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Collaborating Authors
Reservoir Characterization
Of the four papers that comprise this TECHNICAL PUBLICATION, three are casehistories of individual geophysical prospects, subsequently tested bydrilling. The bibliography of Dr. Barton's published scientific papers includesinvestigations in physiography and surface geological mapping, as well as hisgeophysical papers, and from this list it is to be observed that he earlyrecognized the place of different types of geophysical prospecting methods inthe search for geological structures of economic importance. Moreover, hisviewpoint was not merely that the structures should be found, but that thegeophysical data should be examined quantitatively to determine the geometry ofthe structures. In other words, that although these data are insufficient todeduce a unique form for the structure that caused the effects measured in thedata, the engineering computations should be carried out to give as much of adefinite configuration to the structure as the data permitted, in order thatthe testing of the structures could be conducted in the most economical mannerand with the idea that the experience so gained could be later incorporated inthe study of structures subsequently found. Dr. Barton continually emphasized the quantitative use of geophysicalobservations, whereas at the time that he began his specialization ingeophysics it was considered sufficient to use observations only qualitatively.He, more than anyone else, was responsible for the first volume on geophysicalprospecting issued by the Institute in 1929, and his three articles in thatvolume stressed the quantitative use of geophysical prospecting. The fourth article in this present TECHNICAL PUBLICATION is a furthercontribution to this branch of geophysical interpretation, and is a supplementto the paper in the 1929 volume, "Calculations in the Interpretation ofObservations with the Eotvos Torsion Balance." T.P. 1760
- North America > United States > Texas (1.00)
- North America > United States > Louisiana (1.00)
- North America > United States > California > Kern County (0.28)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline (0.93)
- Geology > Mineral (0.68)
- Geology > Structural Geology > Tectonics > Compressional Tectonics > Fold and Thrust Belt (0.47)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock (0.47)
- Geophysics > Seismic Surveying (1.00)
- Geophysics > Gravity Surveying > Gravity Acquisition (0.34)
- North America > United States > Louisiana > Tepetate Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > California > San Joaquin Basin > San Joaquin Valley > Tulare Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > California > San Joaquin Basin > Lost Hills Field (0.99)
- (7 more...)
Abstract A graphical method of analyzing the data obtained from shallowearth-resistivity depth tests is presented. The method is based upon empiricalresults and has no theoretical basis. The usual apparent resistivity-electrodespacing curve is used together with a cumulative resistivity-electrode spacingcurve plotted on the same sheet. The greatly reduced scale required forplotting the cumulative values of resistivity together with the effect of thesummation of the individual resistivity values serves to minimize the effect ofpurely local surface anomalies and inadvertent errors of measurement. The pointof intersection of tangents or straight lines drawn to intersect at zones ofmaximum curvature in the cumulative curve indicates the depth to the underlyingmaterial. Numerous figures are presented in which data from published reportsand from recent field studies are analyzed and the results compared with actualdepths established by borings or with depth values obtained by the use oftheoretical methods of analysis. Smoothly rounded curves of apparentresistivity such as are often obtained in the field, and which have been aserious drawback to attempts to analyze the data empirically heretofore, appearto be susceptible to rather accurate analysis by the method described. The method is best suited to analyses involving shallow two-layerformations. It has been applied successfully, however, in analyzing the dataobtained from tests made over shallow three-layer formations. As with mostempirical methods, its chief advantage is its simplicity and ease ofapplication. Introduction There have been published many papers that discuss the interpretation ofdata obtained from earth-resistivity tests when using the four-terminal methodof electrode spacing developed by Wenner. The majority of these have dealt withtheoretical analyses for two-layer and three-layer formations. Some sets of"master curves" have been presented for use in analyzing field data todetermine the depth to the first and possibly the second horizon below theearth's surface. Although practically all of these theoretical methods ofanalysis have appeared to have particular merit and some have been usedsuccessfully in practice, they have been found to be of little value where thelocal conditions surrounding the test failed to conform to those assumed in thetheory. In certain fields, particularly in civil engineering, relatively shallowexplorations are often involved and geophysical methods of test must competewith the direct methods of exploration ordinarily used. Only when it can bedemonstrated that geophysical methods of test can materially reduce the timeand cost of a given exploration project will the civil engineer abandon directmethods in favor of the interpretations of geophysical exploration data. T.P. 1743
