American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2020 - 21

Shut-Ins, Restarts
A Timely Subject For
Online Conference
A few weeks ago, in a joint project with the University of
Kansas TORP enhanced oil recovery research group, more than
100 participants logged onto their devices to learn about best
practices for temporary oil well abandonment and reopening.
The partnership with KU spans more than two decades, when
KU TORP-originally called Tertiary Oil Recovery Project
founded by Don Green and Paul Wilhite in the KU Petroleum
Engineering Department-helped initiate the Petroleum Technology
Transfer Council from the work of Lanny Shoeling, who helped
develop some of the original best practices for technology
transfer to independent oil and gas operators. With the help of
Tom Williams, Lanny and I recently rewrote this paper targeting
the industry beyond 2020
Through the years, KU TORP has witnessed its share of industry and organizational changes; however, its commitment to
the oil and gas industry remains the same. The most recent development has been the appointment of new TORP Director
Reza Barati. His vision includes expanding TORP's principles
to include better outreach and technology transfer and internal
and external services, including core lab services and lab
support, as well as technical and field services. Meanwhile,
TORP's commitment to collaborative research will remain a
guiding principle.
One of the first acts of today's organization has been to
partner with PTTC to host the five-hour web event about best
practices in shutting in and reopening wells. The event, which
focused primarily on the North Mid-Continent, evaluated several
key categories related to temporary well abandonment, including
chemical considerations, reservoir and production factors, production case studies, Kansas regulations, and legal perspectives
pertinent to Kansas and Oklahoma.
The first talk of the two-day online event featured ChampionX's
Josh Waddell and Mahdi Kazempour on "Chemical Considerations
to Ensure Reopen Production." The discussion emphasized
shut-in program design considerations, including a checklist of
potential risks such as general corrosion, underdeposit corrosion,
microbiologically-induced corrosion and gas attack. They highlighted treatment design and held a stimulating discussion about
ways to enhance recovery during shut-in with production enhancement technologies designed to change wettability from
oil-wet to water-wet.
Next was "Reservoir and Production Engineering Considerations during Shut-In and Reopening," from Rafael Gallardo
and Neha Bansal from DeGolyer & MacNaughton, the world's
largest independent petroleum consulting firm. This presentation
informed participants about production considerations for temporarily shut-in wells, including mechanical integrity and
pressure testing, ongoing maintenance, well reactivation and
subsequent production enhancement.
After chemical and reservoir considerations, participants
learned about a pair of case studies focused on production after
shut-in. The first was from Kinder Morgan's Mark Linroth,
who talked about the evolution of shut-in observations, pressure

"One of the first acts of today's organization
has been to partner with PTTC to host the
five-hour web event about best practices in
shutting in and reopening wells.

and rate rebalancing, and offered SACROC as a fieldwide
example. The second case study was from Jim Reisch and
Daniel Hayes from Chesapeake Energy, who discussed their
work in the Powder River Basin. This presentation examined
how Chesapeake sought to identify the short- and long-term
impacts of shutting in wells. Specifically, they posed, how often
do shut-in wells come back on line at similar rates, and what
other variables affect their performance after shut-in?
Day two began with a presentation from Ryan Hoffman, director of the Kansas Corporation Commission's Oil & Gas
Conservation Division, who spoke on regulations and considerations around temporary well abandonment. Hoffman specifically
discussed the provisions of KAR 82-3-111, which sets a 90-day
deadline after which an idle well must be plugged, or operators
must apply for temporary abandonment status. Hoffman was
joined by Scott Alberg, professional geologist supervisor for
KCC District No. 1, and Troy Russell, professional geologist
supervisor for District No. 3, for a regional perspective on the
issue.
Speaking next on was Jon Schlatter from the Law Offices of
Morris Liang, who highlighted the legal considerations around
temporary abandonment in Kansas. His presentation began with
the advice to "read the agreement," noting that the rights of the
lessor and lessee are governed first and foremost by the lease
terms.
Finally, Roberto Seda from SEDA Law discussed the legal
considerations around abandonment in Oklahoma, where regulations and contracts differ considerably from those in Kansas.
It was great to be aligned with KU TORP again, and judging
from the success of this first program, operators working in the
region should be on the lookout for a lot of useful content from
TORP and PTTC in the months and years ahead.
❒

JEREMY VISCOMI is a strategic

marketing expert for the oil and
gas industry. Among his many
roles, he serves as the MidContinent regional lead for the
Petroleum Technology Transfer
Council, providing independent
operators with access to emerging technology aimed at reducing
risk and growing profits.
JULY 2020 21

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2020

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