EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES

NINETEENTH SPE IMPROVEDOIL RECOVERY SYMPOSIUM

IOR2014 NEWSVolume 3, Number 1, 2013

April 12-16, 2014, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Call for PaPers launChes Ior 2014A call for papers has officially kicked off planning efforts for the 19th SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, slated for April 12–16, 2014, at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Tulsa, Okla.

The Mid-Continent Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers has sponsored the biennial conference, the largest of its kind in the world, on the topic of improved oil recovery since 1978.

The theme of the 2014 Symposium, “Explore the Possibilities,” is an apt one in light of the growing recognition of just how massively abundant the global oil and gas resource endowment truly is—thanks to recent advances in developing unconven-tional reservoirs.

Other aspects of the IOR 2014 agenda are still being finalized, with online registration scheduled to go live at www.SPEIOR.org/registration.shtml, September 1, 2013.

The tentative agenda includes:

• Three days of a technical program featuring more than 100 papers devoted to the science of improving oil and gas recovery.

• An extensive array of exhibits featuring cutting-edge technologies and know-how, with catered food and refreshments on the exhibit floor the first day.

• A plenary session featuring a panel of top industry executives.• A second-day luncheon with keynote address by a top oil and gas industry figure.• A weekend devoted to a wide-ranging series of continuing education short courses related to IOR and EOR.• Evening dinner featuring the Pioneer Awards, celebrating great careers in EOR/IOR.• Evening social events: Beer n’ Brats, featuring live entertainment and door prizes; Casino Night.• A weekend area geology field trip with the renowned Dr. Norman J. Hyne.

Further details and an updated timetable will be published in the next issue of the IOR 2014 Newsletter.

See Call for Papers, p. 2

Ior14 ChaIr: eor next frontIer for unConventIonal oIl/gas boomEnhanced oil recovery (EOR) is the next frontier in the ongoing expansion of unconventional oil and gas resource development.

Even as the global energy industry is still trying to assimilate the revolutionary impact of successfully applying advanced drilling and completion technologies to these vast resources, the world’s top EOR specialists are now focusing on the next stage: how to maximize tertiary oil recovery from unconventional reservoirs.

That’s why horizontal and multilateral drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies have a heightened pro-file in the 19th Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, to

“In unconventional oil recovery, we are now thinking about how to develop EOR. This is a challenge to our indus-try. Through our symposium, we want to share with each other the state of the art. This is an emerging technolo-gy, and one of our symposium’s objec-tives is to facilitate development of unconventional EOR.”

Dr. Sada JoshiGeneral Chairman, IOR 2014Joshi

See IOR14 Chair, p. 3

Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Page 2

New topic for papersNoteworthy among the suggested topics for the IOR 2014 is a new cate-gory: EOR/IOR for Unconventional Reservoirs. The inclusion of this topic addresses the growing interest among the IOR/EOR community in unconventional reservoirs, notably the tight oil and gas formations such as shales and tight sands that dominate U.S. drilling activity and that have reversed decades of decline in U.S. oil and gas production and reserves growth.

Previously, any IOR Symposium papers that focused on unconventional resource plays were included under the topic of Reservoir Management.

But Technical Program Committee Chairman David D. Smith said, “We had decided to split this section out due to the high interest and the indi-cation there are now studies on using a variety of true EOR methods on unconventional reservoirs. It is not just about improving the size and number of fracs anymore.”

In the call for papers, Smith invited the submission of original and previ-ously unreported results in a wide range of topics (see nearby table) for consideration by the Technical Program Committee.

“We encourage papers on fundamental technical advances, as well as case studies of field applications that provide new insights into improved oil recovery,” he said.

Paper proposals will be accepted online through September 26, 2013; go to www.SPEIOR.org for details.

Want to keep up with the latest developments on IOR 2014 and IOR/EOR in general? For peri-odic updates, check us out or follow us at:

FacebookIOR Symposium 2014

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LinkedIn groupIOR 2014

Continued from Call for Papers p. 1

Miscible and Immiscible Gas FloodingSCO2SEnrichedGasSAir/Nitrogen/FlueGasSCarbonCaptureandSequestration

Chemical FloodingSPolymerSSurfactant/PolymerSAlkaline/Surfactant/Polymer

Water and Gas Conformance ControlSDiagnosticandEvaluationMethodsSConformanceSolutionsSMechanical,Chemical,CementorCombinationControl

Systems

Viscous (Heavy) Oil Recovery SThermalMethodsSNon-thermalMethods

Novel EOR/IOR TechnologiesSLowSalinity,Microbial,SeismicStimulation,NanoparticlesSCombinedTechnologies

Applied IOR/EOR - Field Case HistoriesSSpecificFieldResultsandLessonsLearned

Reservoir ManagementSRealTimeSurveillanceSTargetingBypassedOilSLateral,Multilateral,InfillDrillingSMaximumReservoirContactWells

Smart Wells and Other Emerging Mechanical TechnologiesSPassiveandActiveICD’s,Patches,Plugs,etc.

