Introduction

The Kansas Class 2 project is an effort to introduce Kansas producers to useful technologies and to demonstrate these technologies in actual oil field operations. In addition, all technologies used as part of the project were adapted to be cost-effective for independent operators of mature fields. The majority of Kansas production is operated by small independent producers that do not have resources to develop and test advanced technologies (90% of the 3,000 Kansas producers have less than 20 employees). For Kansas producer's, access to new technology is important for sustaining production and increasing viability. A major emphasis of the project is collaboration of university scientists and engineers with the independent producers and service companies operating in Kansas to accelerate adaptation and evaluation of new technologies. An extensive technology transfer effort is ongoing. Traditional technology transfer methods (e.g., publications and workshops) are supplemented with a public domain relational database and an online package of project results that is available through the Internet. The goal is to provide the independent complete access to project data, project results and project technology on their desktop.

Project design, methodologies, data, and results are disseminated through focused technology transfer activities. Technology transfer activities include: development of cost-effective technologies and software (e.g. PfEFFER, "Pseudoseismic, Modification of BOAST 3); open-file reports; publication in trade professional, and technical publications; workshops and seminars; and the establishment of public access through the Internet. The target audience includes other operators in the demonstration area, operators of other Mississippian sub-unconformity dolomite reservoirs in Kansas, operators of analogous shallow shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Mid-continent, and technical personnel involved in reservoir development and management.

Objectives and Significance

The majority of Mississippian production in Kansas occurs at or near the top of the Mississippian section just below the regional sub-Pennsylvanian unconformity. These reservoirs are a major source of Kansas oil production and account for approximately 43% (21 million barrels in 1994) of total annual production (Carr et al., 1995a, Figure 1.1). Cumulative production from Mississippian reservoirs in Kansas exceeds 1 billion barrels. Today, independent producers, operating many of these reservoirs and production units, deal with high water cuts and low recovery factors that place continued operations at or near economic limits.

This project addressed producibility problems in the numerous Kansas fields such as the Schaben field in Ness County that produce from Meramecian and Osagian dolomites beneath the sub-Pennsylvanian unconformity. Producibility problems in these reservoirs include inadequate reservoir characterization, drilling and completion design problems, and non-optimal primary recovery. Tools and techniques developed as part of the project facilitate integrated, multi-disciplinary reservoir characterization. All technologies used have been adapted to be cost-effective for independent operators of mature fields. Technologies include petrophysical analysis (PfEFFER), visualization (Pseudoseismic), core analysis using NMR, numerical simulation on a PC, and Internet technology transfer. The value of these technologies for independent operators has been demonstrated. All major operators at Schaben have adopted the results of the reservoir management strategy developed as part of the study, and have located and drilled approximately 20 infill locations. Overall results of the incremental wells are very favorable. At the Schaben Demonstration Site, the additional locations resulted in incremental production increases of 200 BOPD from a smaller number of wells.

Equally important is innovative dissemination of the data, methodologies, and results to foster wider application of demonstrated technologies by the numerous operators of similar fields throughout the northern Mid-continent and US.

Site Description

The Schaben demonstration site consists of 1,720 contiguous acres within Schaben field, located in Township 19 South--Range 21 West, Township 20 South--Range 21 West, and Township 19 South--Range 22 West, Ness County, Kansas (Figure 1.2). The leases comprising the demonstration sites are highlighted in Figure 1.2. This site is located in the upper shelf of the Hugoton Embayment of the Anadarko Basin and produces oil from dolostones and limestones of the lower Meramecian Warsaw Limestone and Osagian Keokuk Limestone (Mississippian) at depths of 4,350-4,410 feet. The site is located on the western flank of the Central Kansas uplift at the western edge of the Mississippian Osagian subcrop beneath the sub-Pennsylvanian unconformity (figures 1.3, 1.4, 1.5), and is typical of numerous other Mississippian fields in Kansas.