The data in this paper show a relationship between measured productivityindex and certain commonly measured reservoir characteristics. Comparison ismade of theoretical radial flow assuming certain drainage radii and thetentative relationship shown by these data. Among the more importantmeasurements found to correlate with productivity index are permeability, formation thickness, oil viscosity at reservoir conditions, andformation-volume factor. Introduction The need for reliable means of predicting rates of fluid flow into wells hasbeen recognized for a number of years. As early as 1898, physical measurementsof the sand to determine productivity were described by Slichter and King as anaid in the determination of water supply. The United States Geological Surveyhas made frequent use of permeability measurements on samples of water sand toaid in predicting the rates of flow from wells, and practical applications ofpermeability data to problems of water-flooding have been made since 1932. It is now becoming widely recognized that the economics of well spacing andfield operations may be solved only after evaluation of several factorsinfluencing subsurface flow. A number of papers published during the past fewyears indicate the possibility of determining the productivity index of oilwells from permeability and other factors, but these contributions have dealtprimarily with the theoretical relationships involved and were not intended tofurnish results that could be used to determine a working equation forpredicting well performance from laboratory tests. In this paper, reliable determinations of productivity index are given for anumber of wells, together with some significant results from core analyses andbottom-hole sample analyses. T.P. 1467
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Fluid Dynamics > Flow in porous media (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management (1.00)
- Production and Well Operations > Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring (1.00)
The development of effective and dependable methods for drilling through theso-called "heaving-shale" horizons, particularly in the Gulf Coastarea, is believed to comprise a major contribution to drilling technology, andto the task of finding and developing our undiscovered oil pools. Manymechanical remedies have been proposed and are in use in troublesome areas forcombating heaving shale. However, in conducting a research program it wasconcluded that the physical and chemical properties of shales should beinvestigated, and the effect of added chemicals on such properties determined.As a preliminary step, the effect of chemicals on bentonitic suspensions wasdetermined in accordance with recent contributions in the field of ceramics.The most plausible theoretical explanations for the behavior of the clayminerals involved are offered in the paper that follows. It is hoped thatsubsequent investigation of actual shale from troublesome wells will be aidedby the initial work done on bentonitic suspensions of known composition. Introduction Formations variously designated as "heaving shale," "sloughingshale" and "caving shale" impede and may even preclude drilling ofoil wells, particularly in certain parts of the Gulf Coast. In a previous paperit has been stated that the development of effective and dependable methods fordrilling through these troublesome beds is believed to comprise a majorcontribution to drilling technology, and to the task of finding and developingour undiscovered oil pools. Since the attack on the heaving-shale problem by mechanical means wasprincipally a matter of field investigation, it was concluded that a researchprogram should be concerned with the physical and chemical properties ofheaving shales, and the effect of added chemicals on such properties. It wasrealized that a study of shales required an advanced knowledge of the behaviorof the individual clay minerals. A thorough review of the literature led theauthors to the conclusion that very recent contributions in the field ofceramics furnished the most plausible theoretical explanations for the behaviorof clay minerals. Accordingly, these fundamental ideas will be used in anattempt to explain the behavior of more complex systems whose composition andreplaceable ions are known. T.P. 1401
- North America > United States > Texas (0.28)
- North America > United States > New York (0.28)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (1.00)
- Geology > Mineral (1.00)
- Well Drilling > Drilling Fluids and Materials > Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties) (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Exploration, development, structural geology (0.74)
