bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Risk and Reward: The Relationship between Prospectivity and Fiscal Regimes
Authors: Kellas G. K. , Hodgshon S. G. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
This paper looks at the problems facing the international oil explorationist and host Governments in 1992, under a cloud of low oil prices and falling company profits, yet with more quality acreage available worldwide than for many years, especially with the emergence of the CIS states as prospective ‘hunting grounds’ for the western oil company.
Given the extent of the spread of opportunities available to companies and recognition of the increasing need to justify, on economic grounds, progress with any licence application this paper suggests two approaches that companies can adopt to rank the opportunities available, and maximise the value, on an after risk basis, of their (limited) international exploration budget: subjective rating by factor or the Risk/Reward balance.
Both of these approaches include measures of prospectivity and measures of local cost and fiscal effects in providing an overall exploration rating which can be used by companies to rank the available opportunities.
Governments in 1992 are having to compete with each other to secure exploration funds, particularly as companies devote an increasing amount of time in assessing the prospects in the CIS. This paper shows how, by modifying their fiscal regimes, they can readily affect the Risk/Reward balance and provide incentives which will continue to attract exploration when the prospectivity of the country is not perceived as relatively high, yet maintain the Government take as the prospectivity improves.
Corporate Planning in the Nineties
Authors: Johnston J. S. , Parry David 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. The subject of my talk this afternoon is Corporate Planning in the Nineties.
I should explain that the particular case study I am going to describe took place in late 1989/early 1990 in the Exploration and Production arm of British Gas plc. I had been asked as an external consultant to help them consider their corporate needs for the next decade.
During the late 1980s, in the post-privatisation era, British Gas E&P had expanded dramatically through organic growth and through acquisition. This had resulted in a Corporate Structure with two operational offices, in London and Houston, managing the E&P activities across the world and a separate London based Corporate Group supporting the Managing Director and providing a Corporate Planning function. They also intended to expand further within the ‘90s in the same way. As such, it was necessary for the company to identify a control base for this growth. There were two particular requirements; firstly a corporate planning process that could fulfil this function, and secondly it required a predictive tool to be used in the corporate planning process in the form of a numerical model. It was necessary for both of these factors to include consistent standards across the company, and meet the needs of management and employees.
Reservoir History Matching Using the Method of Gradients on a Workstation
Authors: Bisseil Robert , Killough J. E. , Sharma Y. 
Published: December 2007

abstract
Tins paper discusses the use of an automatic reservoir history matching process using the method of gradients on a work station. We illustrate the method's robustness and performance using a simple field example.
Traditional gradient methods have utilised perturbation methods to compute the gradients which require n + 1 simulations for n parameters and could consequently be quite expensive. To overcome the expense of making several runs of the simulator we have implemented into our simulator a method which can compute derivatives of many parameters simultaneously. We shall refer to this simulator as GRADSIM for the rest of the article. We show by numerical experiments that the additional cost of computing derivatives is highest for the first derivative, after which the cost rises by about 8 percent for each additional derivative.
We then use the gradients to minimise a so-called objective function which is a measure of the difference between the historical and simulated reservoir data. This is accomplished by passing the gradients to a constrained minimisation algorithm which calculates the changes required in various user-defined reservoir parameters to achieve a better history match. The reservoir description is then updated and the reservoir simulation and gradient calculations are repeated. The process continues in an iterative manner until the best match has been achieved.
This simple example of the application of the method of gradients shows that considerable savings in time could be obtained by the engineer for both history matching and proper parameter identification.
CASCADE: A Knowledge-Based Drilling Engineering Software Tool
Authors: Mattiello Daniela , Sansone Aldo 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Casing shoe setting depths selection, and the consequent determination of geometrical and mechanical characteristics of casings, is a crucial activity that heavily influences well planning and affects both safety and economical aspects of the operation. Accurate well and casing design can significantly reduce drilling costs and risks; for that purpose CASCADE (Computer Aided Support for Casing Design), an expert system to support the choice of shoe depths and the selection of casing characteristics, has been developed. According to well data provided by the user (lithological information, gradients development forecasts, drilling problems in related wells, targets), the system hypothesizes the casing shoe setting depths and corresponding mechanical characteristics. Different hypotheses can be generated by the system, feeding design criteria with new user defined constraints, but the final choice is up to the user.
