Operating EOR Projects: The Experience of an Independent Energy Company

A major producer of natural gas and natural gas liquids, Mitchell Energy Corporation also produces 5,200 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate, 15 percent due to secondary (waterflood) operations and 16 percent due to tertiary (enhanced) operations. This presentation examines Mitchell's Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) philosophy and commitment and the role EOR plays in Corporate operations. Manpower size and capabilities are discussed, along with Corporate efforts to keep personnel technically up-to-date in the rapidly changing EOR environment. The independent's advantages and limitations with regard to EOR operations are highlighted by describing the development chronology of Mitchell's Alvord South (Caddo) Unit, a full-field carbon miscible flood located near Fort Worth, Texas. The impact of Corporate innovations, such as development of a patented carbon dioxide tracer system and the application of hand-held computers to data gathering and reporting, as well as the impact of industry-wide events, such as the end of the DOE's Tertiary Front-end Recoupment Program and the 1986 collapse of oil prices, are continuing to play a major role in the technical and economic outcome of the Alvord South (Caddo) project. Mitchell's view of the EOR potential for independents under current conditions is also reviewed.