Warpinski

The February issue of SPEPO is my first as the Executive Editor.  The first thing that I need to do is thank Syed Ali for the great job that he did as the previous Executive Editor.  I found that Syed left a very competent, organized team and it has made my transition much easier than I ever expected.

As Syed noted in the last issue, the Review Chairs (who do all the hard work) include Harold Brannon, Ian Collins, Ali Ghalambor, Dean Wehunt, Jennifer Miskimins, and Joe Smith.  They really deserve the thanks of all of us who are involved with the Journals.  The Technical Editors, who are too numerous to name, are also a very important part of the process and I would like to encourage more of you to join in the review process in this capacity.  There is a workshop that is given every year at the annual meeting that will get you up to speed on what it takes to become a Technical Editor.

As I start my tenure, I would like to make a comment about the review system and the Journals.  As most people know, there is an ever-increasing number of papers being written for SPE conferences and the system is straining to keep up with the load.  This makes it a struggle for the Review Chairs and the Technical Editors, particularly if they are overloaded with papers that are not likely to be published.  Here is how you can all help.

If the papers that you present at a conference are primarily commercial product papers, papers without any background information (e.g., no references or review of previous literature), papers without any comparative testing, or other similar papers that really are not suitable for publication in a refereed journal, please do not request that they be reviewed for the Journals.  Someone will need to spend valuable time reading the paper, only to decide that it is not suitable.  Because your paper has been or will be presented at a conference, it remains forever in the SPE literature and it is available for citation and can be obtained from the eLibrary.  I believe that most people know whether their paper is truly a potential journal candidate, so please help us out by assessing your papers before checking the box that requests a review.  If you do that, we can spend more time on the journal-appropriate papers that deserve a careful review-and-comment process.

The February issue is an extra-large one; it will help reduce the backlog of papers that have been accepted and are awaiting publication.  As usual, it cuts across numerous technology lines with papers on coiled tubing, artificial lift, fracturing, acidizing, and optimization, as well as other surface and downhole operations.

On Reservoir Fluid-Flow Control With Smart Completions deals with using smart systems to control downhole valves in order to minimize water encroachment and maximize hydrocarbon production.  Development and Applications of the Sustaining Integrated Asset-Modeling Tool also deals with optimizing production, but from the perspective of developing tools to facilitate updating and maintenance of integrated asset models.

The performance of gas separators and recommendations for their use are the matters discussed in A Laboratory Study With Field Data of Downhole Gas Separators; five different gas separator designs were lab tested in this study.

The Shortcomings and Challenges of Metering-System Automationin the Petroleum Industry assesses the limitations of automated metering systems and suggests solutions for improving these systems.

The evaluation of gas lift technology under conditions that many would consider marginal is discussed in Application of Gas Lift Technology to a High-Water-Cut Heavy-Oil Reservoir in Intercampo Oilfield, Venezuela.  The application of jet pumps for deep heavy-oil reservoirs and, specifically, techniques to reduce light-oil usage are considered in Circulating Usage of Partial Produced Fluid as Power Fluid for Jet Pump in Deep Heavy-Oil Production.

Produced Water Management Strategy and Water Injection Best Practices: Design, Performance, and Monitoring is a wide-ranging discussion of produced-water re-injection issues and strategies covering matrix and fracturing injection conditions.

Rigless Interventions in Failed Gravel-Pack Gas Wells Using New Resin Systems discusses the application of two separate chemical systems to remediate screen problems and avoid the cost and time of bringing in a workover rig.

The importance of the residual bend radius of coiled tubing strings on lockup depth, an especially important issue for operations in extended-reach wells, is examined theoretically in The Penetration of Coiled Tubing With Residual Bend in Extended-Reach Wells.

On the hydraulic fracturing front, Specific Fluid Requirements for Successful Coiled-Tubing Fracturing Applications evaluates friction pressures, crosslinker delay, shear effects, and stability of fracturing fluids in coiled-tubing applications.  Fracture Treatment Design and Execution in Low-Porosity Chalk Reservoirs compares the results of 100 fracture treatments in a chalk reservoir to assess the effects of the reservoir and the treatments on the stimulation results.  In Pressure Variations Inside the Hydraulic Fracture and Their Impact On Fracture Propagation, Conductivity, and Screenout, a case is made for large pressure drops and an accompanying width decrease within hydraulic fractures due to complexity and “off-balance” fracture growth.

The use of viscoelastic surfactants for matrix acidization, acid fracturing, and diversion in Saudi Arabian oil and gas fields is discussed in Lessons Learned From Using Viscoelastic Surfactants in Well Stimulation.  Laboratory studies of the “self-diversion,” leakoff, cleanup, and wormhole-development characteristics of a viscoelastic acid system were performed in Diversion and Cleanup Studies of Viscoelastic Surfactant-Based Self-Diverting Acid.

A methodology for developing wireless telemetry to transmit bottomhole pressure and temperature data in drillstem tests or other shut-in well applications is discussed in Coreless Electromagnetic Coupling-Based Drillstem Telemetry Using Dual Electronic Gauges.

A laboratory flow loop was used to evaluate core-annular-flow characteristics of heavy oil with water as the lubricating fluid in Pipeline Lubrication of Heavy Oil: Experimental Investigation of Flow and Restart Problems.

This is quite a group of papers!  I expect that there is something here for almost everyone.  Thank you for your interest and participation, and I welcome any comments or suggestions.