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DOE assists six independents Agency pledges $590,000 to small oil producers for technology-assisted projects Patricia Jones Petroleum News Contributing Writer
Six technology-driven oil production projects proposed by small independent producers have been selected for funding by the U.S. Department of Energy, through its National Petroleum Technology Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The federal funds, part of a matching grant program administered by NPTO since 1995, provide a way for small companies to use higher-risk production technologies, said Jim Barnes, project manager for the Technology Development with Independents program.
“We want to increase recovery in known fields,” he said. “The program is looking for ways to reduce the costs to get more oil out of the ground and extending production for small wells.”
Sharing risks and expenses has resulted in innovative methods and technologies that have boosted oil production and prevented the premature shutdown of some endangered oil fields, according to the NPTO press release issued May 22, announcing the six new grant recipients.
Program criteria limits funding to companies that operate in the United States, employ 50 or fewer full-time employees and generate less than $100 million in gross revenues a year, Barnes said.
“We have all kinds of folks involved — some are almost mom and pop operators,” he said. Sixty-three projects in 19 states funded since ’95 Since the program’s inception in 1995, 63 projects have been funded in 19 different states, none in Alaska. “The smaller companies in Alaska are still bigger-sized,” Barnes said.
Total federal funding has been about $4 million, he said. Originally, grants were limited to $50,000 per project, Barnes said, but now that maximum is $100,000.
NPTO, a part of DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, issues solicitations for the grant program and advertises its availability on its website. Currently, all available DOE monies for the independent technology have been awarded, and Barnes said he is waiting to see if the program receives additional funding before starting another selection process.
Arnell, Grand Mesa, Peden, Terra get $100,000 each Companies with projects recently selected include:
• Arnell Oil Co. of Littleton, Colo., will receive $100,000, matched by $100,000 from the company. The project will demonstrate alkaline-surfactant-polymer chemical flooding designed to produce economical, incremental oil reserves in the Poison Spider field in Natrona County, Wyo.
• Bass Enterprises Production Co. of Fort Worth, Texas, will receive $90,000, matched by $220,000 from the company. Working with the University of Texas and Trend Technology, the project will demonstrate how independent producers can acquire and analyze advanced imaging data from small seismic test patches embedded in large-scale seismic surveys — a low-risk, low-cost option for acquiring seismic data.
• Grand Mesa Operating Co. of Wichita, Kansas, will receive $100,000, matched by $106,319 from the company. Working with Tiorco Inc. and the University of Kansas, the project will demonstrate the feasibility of polymer gel technology, to increase the recoverable reserves from Mississippian reservoirs in Kansas.
• Peden Energy of Fort Worth, Texas, will receive $100,000, matched by $100,000 from the company. The project will demonstrate that using micro-turbines at well sites is more efficient and less costly than operating with traditional internal combustion engines and generators. In addition, Peden Energy will install variable frequency drives with computerized pump off controllers on two pump jacks. The VFD, which adjusts pumping speed of the well, should increase oil production by 10 percent and reduce capital expenses.
• Teneco Energy of Wheatridge, Colo., will receive $89,862, matched by $101,703 from the company. The project will use regenerating bio-chemicals such as microbes and organic surfactants to reverse formation damage, restore permeability and improve production in the East Texas Field. Other partners include Micro-Tes Inc. and Oil Patch Pipe and Supply.
• Terra Oil Exploration and Production Co. of Signal Hill, Calif., will receive $100,000, matched by $100,000 from the company. The project will run newly developed cased hole well logs in a selected deep well in the Santa Fe Springs oil field in Los Angeles, Calif., to identify bypassed oil. Past flooding of preferable sands may have bypassed lower permeable, oil-saturated sand intervals, and the project will identify potentially productive zones. The project will also re-complete nearby wells to increase recovery and add bypassed oil to improve production.
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