Print this pageRedevelopment of Old Fields - Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian of Southeast New Mexico
BROADHEAD, RONALD F.
Carbonate reservoirs in the Cisco and Canyon (Upper Pennsylvanian) and lower
Wolfcampian (Permian) sections in the Permian Basin of southeast New Mexico are
significant reservoirs for oil and gas. The approximately 400 fields that have
produced from these reservoirs have yielded a cumulative of 490 million bbls oil
(MMBO) and 3.2 trillion ft3 gas, 12 
percent
of the oil and 16 percent of the gas
produced in southeast New Mexico. Sixteen of these fields have been identified
that were underdeveloped at some stage in their history. These range in size
from Dagger Draw (28 MMBO cumulative production) to Milnesand West (0.210 MMBO
cumulative production).
Although initially underdeveloped, subsequent redevelopment added
significantly to reserves and production. Statistical analysis of production
decline curves was used to estimate reserves developed during initial drilling
of these fields and during subsequent phases of redevelopment. For the 16 fields
studied, redevelopment accounted for a total of 59 percent of developed
reserves. Redevelopment accounted for 90 percent of total reserves at Dagger
Draw and at Milnesand West.
Redevelopment in these fields was generally in undrilled portions of the
fields, and not in bypassed pay zones. Redevelopment resulted in a fivefold to
tenfold increase in numbers of producing wells and productive acreage. Because
84 percent
of Upper Pennsylvanian and lower Wolfcampian fields have less than 10
producing wells, it would appear that significant reserves may remain
undeveloped in existing fields.