This paper reviews the industrial trends and changes in educational conceptsthat have led to the development of the modern petroleum engineeringcurriculum. A trend toward emphasis on engineering fundamentals is noted. Whilemost universities are committed to the traditional four-year engineeringprogram, it is agreed that more than four years is necessary for academicpreparation of the petroleum engineer in all phases of his profession. Theauthor proposes a coordinated program of undergraduate and graduate trainingthat will permit of adherence to the general pattern of the present four-yearengineering course, with provision for extension of the program intospecialized graduate courses of professional character. In the latter, emphasismay vary with the interests and objectives of the individual student. Aspecific undergraduate curriculum is proposed in which upward of 80 per cent ofthe available time is devoted to engineering fundamentals. A broad survey ofthe professional field is afforded in courses grouped in the third and fourthundergraduate years, but detailed treatment of the professional aspects ofpetroleum engineering is reserved for the graduate program. Introduction Of necessity, engineering curricula must ever be changing to reflect the newtechniques, the changing concepts that are presented as the engineeringindustries develop and unfold. Particularly is this true of the youngerengineering curricula representing comparatively new and rapidly changingindustries such as the petroleum industry. Institutions that planned theirpetroleum engineering curricula a decade or two ago now find that the petroleumindustry has become vastly more technical in its requirements. Entirely newmethods and techniques have come into vogue and must be given place in thecurriculum, and some of these are of a character that demands changing emphasisin the fundamental preparatory subjects. College and university facultiescannot complacently assume that curricula in this field that were consideredappropriate 10 or 20 years ago still reflect the needs of the industry thatthey are designed to serve. If they do, their graduates will be poorly equippedto meet the requirements imposed upon them by a rapidly changing industry.Perhaps it is not too much to expect academic authorities to anticipate thetrends of industry and equip their graduates with what they will need to attainleadership 10 or 20 years after graduation. Whether or not this desirableobjective is possible, there is no excuse for allowing curricula to fall behindthe current needs of industry. T.P. 1350
- Management > Professionalism, Training, and Education (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Exploration, development, structural geology (0.46)
The problem of good engineering practice and of good conservation practicein oil production is that of keeping gas in solution. This can best be done byproducing a field as a water-drive field. Some degree of water drive isbelieved to be present in most fields but in the past most fields have beenproduced too rapidly to allow water drive to be effective. Ultimate recoveryshould be 50 per cent greater for fields produced by water drive over that fromgas-expansion fields. Wide spacing will permit fields of low-degree water driveto be produced effectively as water-drive fields. Introduction Neglecting all the complicated scientific and technical argument that leadsto the conclusion, the solution of the problem of good production practice, ofgood engineering practice, and of good conservation practice in oil productionis to keep gas in solution. This can best be done by producing fields at a ratelow enough to make effective the water drive, which exists, it is generallybelieved, to a degree great enough to be made effective in more than 80 percent of the fields of the United States. Oil is being so produced in the TenSection field of California; the Hobbs field of New Mexico; the Yates, Hastings, Friendswood, Anahuac fields and the main sand of the Conroe pool, inTexas; the Magnolia pool in Arkansas, and doubtless in many other pools. The measures of success in the efforts to achieve the solution of theproblem are the maintenance of bottom-hole pressure and the prevention of anincrease in gas-oil ratio. Some decline from the original bottom-hole pressureand the production of some gas are essential. A pressure gradient from thereservoir to the well is necessary and at least as much gas must be produced asthat in solution in a barrel of oil. Once the optimum pressure and the gas-oilratio have been established, they should be maintained. T.P. 1340
- North America > United States > California > San Joaquin Basin > Ten Section Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > Arkansas > Magnolia Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > West Gulf Coast Tertiary Basin > Anahuac Field (0.98)
Canada's oil production is obtained almost entirely from the Turner Valleygas and oil field, in the Province of Alberta. This field, about 30 milessouthwest of the city of Calgary and approximately 115 miles north of theUnited States border, supplied 92 per cent of production in Canada during 1937. In 1938 considerable development took place in this field and total productionfor the year amounted to 6,688,716 bbl., an increase of 3,922,146 bbl. over theproduction in 1937, which increased the percentage of production toapproximately 97 per cent of Canada's total. In the British Empire, Canada'sproduction is thus comparable to that of Bahrein Island and Burma, each ofwhich produced approximately 7,800,000 bbl. in 1937, being second to Trinidad'sproduction of 15,500,000 bbl. The total production of the British Empire inthat year amounted to 2.07 per cent of the world's total. History