AAPG Bulletin, V. 83 (1999), No. 1 (January 1999), P. 1-18.

Glenn Pool Field, Oklahoma: A Case of Improved Production from a Mature Reservoir

Dennis R. Kerr,¹ Liangmiao “Scott” Ye,² Asnul Bahar,³ B. Mohan Kelkar,³ and Scott L. Montgomery⁴

©Copyright 1999.  The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.  All Rights Reserved
 

¹Department of Geosciences, University of Tulsa, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104.
²Department of Geosciences, University of Tulsa, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104. Present address: ARCO EPT, 2300 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas 75075.
³Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Tulsa, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104.
⁴Petroleum Consultant, 1511 18th Avenue East, Seattle, Washington 98112; e-mail: [email protected]

The Glenn Pool Project was funded through an academic, industry, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partnership under DOE contract DE-FC22-93BC14951. Industry partners were Amoco Production Company and Uplands Resources, Inc. D. Kerr, L. Ye, A. Bahar, and M. Kelkar particularly wish to thank D. Richmond of Uplands Resources, Inc., and T. Matson of Gemini Oil Company for providing access to data and offering insights into the development of Glenn Pool field. We also thank L. Billingsley, D. Richmond, and R. Tillman for their critical reviews and helpful suggestions. 

ABSTRACT

Glenn Pool oil field, discovered in 1905, is considered a mature field, and yet contains substantial amounts of potentially remaining recoverable reserves. Glenn Pool is a giant oil field that has produced over 330 MMbbl (million barrels) oil from the Pennsylvanian Bartlesville (Glenn) sandstone using primary and secondary methods, with limited tertiary recovery efforts. Despite a long history of production, some production tracts have recovered a total of only 21% of original oil in place, with many wells currently exhibiting water cuts of 99% or higher.

Results reported here are part of a reservoir characterization and management effort aimed at improving recovery in Glenn Pool field. This effort involves an industry-academic-government partnership included within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Class I (fluvial-deltaic reservoir) initiative. Focus of the Glenn Pool Project has been on the Self unit, a 160 ac (64 ha) tract in the southeastern portion of the field. A combination of detailed geologic study, geostatistical modeling, and reservoir simulation has been employed to design and implement improved recovery strategies. A crucial result of this work has been a reinterpretation of Bartlesville depositional systems and facies architecture in northeastern Oklahoma. With only one-quarter of the total implementation plan in effect, oil production more than doubled, exceeding expectations. Water production, however, remains high. Additional management plans are under consideration.