Primary High Pressure Water Flooding in the Pettit Lime Haynesville Field

Abstract

Abstract The case history of a combination gas and water flood instituted early inthe life of a field is described. It was recognized from the beginning thatrecovery would be low, under normal production methods, from the severalseparate, thin beds of porous limestone which had such poor native permeabilitythat the wells would not produce without acidizing. It is thought that thecombination flood gives excellent recovery efficiencies for this type ofreservoir. The chief function of the gas flood now is to maintain bottom holepressure in that part of the reservoir which will not be affected by the waterinjection program until later. Present estimates are that ultimate recoverywill be approximately double the recovery expected under the original solutiongas drive mechanism. Wide (80-acre) spacing has enhanced the economics of theover-all field program by the elimination of more than $5,000,000 worth ofunnecessary wells. Introduction The Haynesville Pettit Field was discovered in November, 1941, with thecompletion of T. L. James Co.'s Callie Akin No.1, located in the W ? of the NE? Section 27–23N-8W, Claiborne Parish, La., at an approximate depth of 5,30'Ft. The center of the field is about two miles north and a mile west of thetown of Haynesville, La. A total of 189 producing wells have been drilled on14,500 acres. An additional nine dry holes were drilled. The Louisiana-Arkansasstate line divides the field so that 34 wells are in Arkansas and 155 are inLouisiana. Governmental sections are divided equally to contain eight production unitsmaking 80-acre spacing where the sections are regular. Along the state line inLouisiana there is an irregular tier of sections, each of which containsapproximately 456 acres. When divided equally into eight production units thespacing is 57 acres per well for these three and a fraction productivesections. All Haynesville Pettit wells are identified by their section numberfollowed by their position in the section as determined by numbering theproduction units counterclockwise beginning in the upper right corner of thesection. All of the producing wells in the field except two are unitized and operatedby the Haynesville Operators Committee. These two wells are located in theextreme northern part of the field in Arkansas. Efforts to bring them into theUnit are being continued. The Pettit operators organized the Haynesville Operators Committee and thefield became a unit operation May 1, 1944. T.P. 3077