The Midland Basin vs. the Delaware Basin – Understanding the Permian
Evolution and Deposition of the Permian Basin This will be the first of a three part series where I will discuss the Permian Basin as well as the similarities and differences in the Midland Basin and the Delaware Basin. This first discussion will cover the evolution and deposition while the following will cover stratigraphy, reservoir […]
CANADIAN OIL AND GAS WELL NUMBERS
Several weeks ago I wrote about US Well Numbers and the basics of how they are numbered and who numbers them along with the standards committee that sets the rules. Today I’m writing about the Canadian system which is very different from the US but as a geologist I find it elegant, logical and very easy to […]
WELL COMPLETION 101 PART 2: WELL PERFORATION
After drilling and casing your well, the next phase in well completion is perforation. Just as drilling and casing happen together, best practices in today’s oil field involve an “underbalanced” downhole environment, and thus, have the perforation happening in tandem with the installation of production tubing and packing. Workover Rigs This phase of the completion is usually done with […]
THE API NUMBER IS DEAD – LONG LIVE THE US WELL NUMBER
I first want to apologize to all non-U.S. readers. This article is about US well numbers and the way we uniquely identify wells here in the US. The common way to identify a well in the world is to give the well a unique well identifier (UWI). Here in the US we have a specific […]
WELL COMPLETION 101: UNLOCKING DOWNHOLE TREASURE PART 1 CASING
Once upon a time the success or lack of success of an oil and gas well had to do with the comparative fortune of finding the right sort of producing field. (Here’s a great article on East Texas wildcatter Columbus Earl Joiner that gives a solid flavor of that experience.) But once you had struck oil, how […]
LAND GRIDS. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE NORTH 40
Typically children don’t look forward to going to the dentist but I did for one reason, Highlights Magazine. To be more specific, Highlights Magazine had a section where they cleverly hid common everyday items into a drawing. I loved, and still do love, hidden picture games; So why is it that I hate Texas’ land […]
Shell’s Harrison “ Piloncillo Ranch ” Still for Sale
Shell announced the sale of their Eagle Ford assets primarily in the form of the 106,000-acre Harrison “Piloncillo Ranch” on Sunday, September 29, 2013. The sprawling track covers a large portion of southeastern Dimmit County and crosses over into northeastern Webb County. Traditionally the ranch had been a prime hunting preserve for the Harrison family […]
PROPPANT: THE GREATEST OILFIELD INNOVATION OF THE 21ST CENTURY
I was perusing Murray Roth’s recent presentation “Unconventional Oil and Gas: Implications for Global Field Development” and it made a pretty bold statement that I figured was worthy of discussion all on its own. What is the greatest driver of oilfield innovation and value in the 21st Century? Sand. Without sand, or more generally proppant, there is […]
HALF OF US OIL PRODUCTION COMES FROM THESE 20 COUNTIES
The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is a concept used to describe a highly nonlinear relationship between cause and effect. In other words, a minority of the causes (20%) account for a majority of the results (80%). The spatial distribution of US oil production follows a version of the 80/20 rule. In […]
SIMPLIFIED SEISMIC ANALYSIS: WHY DRILLINGINFO ACQUIRED TRANSFORM SOFTWARE
Today Drillinginfo announced the acquisition of Transform, Inc. to bring rich seismic analysis software and much more to our subscribers. I thought about simply regurgitating the press release, but then I thought it might be fun to give you a little inside perspective on why we made this acquisition. As far as business transactions go, it wasn’t […]