AAPG Memoir 74, Chapter 6: New Oil in Old Places, The Value of Mature-Field Redevelopment, by R. M. Sneider and J. S. Sneider, Pages 63-84
from: AAPG Memoir 74: Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-first Century, Edited by Marlan W. Downey, Jack C. Threet, and William A. Morgan
Copyright 2001 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Chapter 6
New Oil in Old Places: The Value
of Mature-field Redevelopment

Robert M. Sneider and John S. Sneider
Sneider Exploration Company Inc., Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

Large reserves remain and are economically recoverable in many mature oil fields. This study documents the successful search for such overlooked reserves in old fields. Small multidisciplinary teams studied several basins in North America and a few large fields in South America, searching for large volumes of low-risk reserves in poorly performing fields. The fields studied included those producing by primary recovery, with or without secondary recovery potential, as well as fields undergoing waterflooding. In the United States, more than 350 mature oil fields were evaluated for potential purchase from 1981 to 1997. The majority of the fields were in the Permian Basin of west Texas-New Mexico and in a coastal portion of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. In addition, some large fields were studied so property owners could be advised on rejuvenating or increasing production.