it is influenced to an importantdegree.
Handling Congealing Oils and Paraffin in Salt Creek Field, Wyoming
Authors: Wood F.E. , Young H.W. , Buell A.W. 
Published: June 2014

This paper summarizes the results of laboratory tests conducted to determinethe properties of the paraffin or rod-wax encountered in the Salt Creek field, Wyoming. It also describes field tests and methods employed to cope with theparaffin problem. The conclusions to be drawn from the laboratory work are:Samples of Salt Creek paraffin range in consistency from soft to hard, the melting points varying from 120? to 156?F.Masses of soft paraffin are soluble to an appreciable extent in crude oiland its liquid fractions at temperatures somewhat below the melting point ofthe paraffin. Hard paraffin is very slightly soluble under theseconditions.Agitation apparently increases the amount of paraffin that will go into solution.Paraffin congeals from solutions upon cooling to the point of saturation, which is in all cases below the melting point of the paraffin.Crude oil is the most effective of all the solvents for holdingparaffin sin solution.Pressure alone does not appreciably affect the solubility of paraffin incrude oil nor does it aid materially in holding paraffin in solution when thetemperature is reduced.Natural gas in solution under pressure does not appreciably increase thesolubility of paraffin in crude oil, but is effective in holding paraffin insolution when the temperature is reduced.A foreign body introduced into a solution of paraffin in oil is immediatelycoated with paraffin if the temperature of the solution is at or below themelting point of the paraffin, and the object is considerably cooler than thesolution.
It may not be entirely correct to say that paraffin is taken into solution;it is impossible that the paraffin may be in suspension rather than insolution.
Pumping Deep Wells in the Seminole Field, Oklahoma
Authors: Kirwan M.J. , Covell K.A. 
Published: June 2014

This paper covers a brief discussion of pumping 380 to 410 gravity oil fromWilcox sand wells ranging in depths from 4000 to 4900 ft. in the Seminolefield, Oklahoma.
As recently as a year ago it was the general belief among Seminole operatorsthat most wells in that district could not be successfully or economicallypumped. Also the idea was prevalent at that time that the crookedness of therotary holes would cause a large amount of mechanical trouble and the use ofthe air-gas lift would leave the wells depleted with sand conditions and fluidlevels unfavorable for pumping. At that time it was predicted that wells wouldbe abandoned when the economic flowing and swabbing period was reached.Contrary to these beliefs it has been demonstrated that wells can be profitablypumped to limits as low as 10 bbl. of oil per day where conditions arefavorable.
The Seminole field, unusual in its rapid development, has served as anexperimental laboratory for many oil field pumping devices with which thispaper will not concern itself. Discussion will be confined to equipment andmethods in general use throughout the field. The outstanding features ofequipment and pumping operations covered in this paper may be summarized as follows:Pumping equipment from the standpoint of prime movers, energy cost, powertransmission equipment, derricks, counterbalances, beam hangers, tubing, suckerrods, pumps, etc.Pumping problems peculiar to the Seminole field, including the proper timeat which to change from air-gas lift flowing to pumping.

Pumping Equipment
There have been no basic changes in pumping equipment in the past 20 yearswith the exception of some refinements in design brought about by the demandfor equipment suitable for pumping deep wells.
Analytical Principles of the Spacing of Oil and Gas Wells
Authors: Phelps Robert W. 
Published: June 2014

It is gratifying to observe the growing interest in the study of oil-wellspacing. It should always be held in mind that the problem of optimum spacingis to obtain the maximum return of capital per acre drained. This naturallyevolves into a mathematical consideration. As mathematics is the basis of allscience, an effort should be made to develop formulas which involve dataobtainable in the early stages of development.
The first information from a discovery well in a new field would be thecharacter of the sand, rate of initial production of oil and gas, viscosity ofthe oil, rock pressure, etc. Later, from this well, if Herold's theories ofhydraulic, volumetric and capillary controls are accepted, could be determinedthe ultimate production as without interference from drainage by subsequentwell completions, and under which control the well is producing. If it shouldprove to be producing under capillary control, a rough estimate could be madeof its radius of drainage. With but one well, the radius of drainage, or theinterference of drainage of individual wells by close spacing, would beestimated by comparison with similar conditions in other fields in which thedevelopment has progressed sufficiently to furnish the data. A second well thatis spaced sufficiently close so that an interference can be observed after itsultimate production is estimated, will furnish data to develop a desirablespacing of wells which can be inaugurated for that area and which is capable ofproducing a uniform amount of oil under like conditions. In some fields thisarea will be extensive, in others each well location will require an individualstudy.
In 1924, Cutler developed a scheme whereby he determined by tabulation aspacing of oil wells for the maximum return per acre.
Relative Propulsive Efficiencies of Air and Natural Gas in Pressure Drive Operations
Authors: Power Harry H. 
Published: June 2014