Schaben field, discovered in 1963, consists of 78 completed oil wells spaced primarily on 40-acre locations (Figure 1.3). Cumulative field production as of October 1998 was 9.3 million barrels of oil (BO), and daily field production was 502 BOPD from 47 wells (Figure 1.2). Compared to production prior to infill drilling average daily production has increased approximately 200 BOPD from a smaller number of producing wells (during 1995 average production was 311 BOPD from 59 wells). From late 1996 through 1998, a total of twenty-two infill locations were drilled or recompleted at the Schaben Demonstration Site (Table 1.1). The locations were selected based on the results of the reservoir management strategy developed in Budget Period 1. All three major field operators (Ritchie Exploration, Pickrell Drilling and American Warrior) used the Schaben reservoir simulation to evaluate multiple locations and select optimum locations. The In addition to production from the Mississippian, one well produces oil from the Cherokee Group and the Fort Scott Limestone, however, the relative volume of oil produced from these secondary zones is small.

Participating Organizations

University of Kansas Center for Research Inc., the University of Kansas Energy Research Center, the Kansas Geological Survey, and the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project of Lawrence Kansas, and Ritchie Exploration Inc. of Wichita, Kansas are participating in the project. Total cost sharing in the project is 50 percent.

TABLE 1.1. List of infill locations drilled or recompleted in the Schaben demonstration area from late 1996 through 1998. The majority of locations were selected based on the reservoir description and simulation results resulting from the project.

Well
Name/Year

Operator

API Number

Status
Rates Per Day

Location
4 BP Twin / 1996 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-23864 15 BO, 283 BW 30-19S-21W, NW-NW-NE
2 P Lyle Schaben / 1996 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-23925 53 BO, 97 BW 31-19S-21W, NE-NE-NE
1 Gneich P Twin / 1996 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-23933 13 BO 72 BW 19-19S-21W, SW-SW-SE
2-30 Moore / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23800 37 BO 0 BW 30-19S-21W, SE-NE-SE
6 DP Moore / 1997 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-24006 60 BOPD, 100 BW, 241’ FOP 30-19S-21W, NE-NW-NW
3 AP Humburg / 1997 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-24013 70 BOPD, 130 BW, 33’ FOP 25-19S-22W, NW-SE-SE
4 Humburg / 1997 Pickrell Drilling 15-135-24010 70 BOPD, 130 BW, 1347’ FOP 25-19S-22W, NE-NW-SE
3 Borger / 1997 Pickrell Drilling 15-135-23998 66 BOPD, 66 BW, 1426’ FOP 25-19S-22W, SW-NE-NE
4 Wittman/ 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23958 108 BO. ? BW 19-19S-21W, SE-SW-SW
5 Wittman / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23966 108 BO. ? BW 19-19S-21W, SW-SW-SW
7 Rein AP / 1997 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-24031 70 BOPD, 80 BW, 530’ FOP 29-19S-21W, SW-NW-SW
5 DP Moore / 1997 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-23973 ? 30-19S-21W, NE-NE-NW
4 CP Moore / 1997 Ritchie Exploration 15-135-24030 ? 30-19S-21W, NW-NE-SW
4 Borger / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-24007 20 BO, 30 BW 25-19S-22W, SE-NW-NE
3-30 Moore / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23801 25 BO, Little Water 30-19S-21W, NW-SE-NE
1-30 Moore / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23799 13 BO, 21 BW 30-19S-21W, NW-SW-SW
3 Borger / 1997 American Warrior 15-135-23969 250' FOP 25-19S-22W, SE-SW-NE
2X Humburg Mid Cont R 15-135-24015 12 BO, 60 BW 25-19S-22W, NW-NE-SE
4 Borger Pickrell Drilling 15-135-24048 40 BO, 9 BW 25-19S-22W, NE-SE-NE
1-26 Gillig American Warrior 15-135-24052 15 BO, 110 BW 26-19S-22W, NE-NE-SE
6 Williams American Warrior 15-135-24053 15 BO, 150 BW 36-19S-22W, NE-NE-NW
6 Wittman American Warrior 15-135-23958 20 BO, 30 BW 19-19S-22W, SE-SW-SW

Next Page Previous Page Top of Report


This page maintained by the Kansas Geological Survey.
Updated June 1999
Comments to webadmin@kgs.ku.edu
URL=http://www.kgs.ku.edu/PRS/publication/99_22/intro.html