The system runs on a UNIX platform and is based on X-windows and KEE, a LISP-based object-oriented tool. It exploits an interactive, graphical interface; dialog boxes and menus guide the user.
The first version of the system is now undergoing field testing.
ODDA: An Expert System for Planning and Conducting Directional Drilling
Authors: Cayeux Eric , Overti P. O. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The Automated Mathematician (AM) of Douglas Lenat1 has discovered a very useful way of generalising concepts which is applicable in many circonstances:
If a concept is expressed as a conjunction of two or more other concepts, try to examine the new concept built by replacing the conjunction with a disjunction.1
The application of this heuristic has allowed AM to discover the concept of "prime number". Applied to the description of a complex system, this rule of thumb may be interpreted as: replace an exhaustive and sequential presentation of a complex system with a set of short views on that system.
Designing Better Decisions
Authors: Egeland Thore , Hatlebakk Einar , Holden Lars , Larsen E. A. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The computer may be considered a laboratory and experiments performed on the computer (like running ECLIPSE) may be designed and analyzed in much the same way as non-computer experiments. Experimental design methods replace traditional sensitivity studies where one input variable is varied at the time. The basic idea is to vary several input variables simultaneously and intelligently. Damsleth, Hage and Volden [1] demonstrate that the number of simulations may be reduced 30-40% without loosing information. Based on the output from ECLIPSE a relation between the response variable (‘Production after 4 years’ in our example) and the input variables (Lobes, STOOIP,…) is estimated. This relation is used as a surrogate simulator: The values of the input variables are sampled from assigned probability distributions to produce a large number of Monte Carlo simulated values for the response variable.
We extend and discuss the results of the mentioned paper. In particular we investigate the impact of dependence between the input variables. Moreover, the relevance of Geostatistical methods (kriging) are documented. By modeling dependence between different computer runs, the precision of predictions are significantly improved. The methods are demonstrated on the case study discussed in [1].
Object-Oriented Data Management
Authors: Trythall Steve , Greenlee J. N. , Martin Dawson 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
It is increasingly recognised that good data management is essential to the petroleum industry. Relational databases are prevalent within the exploration and production industry and are increasingly applied to the storage of exploration data.
In this paper we argue that the need to describe and manage complex exploration data is better served by the object oriented database management system. The OODBMS provides richer data modelling facilities which are important for representing the objects which are common in petroleum exploration, e.g. three dimensional volumes, images, etc. The facilities of the OODBMS will be introduced and contrasted with the relational database management system.
An example of the use of databases in spatial data modelling will be given and the object and relational implementations contrasted. A benchmark figure for the relational database (ORACLE) and the object oriented database (ONTOS) will be given. We will show that the OODBMS is superior in speed, efficiency and data modelling capabilities.
Advanced Hypermedia for the Petroleum Professional
Authors: Bisset J. B. , Trythall Steve 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Scientific workstations are increasingly finding their way on to the desktops of petroleum professionals, resulting in the widespread use of a range of complex applications for tasks such as basin modelling, seismic interpretation and reservoir modelling. The increasing complexity of these programs raises serious issues of how effective on-line user support can best be provided. One emerging approach which is generating enthusiasm is the use of hypertext technology to assist the user.
In this paper, we describe the design and development of a hypertext-based intelligent help facility for a complex petroleum exploration application. We describe what hypertext is, and discuss its applicability for applications in the petroleum exploration and production (PE&P) industry, giving examples to illustrate where appropriate.
The system has been developed as part of an intervention strategy for the Hedera application. It is able to inform the user of erroneous data and inconsistent actions, as well as offering appropriate help and advice when required. As well as offering help on the application, hypertext technology can be applied to tasks such as annotation of work, and generation of reports of work undertaken during a modelling session.
