Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on July 3, 2014 at 6:14

Hal, illegal movement penalties are common and from what I understand the are a failure to report situation as opposed to anything nefarious or dangerous.  Hilcorp certainly does have more than I normally run across but I'll leave further comment to those with more experience.  As to acid fracs they are only performed when a formation has certain properties.  I don't know if the Tuscaloosa B Sand exhibits those properties.  Besides the use of acid, acid fracs are quite different from the slick water/gel hydraulic stimulation being used in the TMS play.  They are very low pressure as the goal is to clean up the formation immediately around the well bore as opposed to stimulating artificial fractures that radiate some distance from the well bore.  They do not represent a threat to any aquifer.  The misinformation being disseminated in Livingston and St. Tammany has no basis in fact.  Neither the DSCC or the Helis well (if drilled) are anything that the general public should fear.

The treatment of a reservoir formation with a stimulation fluid containing a reactive acid. In sandstone formations, the acid reacts with the soluble substances in the formation matrix to enlarge the pore spaces. In carbonate formations, the acid dissolves the entire formation matrix. In each case, the matrix acidizing treatment improves the formation permeability to enable enhanced production of reservoir fluids. Matrix acidizing operations are ideally performed at high rate, but at treatment pressures below the fracture pressure of the formation. This enables the acid to penetrate the formation and extend the depth of treatment while avoiding damage to the reservoir formation.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on July 4, 2014 at 1:18

The Tuscaloosa B Sand is not shale, Hal.  Shale is rarely, if ever, acidize as far as I know.  We often discuss chalk formations which are commonly acidized.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on July 4, 2014 at 9:58

You're welcome, Hal.  As a landman who serves land/mineral owners I am all for holding the energy industry to high standards and best practices.  I do not hesitate however to criticize the industry where I think it is warranted.  There is nothing about the DSCC #1 well or location that causes me any concern.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on July 6, 2014 at 16:20

I'm unsure of your point, Hal.

Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on July 12, 2014 at 23:52

Hal,

I don't understand your reference to (Draino). According to the Work Report they went in and squeezed the formation with cement to block water from coming into the well bore and re-perforated. The report does not say anything about the use of (Draino) or any other chemical. Actually, Draino would have no effect on a TUSC well. 

Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on July 13, 2014 at 0:21

Hal,

Its sad that an individual with no knowledge or experience can make assumptions and post them that are just simply not correct. In the case of a well being "acidized", the acid is pumped into the formation to dissolve and produce pore space in the formation. This allows the gas/oil to migrate to the wellbore. It microscopically increases porosity and permeability.

Acidization is only done in wells that have a carbonate matrix. The return flow would have CaCl component and would not be "a strong caustic frothing BLOW-BACK reaction producing the oil and gas". You are simply wrong in your knowledge and assumptions.

Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on July 13, 2014 at 8:14

Dear Hal,

I have been in the video business for 40 years. I have worked in TV news rooms and I have done independent productions. I can make a video say and show anything I want if I don't have ethics. One of the guys at one of the stations that I worked at years ago did what was considered to be "creative journalism" on a piece. The station management almost fired him on the spot. That was in the day when there were ethics in Journalism. The sad truth of the matter is there are no ethics on the internet and as I said a video can be made to say and show anything that the producers want it to say. Sad but true. This leads to uninformed and uneducated people falling for a line the is false and incorrect and is pure propaganda.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on July 14, 2014 at 6:17

Hal, no pardon necessary.  However since you have a number of questions I suggest that you bookmark the site link below and use it for definitions/explanations.  If you wish to have comments on specifics such as your Fossil Drilling above, you'll need to provide a lot more detail beyond a single sentence.  You can always link to the source of those details.

http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/

Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on July 14, 2014 at 8:26

Hal,

To "squeeze" a formation means to pump cement into the formation and let it set. The cement will setup in the formation where there is water and block the water from entering the wellbore. The cement is then drilled out of the wellbore and the well is re-perforated. That is in essence what the report to the State says.