Reservoir CharacterizationSSimulationSWettabilityAlteration/Relative

Permeability/CapillaryPressureSPoreScaleModelingofIOR/EORProcessesSNaturallyFracturedReservoirImplicationsforEOR/IOR

EOR/IOR for Unconventional Reservoirs SApplicationPotentialforEOR/IORinUnconventionalReservoirs

Water Requirements/Treatment Options for EOR/IORSWaterTreatmentNeedsandSystemsasTheyApplytoEOR/

IOREfforts

Suggested Topics for IOR 2014

Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Page 3

be held April 12–16, 2014, at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Drilling, completion, and EORKeys to the unconventional resource revolution are horizon-tal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing, both of which are long-accepted improved oil recovery (IOR) tech-nologies.

For most of its existence, the conference known today as the Improved Oil Recovery Symposium has focused its agenda primarily on traditional EOR, which includes the injection of liquids, gases, or steam in a reservoir to improve oil recov-ery. IOR includes traditional EOR as well as other methods to improve recovery, such as horizontal wells, multilateral wells, etc.

EOR topics still dominate the IOR symposium’s technical program today. But the symposium’s organizers recognize the crucial role that advanced drilling and completion tech-nologies play in commercializing the unconventional plays that dominate U.S. oil and gas activity today. And that means a higher profile for these technologies in the IOR symposium.

As if to underscore that point, the symposium steering com-mittee selected Dr. Sada Joshi to serve as the General Chair of the 19th IOR Symposium. Joshi is one of the world’s leading experts on horizontal and multilateral wells and the founder and president of Tulsa-based Joshi Technologies International Inc.

“Everyone in the industry recognizes the contribution that horizontal and multilateral technologies and hydraulic frac-turing have made in increasing oil and gas production,” he said. “Thus, it is natural for us to include them in our sym-posium as a method of IOR.”

As with any other industry, success begets success, and operators, drillers, and service/supply companies will contin-ue to build on the technology advances that spawned the unconventional oil and gas resource boom. And that means a continuing emphasis on these technologies by the IOR sym-posium.

“As new drilling and completion technologies increasingly contribute to improve oil and gas production, I am sure that they will be included in the future symposiums,” Joshi added.

Indeed, industry already is seeing some initial research in applying true EOR methods to unconventional reservoirs, and the first commercial unconventional reservoir EOR proj-ect may not be too far off in the future. But it won’t happen overnight, Joshi reminded.

“Most EOR/IOR processes go through several stages, such as concept development, simulation models, reservoir stud-ies, laboratory models, field pilot tests, and, finally, field-wide implementation,” he said.

Continued from IOR2014 Chair p. 1

About the IOR 2014 General Chair

Dr. S.D. (Sada Joshi), named General Chair of the 19th Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, is the founder and current president of Joshi Technologies International Inc. (JTI), headquartered in Tulsa, Okla.

Dr. Joshi founded JTI in 1988 after a nine-year tenure at Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. JTI is a privately held business consultancy specializing in horizontal well technology and reservoir evaluation, providing engineering consulting and training services and proprietary software in over 30 countries.

JTI division Joshi Oil & Gas is an international operating company with oil and gas production in the U.S., India, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Dr. Joshi in 2000 was named by Hart Publishing as One of the 100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century for his pioneering technical contributions and promotion of horizontal drilling.

He developed the “Joshi Equation” formula used world-wide for predicting production rates from horizontal wells, as well as methodologies for calculating decline curves and well testing equations for horizontal wells. Joshi also developed one of the first waterfloods using horizontal wells in the U.S.

In addition to completing more than 200 consulting proj-ects in 36 countries and conducting more than 100 short courses on reservoir aspects of horizontal wells world-wide, Dr. Joshi was named a Society of Petroleum Engi-neers (SPE) Distinguished Lecturer in 1995–96.

He is the author of Horizontal Well Technology, widely acknowledged as the industry standard text on the topic and published by PennWell Publishing, and a co-author of Geological Aspects of Horizontal Drilling, published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), in addition to dozens of other peer-reviewed professional publications.

Dr. Joshi has received the Anson Marston Medal from Iowa State University, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and the Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting.

He is a member of SPE, AAPG, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and member of the Tulsa, Okla-homa, and various U.S. chambers of commerce.

Dr. Joshi has mechanical engineering degrees from the Walchand College of Engineering (BE), Sangli, India; IIT (MTech); and an Iowa State University (PhD).

Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Page 4

Accordingly, the IOR Symposium technical program includes a separate category broken out as Application Potential for EOR/IOR in Unconventional Reservoirs.

“In unconventional oil recovery, we are now thinking about how to develop EOR. This is a challenge to our industry,” Joshi pointed out. “Through our symposium, we want to share with each other the state of the art. This is an emerging technology, and one of our symposium’s objectives is to facilitate development of unconventional EOR.”

Environmental issuesEOR processes are likely to become even more closely scrutinized as public concerns grow over environmental issues in relation to oil and gas operations, especially with the ongoing controversy over hydraulic fracturing.

While fraccing, an IOR process itself, is essential to the economics of unconventional oil and gas development, most EOR processes do not entail the practice.

Joshi contends fraccing, done correctly, is environmentally safe. But simply making that statement is not enough to allevi-ate public concerns, and companies looking at applying EOR to unconventional reservoirs need to be prepared to deal with those concerns with openness and good environmental stewardship. While it’s still early days for such initiatives, it’s a good idea for IOR Symposium delegates to start thinking along those lines.

“We need to provide information to the general public about the steps we take and the methods we use to ensure safety and protection of ground water,” Joshi said. “Although this may not be directly addressed in [the 2014] symposium, it will be covered in future symposiums, where there would be major emphasis on unconventional EOR.”

Joshi also advocates for touting the environmental benefits of pad drilling and its reduced footprint, especially in remote wilderness areas.

EOR can also prove to be a positive for the oil and gas industry regarding another environmental concern: the quest to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions. Some research and even a few commercial-scale projects have pursued carbon sequestration via CO2 EOR, which is the fastest-growing EOR process, Joshi noted: “CO2 EOR projects have been commercially successful in our industry. This shows that CO2 EOR is here to stay. We indeed need to emphasize this win-win formula for additional oil recovery and for a reduction in CO2 emissions.”

IOR/EOR drilling challengesHorizontal drilling has made huge strides in recent years as a result of the unconventional resource development boom, with its market share rocketing to over 65% of all wells drilled in the U.S. from only about 5–6% just a few years ago.

It’s likely that the next big change advances in horizontal drilling will entail growth in its application to EOR projects, according to Joshi.

“I expect more EOR projects with horizontal wells,” he said. “There is yet a lot of work to be done in controlling flood fronts in heterogeneous reservoirs. This issue is especially critical for horizontal wells where we are trying to inject uni-formly along the length of a 5,000-ft or 10,000-ft long horizontal well.”

There continue to be significant technical challenges for operators and drillers in building horizontal and directional well profiles, according to Joshi, who cites several technical challenges with conflicting objectives: “We should be able to drill long wells. This generally requires slower build rates, i.e., a large turning radius to go from the vertical to the horizontal direction.

“On the other hand, a small turning radius facilitates pump installation in the vertical section but that is still close to the heel of the horizontal well. This maximizes oil recovery by minimizing bottomhole well flowing pressure. We as an indus-try are still balancing these conflicting requirements.”

Also among horizontal drilling technology challenges is learning how to frac dual-lateral or multilateral wells before these practices become widely accepted in low-permeability unconventional reservoirs. While industry has greatly advanced its know-how when it comes to fraccing horizontal laterals of as much as 5,000–10,000 ft., there is only a limited track record when it comes to fraccing multiple laterals. Fractured multilaterals could bolster the economics of unconventional resource development by optimizing simultaneous production from multiple formations.

Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Page 5

Natural gasAs befits its name, the IOR Symposium has a primary focus on improving recovery of oil rather than natural gas. That inherent distinction is as much an acknowledgment of the greater market demand for oil vs. gas as it is recognition of the differences in degree of difficulty in recovering these two critical hydrocarbon resources.

However, industry has been promoting natural gas as a “bridge to the future” to a primarily renewable energy-based econ-omy. That begs the question of whether the IOR Symposium should do more to focus on improved recovery of natural gas.

Joshi explained that the disproportionate focus also stems from distinctions between the two commodities’ markets: “Oil is marketed internationally. Additionally, oil demand is increasing globally year after year. This is a continual trend. Being an international conference, we tend to have more discussion and papers about oil.

“On the other hand, the gas market is a domestic market. Gas prices vary from market to market. For example, currently in the U.S., gas rates are about $4 per Mcf, while in Asia, gas prices are $8 to $12 per Mcf. Thus, many times gas produc-tion is subjected to local prices.

“However, around the globe, the gas trade is slowly increasing, and gas is slowly inching towards a global market. As this continues, you will see more gas-related papers in the future symposiums.”