A Thermal Transient Model of Circulating Wells: 1. Model Development
Authors: Marshall T. R. , Lie O. H. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
A model has been developed to calculate the transient (unsteady-state) and steady-state temperatures in the wellbore, completion and formation of a well during drilling, production and shut-in. A finite difference approach, simultaneously solving all the heat transfer equations, is written with a Microsoft Windows based user interface. Predictions of bottom hole and return temperatures from this model are shown to closely agree with the presently available field data. A further publication will:
– provide detailed comparisons with results from more complete measured field data – investigate the sensitivity of wellbore temperatures to variables such as mud rheology, flow rate and rotary table power.
Process Requirements and Enhanced Economics of Helium Recovery From Natural Gas
Authors: Handley J. R. , Miller W. C. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
The principal economic sources for the world's helium supply are helium rich natural gas reservoirs. Helium is found in natural gas reservoirs in concentrations ranging from 0.005% to about 8%. Typically, naturally occurring nitrogen also exists in these reservoirs. The presence of nitrogen requires processing of the gas to upgrade the heating value of the natural gas product stream.
The helium recovery process can be thermally integrated into the natural gas processing operations of natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery and/or nitrogen rejection units (NRU). The helium recovery unit (HRU) can even be added as a straddle facility.
The process requirements and the economic enhancement of helium recovery from natural gas for an NGL/NRU/HRU facility are presented. The facility process requirements covered include: –feed pretreatment for the removal of freezable components–turbo-expander process for NGL recovery–thermally integrated nitrogen rejection unit–thermally integrated helium recovery unit–feed gas and residue product compression
Facility capital cost and economic evaluations are presented for example cases with and without helium recovery. A guideline is presented to illustrate how the addition of helium recovery can create economically attractive projects from otherwise marginal opportunities.
Successful Remedial Operations Using Ultrafine Cement
Authors: Harris K. L. , Johnson B. J. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
Since its initial application in 1989, ultrafine cement has been used in several hundred remedial cementing operations worldwide. Since ultrafine cement contains no large particles, it is capable of invading narrow openings that a standard cement can not access. This penetrating feature has resulted in high success rates in a variety of applications. Increased usage in the mid-continent states in the United States along with recent successes in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and southeast Asia testifies to the widespread acceptance and success of using ultrafine cement in remedial cement operations.
Recent literature has extensively related the properties and applications of ultrafine cement1-5. This paper intends to outline operational procedures required to ensure successful operations when using this new technology. Proper procedures pertaining to slurry design, cement mixing and placement, and well conditions are presented. Case histories are included and illustrate typical operational techniques in ultrafine remedial operations.
The Changing Face of Gas Proration: Proposed Rule 29
Authors: Foppiano R. E. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
A new gas proration system has been proposed for Texas, one that may lower allowables and hence curtail gas production. This new system is embodied in the Texas Railroad Commission's proposed Rule 29, which was published in the Texas Register on January 21, 1992.1 It was also described by the Commission staff in a public meeting on April 8, 1991.2 To assess the impact on gas production, the allowables for a large gas field in Panola County were calculated under Rule 29 and compared to current allowables and production. The results clearly show that allowables may be severely reduced in some fields, with a corresponding effect on production. This paper will explain the basics of the current and proposed gas proration system. With a better understanding of gas proration, the production engineer can manage his operations more efficiently and economically.
Implementation of West Panhandle Vacuum Operations
Authors: Fort F. T. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
August, 1992 marks the second anniversary of the initiation of area wide vacuum operations in the West Panhandle Field. Since August, 1990, MAXUS has placed 65 wells on vacuum operations over an area of 400 square miles near Dumas, Texas. The initial results have shown an increase in deliverability from the wells tested and the placement of approximately 8500 hp at or near the wellheads. The implementation of vacuum operations is another step in a long progression of the development of reserves in the West Panhandle Field.
Optimization of Cathodic Protection of Well Casing in the Texas Panhandle
Authors: Beyea R. O. , Pinckney K. D. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
Evaluating corrosive potential and impressingeffective cathodic current levels based on surface methodologies exclusively are insufficient to effectively protect most wellbore casings. The time-honored solutions ofinhibited drilling muds, isolating primary cement jobs, squeezecementing, and material considerations do not provide a cost-effectivemeans to address downhole corrosion in the Texas Panhandle region. Accurate emplacement of cathodic protection systems is the key. The CPET* Corrosion and Protection Evaluation Tool effectively measures the corrosive profile and corrosive rates in the wellbore environment. This allows the operator to optimize his corrosion prevention expenditures.
