The Odessa American from Odessa, Texas • 124

SundayOctober 17, 1982 THE JESSA AMERICAN 7 peGted Tl I inira on crop ex Carbon dioxide recovery methods researched From Staff Reports Estimates hold that when oil was first more than satisfactory results. 50,000 acres and 1,460 wells. Thomas expects A company official in McCamey said that carbon dioxide to help recover an additional when the Northcross Unit went on stream in 120 million barrels about 5 percent of the 1972, production from the 23 wells in the field oil in place from the field, was about 1,400 barrels per day. The project The field is currently producing about peaked out at 2,300 barrels of crude oil per 62,000 barrels of oil per day. Mi '(X Gf Ws day with carbon dioxide injection.

At present, the project sees about 2,200 barrels produced daily. In that project and others, the carbon dioxide is recovered with the oil production, sent back through a cleaning unit for purification Thomas said SACROC had been primarily a water flood project'since about 1954. With implementation of the C02 project in 1972, problems held up progress for about two years. "We did have one field that was on water. uicn i uiw uic uiauuu.

cot down to the noint where we Shell has reportedly planned oer carbon.g STJl dioxxde recovery projects in the Upton Coun- field started ty area. Later this year, the company will mjs Si 04 begin construction of a 30-inch, 500-mile 011 a8ain at an increased rate. pipeline across Colorado, New Mexico and 'According to Enhanced Recovery Week, a Texas, to the Denver City area. A company petroleum-related publication, Wyoming publication said the gas would be used in the may be on the verge of becoming a major Denver City Unit, while similar projects are supplier for C02 operators in the Permian possible in other West Texas and New Mexico Basin, with at least a half-dozen companies fields. tapping into the reserves.

The publication Shell officials estimate the carbon dioxide said American Quasar Petroleum and Exxon recovery technique will produce more than have applied for permits in the area, and Nor-280 million barrels of crude oil that could not thwest Pipeline Mobil and Belco be otherwise obtained from the Denver City Petroleum are also active in that region, "nit- The publication said ARCO and Exxon will Shell plans to drill as many as 200 wells in De equai partners in the development of C02 the area of Cortez, Colo, to recover the car- reserves at the 8,000 acre Sheep Mountain bon dioxide gas. Company officials estimate structure in south central Colorado. The the development of the C02 fields at Cortez, firms wilLshare construction costs of a along with laying 500-miles of 30-inch pipe to pipeline, with Amerada Hess picking up a Denver City, will cost about $1.9 billion. third share of pipeline costs after it reaches Planning for development of the gas field in the Bravo Dome area in New Mexico by the Colorado and securing the pipeline rights-of- au of next year. way began in the mid-1970s.

Along the way, The pipeline's completion date is targeted Shell officials have worked to locate and for 1983, with C02 expected to reach fields in preserve the archeological ruins of ancient West Texas. discovered in West Texas and the Permian Basin almost 60 years ago, more than 50 billion barrels of crude were originally in place. Paul Crawford, assistant director of the Texas Petroleum Research Committee at Texas University, estimates that only 25 percent originally available oil in the Permian Basin's more than 200 reservoirs has been recovered through primary and water flood methods. Crawford said most of those reservoirs have been water flooded and are now nearing depletion. Majpr oil companies are now looking to the future for a third crop of oil, by using carbon dioxide for still another level of recovery.

Crawford said the use of carbon dioxide could increase the recovery by as much as 22 percent, and add another 10 to 12 billion barrels of oil production to the Basin. But the task, Crawford said, will require "lots of equipment, skills and services." And in some cases, it may result in the exchange of dollars because the procedure is so expensive the oil companies may only be able to-recover their cost of operation. But they will be adding to the nation's oil supply in doing so." Crawford said research conducted at revealed that when carbon dioxide is injected under pressures of 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, it becomes mixable with oil. Resulting oil recovery may approach 90 to 98 percent of the initial oil in place. "I must point out that this high recovery rate has only been achieved in the laboratory," Crawford said, "and when these procedures are applied in the field they will be about half, or less than the laboratory tests." Crawford said oils that have been studied in the lab include samples from the Levelland, Wasson, Goldsmith and North Cowden Fields.

For each crude oil it was found that carbon dioxide would achieve "miscibility" at pressures from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds per square inch. Shell Oil Co. is planning a massive carbon dioxide project at its Wasson Field in Yoakum County. Company officials estimate costs at $4 billion throughout the life of the project. The company has had a small carbon dioxide project in operation about five miles west of McCamey since 1972, and has achieved I) Indian tribes.

5: The task of preserving those historical treasures was particularly challenging in the Cortez area, where Anasazi Indians once resided. The Anasazis were farmers who lived in pithouses on mesa tops and cliff dwellings, before leaving southern Colorado about Carbon Dioxide Equipment Design, an Odessa-based company, is also in the development stages of a X2 field in the Bravo Dome area and a 250-mile long pipeline to the West Texas area. Sam Holloman, a director of the company, said he expected the $125 million project to 700 years ago. In addition to Shell, Chevron Oil has also get off the ground and into the development been active in C02 recovery methods. The stages by the first of the year.

company's SACROC Field in Scurry County, also launched 10 years ago, is one of the largest carbon dioxide projects in West Texas. Because of its size, the field serves as a model for other companies planning C02 projects. Holloman said a 16-inch line was originally planned for the project but may be expanded to 20 inches. For project investors, the gas will sell for about $1 per thousand cubic feet and above the $2 mark for non-investors. Holloman said Carbon Dioxide Equipment Oil show demonstration An oil equipment manufac- Oil Show.

They are examin- turer, left, demonstrates ing the equipment while drilling apparatus to visitors standing on the rig floor of at the 1980 Permian Basin an oil derrick. Chevron's G. H. Thomas, unit manager for SACROC, said carbon dioxide has provided a Design would sell the C02 to any company strong advantage in the project, which covers wanting to purchase gas. When you plant a want ad.

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"Rusty" Pounds Ex-energy secretary heads firms HOUSTON (AP)-Charles W. Duncan a former U.S. energy secretary and former president of the Coca-Cola last April became" president of Warren-King Companies, a group of energy-related companies. Warren-King Companies includes the Goldrus Drilling Goldrus Production Hill Petroleum Warren Oilfield Services Group, Technadril, and Miller Coal Systems. The companies, which have 1,700 employees, recorded revenues of more than $1 billion last year.

Duncan, a native of Houston and a chemical engineering graduate of Rice University, was deputy, secretary of defense from January 1977 to August 1979 and secretary of energy from August 1979 to January 1981. He also is a former president of Duncan Foods which merged with the Coca-Cola and also has served as chairman of Rotan Mosle Financial Corp. ALCOA smelter shut down Associated Press Aluminum Com- pany of America said i- recently it is per- manently closing its aluminum smelter at CPoint Comfort, Texas. ALCOA said the smelter, which can produce 145,000 metric tons per year, was temporarily shut down in November 1980 to balance metal inventories. It is the company's only gas- fueled smelter.

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