--> Abstract: Actual Growth of U.S. Oilfields from 1982 - 1992 with Special Reference to the Pacific Region, by C. J. Lewis; #90958 (1995).

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Abstract: Actual Growth of U.S. Oilfields from 1982 - 1992 with Special Reference to the Pacific Region

Christopher J. Lewis

Growth in Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) of U.S. oilfields discovered prior to 1982 is measured over the period 1982 - 1992. The results are examined for the country as a whole and on a regional basis. Specific comments are made on both significant fields and reservoirs in the Pacific Region. Where the data are available, both 1982 and 1992 EUR's are matched to original oil-in-place estimates.

In this context, growth includes adjustments, revisions, extensions and new reservoir and pool discoveries in old fields. It reflects not only increments accomplished through peripheral and in-fill drilling, but also those achieved through the use of new technologies - horizontal drilling, new completion techniques, and Secondary and Tertiary recovery methods.

The data are derived from a nationally recognized, computer driven data base of significant (<500,000 barrels of oil equivalent) U.S. oil and gas fields, which has carefully tracked and analyzed growth patterns in a total of over 8,800 oilfields.

Over the 1982 - 1992 period, EUR's for fields discovered prior to 1982 have increased by at least twenty billion barrels of oil or some fourteen percent. Increases are most marked in the Gulf of Mexico Offshore Region, the last region to be developed, and the Pacific, thanks largely to Prudhoe Bay and the Tertiary revitalization of some of the giant vintage California fields.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90958©1995 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, San Francisco, California