An Overview of Exhaust Emissions Regulatory Requirements and Control Technology for Stationary Natural Gas Engines
Authors: Ballard H. N. , Hay S. C. , Shade W. N. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
A practical overview of stationary natural gas engine exhaust emissions control technology and trends in emissions regulatory requirements is presented. Selective and non-selective catalytic reduction and lean bum technologies are compared. Particular emphasis is focused on implications of the Clean Air Act of 1990. Recent emissions reduction conversion kit developments and a practical approach to continuous monitoring are discussed.
A Compartmented Simulation System for Gas Reservoir Evaluation With Application to Fluvial Deposits in the Frio Formation, South Texas
Authors: Lord M. E. , Collins R. E. , Kocberber Sait 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
We present comparisons of simulations of performance histories for wells in highly compartmented, fluvial gas reservoirs generated by very precise finite element models and a much simpler multi-compartment material balance model. These comparisons validate the capability of this simple compartment model for the evaluation of compartmented reservoirs. Specifically we show that history matching of well performance with this simple model provides excellent estimates for directly drained pore volumes, supporting secondary pore volumes and intercompartment transmissibilities.
Drillable Selective Injection Equipment
Authors: Barneck M. R. , Petersen D. G. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
Traditionally, selective injection equipment (SIE) has been manufactured from different kinds of metal alloys. SIE equipment, such as packers, sidepocket mandrels, and seating nipples, has been costly but the cost of retrieving or removing old equipment has been even more expensive.
Recently, drillable selective injection equipment has been developed for trial use in the Rangely Weber Sand Unit in Rangely, Colorado. The installations have been manufactured almost entirely of filament wound fiberglass and are almost metal free. Fiberglass cup-type packers have been developed and manufactured. Sidepocket
mandrels have also been developed and manufactured with a stainless steel pocket and the rest of the mandrel being made of fiberglass.
The only metal in the fiberglass or drillable part of the installations is some wire reinforcement in the rubber elements of the packers and the pockets in the sidepocket mandrels which are made of stainless steel (19" long each).
This concept will result in substantial savings in fishing operations when the installations need to be replaced. The top metal packers will be retrieved in the conventional manner. If the rest of the installations cannot be pulled out of the well easily, they can be drilled into small pieces with the small amount of metal either being retrieved in some kind of catch or driven to bottom. This will reduce workover rig time from weeks or even months to days.
Improvements in the next generation of drillable SIE are being pursued in an effort to address some specific concerns with the initial installation, such as packer wear going in the well, and drillable problems caused by the few metal parts. Fiberglass inflatable packers are also being developed to offer a choice in packer types available.
Removing a Typical Iron Sulfide Scale: The Scientific Approach
Authors: Ford W. G. F. , Walker M. L. , Halterman M. P. , Parker D. L , Brawley D. G. , Fulton R. G. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Iron sulfide scales vary in composition; this paper, in three parts, describes how a thorough analysis of the scale is necessary to optimize the chemical treatment and successfully remove the damage.
The first part of this paper describes the different types and compositions of iron sulfide scale and the need for a tubing cleanout prior to an acidizing treatment. The second part describes the detailed analysis of the scale through the use of quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis and elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray. The final part of this paper presents scale removal treatment case histories.
A Selective Water Control Process
Authors: Dalrymple E. D. , Dahl J. A. , East L. E. , McKown K. W. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
A selective water control process that can control water production has been developed. This process incorporates small particle size cement (SPSC) in an oil-based slurry containing a surfactant. The system allows high concentrations of SPSC in the oil and retards the SPSC reaction with water to allow deep penetration into high permeability microchannels and fractures to shut off water. The slurry will set only if it contacts mobile water and therefore provides an excellent water control treatment.
The selective water control process has been used in conjunction with polymers crosslinked by metal crosslinkers to obtain reduction of water without the problems associated with crosslinked polymer, i.e., polymer production with accompanying corrosion and bacteria problems. This paper demonstrates the application of the selective water control process in various types of formations, ranging from sandstone to fractured limestone, dolomite, and chert. Field case histories of the process are presented for perforated and openhole completions.