ResearchIn the past, the U.S. Department of Energy had been a strong supporter of the IOR symposia, providing substantial funds as a co-sponsor of the conference. Many of the papers presented at IOR symposia represented ongoing IOR and EOR proj-ects that DOE has funded in the past. DOE’s role in the IOR symposium has faded recently, as it has as well in directly funding oil and gas research. In the agency’s FY 2013 budget, renewable energy and energy efficiency get the lion’s share of funding, and of the small piece of R&D funding for fossil energy, coal gets the biggest chunk, with most of that fund-ing directed toward clean coal/carbon sequestration research. Oil and gas R&D gets only a tiny sliver of that fossil energy portion. If anything, much of the thematic underpinning of the administration’s current budget is an emphasis on accelerat-ing the transition away from fossil fuels, especially in transportation and power applications. But the current U.S. oil and gas revolution would not have occurred without technology advances spurred by R&D, according to Joshi.

“As U.S. oil production is increasing, we are importing less and less oil. This is helping to reduce our national current account deficit,” he said. “Hence, I believe that it is in our national interest to fund oil and gas R&D.

“It is essential to note that some of the DOE-funded research and field application projects were important in advancing not only horizontal well technology, but also production of unconventional reservoirs. Thus, the government R&D funding will help the advancement of technology to produce additional oil and gas.”

That said, Joshi also points out that when state and federal governments take steps to eliminate roadblocks, such as reduc-ing financial disincentives that hinder oil and gas development, the results benefit those same economies.

“If oil and gas prices decrease and production reduces, then tax revenues will decline, and the current account deficit of the national government will increase.”

OutlookIndustry faces a daunting challenge simply to increase oil and gas production each year to meeting ever-growing global oil consumption, especially in China, India, and other emerging economies Joshi contends.

“Around the globe, as more and more people prosper, they will consume greater amounts of oil and gas,” he said. “Thus, year after year, we will have to produce more and more oil to meet this rising demand. EOR and IOR offer important methods to increase production. This increased production is required to sustain and develop global prosperity and global peace.”

Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Page 6

IOR 2014 General Chair.........Sada JoshiEditor.......................................Robert WilliamsPresentation Editor..................Kristi LovendahlIOR 2014 Logo........................Greta Creekmore

NINETEENTH SPE IOR COMMITTEE ROSTER

STEERING COMMITTEE

Sada Joshi, General Chair Joshi Technologies, International Inc.Dwight Dauben Dauben International Energy ConsultantsBetty Felber ConsultantMohan Kelkar The University of TulsaW.F. Lawson The University of TulsaDwight Rychel ConsultantPhil Schenewerk ApacheMichael Whitten Cased Hole Solutions

PLANNING COMMITTEE

Technical Program Chairman David Smith, ConocoPhillipsRegistration Chairman Dwight Rychel, Consultant

Registration Coordinator Kristi Lovendahl, ConsultantComputers/Networking Jack Coursey, Sarco SolutionsFinance Chad Roller, Midcon Energy

Reports Monica Song, ConsultantPublicity/Advertisements Robert Williams, Consultant

Webmaster, Publications, Graphics Kristi Lovendahl, ConsultantSymposium Logo, Graphic Design Greta Creekmore, Cimarex Energy

Exhibits & Tech Update Series Doug Storts, Williford CompaniesExhibits Assistant Marsha Whitney, Consultant

Pioneer Awards Dwight Dauben, Dauben Int’l Energy Conslts.Continuing Education David Zornes, Consultant

Continuing Education Assistant Chirag Patel, Joshi Technologies Int’l Inc.Continuing Education Assistant Teri Nichols, ConocoPhillips

Arrangements Doug Norton, Warren American Oil Co.Food/Evening Receptions Lori Watts, The University of TulsaSponsorships W.F. Lawson, The University of TulsaGeology Field Trip Norm Hyne, The University of TulsaTU Student Support Lori Watts, The University of Tulsa

TU Student Support Scheduling Sam Browning (SPE Student Pres.)TU Student Support Scheduling Sam Mahr (SPE Student VP)

IOR Administrative Assistant Lori Watts, The University of TulsaSPE Meetings Manager Brannon Jahnke, SPESPE Conference Program Manager Barbara Majefski, SPE

SPE MID-CONTINENT SECTION OFFICERS(See www.spemc.orgformoreinformationabouttheSPEMid-ContinentSection)

Chairman Rita Behm, Cimarex EnergyVice-Chairman (Programs) Bryson Wolfe, BakerHughesSecretary Adam Brazeal, FTS InternationalTreasurer Ashley Jorishie, ApacheDirector Betty Felber, ConsultantDirector Dwight Rychel, ConsultantDirector Tom McCoy, Cimarex Energy Director Phil Schenewerk, Apache CorporationDirector Steve Tipton, Newfield ExplorationPast Chairman Michael Whitten, Cased Hole Solutions