warpinski

I would like to spend a little of my space discussing references. Looking at recent papers submitted to Production & Operations, I have noticed that there are a relatively large number of papers with few or no references.

In my opinion, references serve two primary functions. The first function is to provide background material for readers who wish to delve deeper into some aspect of the technology. Since just about everything that we do has been built on work done before us, providing the pertinent references allows the reader to follow in the author’s footsteps. Without references, it is often difficult to understand the technical landscape under which the premise of the paper was formulated, particularly for readers who are new to the technology.

Secondly, the inclusion of references gives important information to the more knowledgeable readers. These readers often know what the critical references are, and if some of those are missing from a paper, you can be sure that they will be reading the paper with some degree of skepticism. A demonstration (e.g., the references) that you are aware of the prior work is often a good way to reassure the reader that you understand the problem

This is to say nothing of the fact that knowledge of prior studies should be essential for any good research endeavor. One would hope that the authors know the references, but just failed to provide them.

Lastly, an issue that annoys most readers is the practice of the arrogant authors who only list their own papers as the references. I understand that their current paper may be on the basis of work done in earlier studies, but I also presume that there must be someone else who is working in their area and has published relevant material. If not, then either the technology does not have much value, or maybe the author is so far ahead of everybody that we are actually reading the work of the next Einstein. However, I doubt it is often the latter.

Please help out your readers and provide relevant references in your papers. Not having the important references is a good reason for reviewers to reject your paper.

This issue has papers primarily dealing with production analyses, remedial treatments, and chemistry. We start with real-time optimization and management papers. Real-Time Production Optimization of Oil and Gas Production Systems: A Technology Survey is a wide ranging review of real-time production optimization systems that describes the information flow, optimization, model updating, and associated challenges in developing such systems. Real-Time Field Surveillance and Well Services Management in a Large Mature Onshore Field: Case Study describes the management of real time data, engineering modeling and remedial work assessment that resulted in improved performance in Cymric and other oil fields in the San Joaquin oil fields of California.

Analysis and application of production data are the subjects of the next two papers. An Integrated Technique for Production Data Analysis (PDA) With Application to Mature Fields discusses Intelligent Production Data Analysis, which is an integration of decline curve analysis, production data analysis, and history matching using an iterative technique, the results of which are then applied to the whole field using a fuzzy pattern recognition procedure. Using Neural Networks for Candidate Selection and Well Performance Prediction in Water-Shutoff Treatments Using Polymer Gels—A Field Case Study describes how to build, train, verify, and apply neural network models to evaluate candidate wells for gel-polymer water shut-off treatments in the Arbuckle formation.

In Prediction of Temperature Changes Caused by Water or Gas Entry into a Horizontal Well, a model is developed that integrates reservoir and wellbore flow to asses temperature changes induced by gas influx from the reservoir and water cut from both the reservoir and from a lower water zone that is coning.

The following three papers are about scale and treatment approaches. Placement Using Viscosified Non-Newtonian Scale Inhibitor Slugs: The Effect of Shear Thinning examines how heterogeneous layered reservoirs respond to injection of scale-inhibition and shear-thinning fluids in both linear and radial flow systems. The Kinetics of Sulphate Deposition in Seeded and Unseeded Tests develops a rate law for barite deposition in brines, determines the rate constant from experimental tests, evaluates the effects seeding, and suggests that “safe envelopes” can be defined for each system. Scale Inhibitor Squeeze Treatments Deployed From an FPSO in Deepwater, Subsea Fields in the Campos Basin describes procedures, treatments, surveillance techniques, and overall management of scaling in deepwater, subsea fields offshore Brazil.

Last but not least, Hydrate Remediation in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Dry-Tree Wells: Lessons Learned discusses the source of hydrate plugging on reopening of shut-in offshore wells, the use of hot oiling to melt the plug, and suggested start-up procedures to minimize the problem. These are nine very interesting papers to ponder. Thank you.