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Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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Preface

Premature abandonment of marginal oil wells and fields is a growing energy problem in the United States. Once a field is abandoned, the remaining resources are essentially removed from future access by the high cost of reestablishing production. The growing rate of abandonment of wells and fields that contain substantial amounts of potentially recoverable oil will increase the nation’s dependence on imported petroleum products, which currently account for about half of total U.S. oil consumption and nearly one-third of the merchandise trade deficit. Maintaining a viable domestic supply of oil and natural gas is important to the United States for both economic and strategic reasons.

Prolonging the life of marginal oil wells and fields is a major component of the Department of Energy’s Oil Program. Based on its conclusion that the application of new and existing recovery technologies to marginal fields would have a major positive effect on future domestic oil production, DOE developed its Reservoir Class Field Demonstration Program to encourage industry, in a 50-50 cost-sharing effort, to demonstrate technologies that would prolong oil production in marginal fields at current and projected oil prices.

There are two main challenges to be met in achieving the desired outcome. The first, and perhaps the easiest, is demonstrating the variety of extraction technologies that can be applied to the various geologic classes of reservoirs that contain the greatest amount of remaining oil. Guided by

Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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careful geologic characterization of the reservoirs, successful field testing of technologies can be applied to other reservoirs in the same class and some technologies can be utilized in several classes. The second challenge is to communicate the successes and the procedures that produced them to other operators across the basin and the country. This is a daunting task in the current setting dominated by numerous small producers that are not linked by large corporation ties or well established networks. The cost effectiveness of the DOE Reservoir Class Program will ultimately be measured by the prolonged production that results from the application of appropriate extraction technologies, and this, in turn, depends on effective transfer of technology to large numbers of producers.

At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, in a letter dated September 14, 1994, from Mr. Reginal W. Spiller, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Gas and Petroleum Technologies, the National Research Council (NRC) established a panel to assess the effectiveness of the Reservoir Class Program and to recommend improvements. The panel operated under the auspices of the Committee on Earth Resources of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. It carried out its work through five meetings, all but the last of which included presentations by program participants. A list of participants who discussed their projects with the panel is presented in Appendix A. The panel delivered an interim letter report (Appendix B) that addresses the effectiveness of the program on February 28, 1995. The final report, Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy’s Reservoir Class Program, fully addresses the charge to the panel. In August, 1995, the DOE canceled Class 4 of the program in response to preliminary actions taken by Congress. The cancellation does not diminish the relevance or importance of this study, and the DOE asked the panel to complete its report.

In responding to the DOE’s request to review the Reservoir Class Program, the panel paid particular attention to the technology transfer component of the program. The panel was also very interested in the processes used to solicit, select, monitor, and review projects and in the expertise of the people carrying out these functions. Because the impact of the program cannot be directly measured for several years, the panel emphasized measures that would help ensure long-term program success.

It is beyond the scope of this report to provide peer reviews of individual projects sponsored by the Reservoir Class Program. The panel has focused on evaluating the overall program, and it has refrained from offering advice on the quality of specific projects. However, the need for peer reviews conducted by qualified experts from outside the contracting companies is the subject of several recommendations in the report. The panel envisions a system of external peer review for proposal selection, monitoring, and post-mortem evaluation of each project.

Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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The panel’s term coincided with a period of technical staff change in the NRC’s Board on Earth Sciences and Resources. Three study directors supported and contributed substantially to the work of the panel. Jonathan Price, Kevin Crowley, and Craig Schiffries were essential elements in the work of the panel. Lally Anne Anderson was with us from start to finish and provided essential logistical, technical, and word-processing support. The members and staff of the panel and the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources extend special thanks to Edith Allison of DOE who responded quickly and effectively to every request for information and assistance.

The role of government in cooperating with industry to advance common interests was a continuing subject of discussion and debate in the Congress and other political circles during the term of this review. In reaching its conclusions that the Reservoir Class Program is demonstrating appropriate technologies for prolonging production, and that the program can, with the implementation of the recommendations offered by the panel, make an important contribution to reducing the rate of abandonment of marginal wells and fields, the panel also provides unspoken support for cooperation between government and industry. At a time when the financial resources of both parties are limited, it is a clear sign of commitment when both partners back interest and rhetoric with dollars.

Charles G. Groat

Chairman

Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
×
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Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
×
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Suggested Citation:"PREFACE." National Research Council. 1996. Maintaining Oil Production from Marginal Fields: A Review of the Department of Energy's Reservoir Class Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9143.
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