A Story Of Depletion - How The Best & Brightest Oil Fields In TX Faded Into Obscurity

[hatrack]

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A noteworthy feature in Table 2 is the dominance of the supergiant East Texas field, in a class by itself. Its cumulative production through 1947 accounted for 60% of the total from the 14 giants; its EUR accounted for 50%. East Texas was so dominating that until 1963, variations in its output determined variations in total production from the 21 fields. Thus the TRRC could regulate Texas oil output by holding other fields steady, and adjusting output from the East Texas field. As the market demand for oil increased relentlessly during the 1960s, the TRRC turned to other fields for additional supply. The second prominent feature in Table 2 is that only 41% of the primary reserves had been recovered through 1947. Field operators evidently believed they possessed reserves large enough to supply the market for many decades. Their objective was to cajole TRRC into increasing production allowables, thus increasing income for producers. During the lengthy regulatory era, aboveground factors governed oil supply, but that was only temporary.

During the 1960s companies developed pressure maintenance systems: water or gas injection to keep their wells flowing. As a result, they added major volumes of secondary reserves. For example, the great Permian Yates field listed EUR at 750 million bbl during 20 years of regulation. During the critical years 1969-1971 when TRRC searched for spare capacity, operators at Yates booked one billion bbl of additional recoverable oil. They added another 200 million bbl in 1977, increasing EUR remained at 650 million bbl until 1970, when, in two years, operators booked 885 million additional bbl. This was during the rapid run-up in production that crowned Wasson as Top Producer in the U.S. Wasson added another 120 million bbl in 1977. Major EOR operations added smaller increments later. During the 1970s, Wasson gained one billion bbl in secondary reserves, i.e., 155% of its primary reserves, and at least 240%, including tertiary reserves, through 1998.

Reserve growth in the East and Gulf Coast regions was much less than in the Permian Basin. The fields have more permeable formations so that a greater portion of original oil in place is extracted through primary methods. Secondary operations add smaller increments.

EUR for the East Texas field gained only 22% in 63 years. EUR was 4.6 billion bbl in 1943, 5.0 billion in 1946, and 5.1 billion in 1951. EUR remained unchanged until 1963 when it increased to 6.0 billion bbl, with no changes through 1998. However, the decline rate for East Texas during the 1990s suggests that it will ultimately yield no more than 5.6 billion bbl. Two other fields also exhibited modest increases in EUR. Hawkins and Tom O’Connor are separated by 325 miles: from the edge of the East Texas field to near Corpus Christi. Other spare-capacity fields along this geologic trend also showed similar histories. From 1947 through 1970 Hawkins and Tom O’Connor each listed 500 million bbl for EUR. Secondary recovery in the early 1970s added 310 million bbl to Hawkins, and 250 million to Tom O’Connor (12).

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http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=116&Itemid=76

[DURHAM D]

1. Do you think production levels should have been

regulated better over the past 35 years? Sooner or later U.S. production would have seriously diminished anyway. Do you really think the time frame matters?

What per gallon cost would our citizens and our politicians have been able to tolerate?

[GliderGuider]

2. That number of 60% caught my eye

That's the same as the proportion of global production that comes out of the 500 giant oil fields studied by Robelius. The other 47,000 fields produce the other 40%.

The production of an "average" giant field is therefore about 100,000 barrels per day, while the production of an average small field is about 700 barrels per day. Thats over two orders of magnitude difference. Is it any wonder that the US wasn't able to make up for the decline of East Texas by drilling their brains out, and is there any question that the same scenario will hold for the world as the giants roll over?

[phantom power]

3. No way man. That big score is coming any day man. Any day.

The good shit. The China wh -- I mean, the light sweet.