Development of the Turner Valley field commenced in 1913, when a well wasstarted near a gas seepage on the banks of the South Fork of Sheep River in thecentral part of the Valley. This well found small quantities of a light crudeoil in beds of Upper Cretaceous age and precipitated a wild boom in 1913โ1914 which ended with the beginning of the Great War in 1914. A small amount ofdrilling was done in the years from 1914 to 1922 and a few wells found smallcrude-oil production in the upper sands. In 1922 a few wells were started, including the Royalite Oil Company's No. 4 well (R, Fig. l), which became the discovery well of naphtha production fromthe Paleozoic limestone. In October 1924, this well was completed at a depth of3740 ft., being approximately 300 ft. in the limestone, with an initial flow of600 bbl. of 72? A.P.I. gravity naphtha and 20,000 M cu. ft. of gas per day.Intense activity was not started until the latter part of 1928, when the OkaltaNo. 1 well (Q, Fig. 1) was drilled, with an initial production of 500 bbl. ofnaphtha per day. This well was only 1? miles from Royalite No. 4, but it wasapproximately 1300 ft. lower on structure and potentialities of the field wereconsiderably increased. T.P. 1099
- North America > Canada > Alberta > Turner Valley Field (0.99)
- North America > Canada > Alberta > Bow Island Field > 1473649Ab Bi 10-10-10-13 Well (0.98)
- North America > United States > Montana > Western Canada Sedimentary Basin > Alberta Basin (0.91)
- Well Drilling > Drilling Operations (1.00)
- Well Drilling > Drilling Equipment (1.00)
- Well Completion (1.00)
- (5 more...)
Introduction The four papers making up this symposium have been prepared especially forthose who have no knowledge of seismograph prospecting. To many peoplemathematics is a formidable subject, and many are discouraged from studyingseismograph prospecting under the mistaken assumption that the mathematicalrequirements are severe. In the papers presented here there is not a singlemathematical equation. We believe that considerable competence in dealing withsome of the most important problems of this work can be attained without anymathematical training whatever. At the present time, there is a real need forinterpretation of results by persons thoroughly competent to bring geologicexperience and imagination to bear on data that are subject to multipleinterpretation from a strictly physical viewpoint. Likewise, those charged with the responsibility of planning seismographexploration campaigns would do well to become familiar with as much as possibleof the technical aspects of the work. They would then be in better position tojudge of its success in individual cases. It has often been said that theseismograph is a new structure-finding tool for the geologists to use. Using atool and using its product are two different things. One does not use anautomatic screw-threading machine when he buys a box of screws at the hardwarestore. T.P. 1059
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline > Stratigraphy (0.68)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock (0.68)
- Geology > Structural Geology > Tectonics (0.46)
- South America > Brazil > Parnaiba Basin > Block PN-T-68 > California Field (0.89)
- North America > United States > Gulf of Mexico > Gulf Coast Basin (0.89)
Any mechanism, either natural or artificial, for regulating the functioningof a given unit in the general economy must operate toward the maintenance ofequilibrium if it is to survive. The petroleum industry, concerned as it iswith the production of a natural resource of specialized character, issurrounded not only by the economic factors common to other industries but byan extra set of unique elements centering about the fugitive character of crudepetroleum under conditions of competitive development. The term equilibrium, therefore, so far as the oil business is concerned, involves a combination ofeconomic and physical factors: the first set having to do with supply, demand, costs, profit margins, purchasing power, and the like; and the second, withunderground pressures in oil pools, efficient rates of extraction, and allother aspects of engineering that may be summarized by the familiar term"conservation." The two categories, in fact, are not as clearly dividedas the foregoing statement would imply, for in practice it will be found thatthe economic and physical aspects have a pervasive interaction andinterrelationship. If the development of the petroleum industry in the United States isexamined from its inception in 1859 down to the present, it will be found that, beginning about 11 years ago, a new mechanism for regulating the production ofcrude petroleum made its appearance. Prior to this recent period, theproduction of this raw material was determined by competitive forces operatingwithout outside restraints. At present the output of crude oil is subjected tosupervision by regulatory bodies in most of the oil-producing states, whichimpose upon the operators certain conditions having to do with the manner andrates of production. Thus, in the space of a decade, the mechanism forproducing crude oil has changed from an automatic to a designed procedurecalled proration. And in its short history this method has been marked by arapid evolution in its nature and incidence, with progressive changes stillunder way. T.P. 904