The relative merits of air and natural gas as propulsive agents in pressuredrive operations have been discussed for a number of years. When air or gas isintroduced into the sand, various factors lead the operator to the selection ofwhat he believes to be the proper propelling medium; but when the question of relative drive effect israised, several physical and chemical premises must be taken into considerationin arriving at a conclusion as to the superiority of one medium over the other.Dow and Calkins and Beecher and Parkhurst have contributed fundamentalexperimental work on the effect of dissolved gas in lowering the viscosity andsurface tension of crude oil. Herold and Tickell have indicated that whatevertype of reservoir control obtains, gas plays other important parts in the movement of oil towards the well, namely:The propulsive and expansive force of the gas.The "Jamin effect," or resistance to the movement of oil in a porousmedia due to the formation of gas bubbles.
When quantitative studies are made, parallel conditions must be selectedwhereby we may say definitely whether air is superior to gas as a drivingmedium, or vice versa. Examples of similar conditions are not easy to find inthe field. However, in the laboratory we can make determinations which may leadto general conclusions when applied to the field. The experimental and researchwork described here was started at the laboratories of the University ofCalifornia in January, 1927, and completed in private laboratories at Tulsa, Okla., in February, 1928. The apparatus used was designed especially for thework.
Natural-flow and Gas-lift Experiments and Apparatus
Authors: Brandenthaler H.H. , Wade G. , Morris W.S. 
Published: June 2014

Petroleum engineers generally are of the opinion that the flow conditionand, therefore, the formulas that apply to the flow of oil and gas in long pipelines differ in many ways from flow conditions in oil wells. One of the reasonswhy the formulas in common use for pipe-line flow do not correctly apply to oilwells is that t he flow lines arc vertical and not horizontal. Another factorto be considered is that the fluid is a mixture of oil and gas and that thephysical characteristics of these two components are affected differently bychanging conditions of pressure and temperature during upward flow.
Realizing the need for accurate data on flow in vertical pipes under conditionscaused both by natural flow and the gas-lift, the U. S. Bureau of Mines hasinstalled equipment at the Petroleum Experiment Station, Bartlesville, Okla., for the purpose of studying this problem. In addition a study will be made ofthe comparative effects of different natural-flow and gas-lift methods ofproducing oil on ultimate production from reservoir sands.

Experimental Equipment
The experimental equipment consists of a regular oil-field steel derrick, alarge pressure tank installed in a concrete pit beneath the derrick floor, compressors and pumps, gas separators and absorbers, metering and controldevices, and the necessary pipe connections. The crown-block level representsthe derrick floor at an oil well, and the "producing sand? is the pressuretank below the derrick floor. The difference in elevation between thecrown-block level and the tank is 90 ft. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the constructionand exterior arrangement of the equipment.
The success of the experiment will of course depend largely upon the accuracyof the oil and gas measurements and the temperature and pressuredeterminations.
Study of Unitization in the Rocky Mountain Region
Authors: Wood F.E. 
Published: June 2014

Since the earliest discoveries of oil in the Rocky Mountain area the spiritof cooperation in drilling and production programs has prevailed. There hasscarcely been a field which has not been developed in an orderly manner throughmutual agreement between competitive operators. An appreciable saving hasresulted, as many unnecessary wells have been eliminated. We have unitoperation plans and agreements which were developed at an early date. RockRiver, found in 1918, has been a unit operation. One of the first prorateagreements ever attempted was made in Salt Creek in 1921. Teapot, firstdeveloped in 1922, has been a unit operation; the lessee, the Government, andthe lessor, one operator. South Casper Creek, found in 1918, has been developedas a unit. Rex Lake, found in 1923, is a unit operation. The list might beextended materially but it serves to indicate that the Rocky Mountain regionenjoyed the fruits of unit operation at an early date.
It is concluded from this unitization study in the Rocky Mountain region thatthere is an appreciable saving in both development and production costs as wellas the elimination of waste of a natural resource. Certainly, when unitoperation conserves an irreplaceable natural resource as well as capital, anylegal or political impediment to its successful development will beovercome.
If one company supervises the operations in one field, it appears to be a unitoperation. This may not be true if the lands involved have been leased from agreat number of lessors. Royalty holders create a most intense competitiveoperation. The Rocky Mountain region has its full quota of such diversifiedinterests.
The original study calls for consideration of two types of fields, unit andnear-unit operation. This Committee has felt that if an agreement of anycharacter has brought about a saving it is an approach to unit operation. Thefields have been classified into four types:Unit Operation.-Any field whereby the competitive drilling-drainage featureis or will be absent in the development and operation of the pool.
Unit Operation in the Rock River Field, Wyoming
Authors: Emery Wilson B. 
Published: June 2014

The discovery well in the Rock River field, in Carbon County, Wyoming, camein May 1, 1918. The field is on a large anticline having more than 1500 ft. ofclosure and production is obtained from three sands of the Dakota group. At itspeak, production approximated 10,000 bbl. daily and is now averaging 2200 bbl.Total production to Jan. 1, 1930, exceeded 12,500,000 barrels.
So far as known to the writer, Rock River was the first light oil field in theRocky Mountain region to be produced under what we now term unit operation.Though this type of operation was not popularly acclaimed by the oil industry, the Federal Government and the public until many years after the inception ofdevelopment at Rock River, the officials of the Ohio Oil Co. when acquiringthis property were fully cognizant of the economies to be effected by unitownership and the consequent elimination of competitive drilling and producingof wells, and had this in mind at the time. Thus unit management was introducedin this field at an early date by this company.

Area and Management
Fig. 1 shows the location of all wells drilled on the Rock River structure andthe outline of the productive area as now defined, which amounts to 1380 acres.The hachured line indicates the area now under unit ownership; originally amuch larger area was so owned but leases have been canceled as progressivedevelopment indicated their lack of oil.
The management and operation of the entire productive area is handled by theOhio Oil Co., which owns the majority working interest. The Continental Oil Co.with a 20 to 35 per cent. interest in much of this acreage, and smallerinterests owned by others in some of the leases, constitute the remainder ofthe ownership.