Summarized Engineering Report on the Powell Field, Navarro County, Texas, with Special Reference to Water Problems and Corrective Work

Abstract

The detailed study of this field was made primarily to obtain a betterworking knowledge of the major features, involving structural conditions, character, and nature of the Woodbine pay sand, and the source of water. The outstanding features in the development of the Powell field are:Rapidity of development;close spacing of wells;high initial yield ofwells;high peak production of field;sharp decline, andearly andrapid encroachment of water. The nature of the field is also of special interest in that the Woodbineproduction is found at an average depth of approximately 3000 ft. in acomparatively narrow strip, approximately 7% miles long with an average widthof half a mile, or probably 10 locations wide. The surface elevations vary from300 to 440 ft. above sea level. The oil is trapped between the fault on the west side, edge water on theeast, north and south, and a bottom water of high head and large volume on thehigh part of the structure. To recover this oil is a problem of great interestand importance in the development and operation of this type of field. The subsea depth to which wells can be drilled with safety during thedevelopment period, is usually well defined by early completions and variesonly slightly over the entire productive area of each field. Controlling andhandling the water during the later producing period is the major problem ofthe operator. Powell field shows primarily the effect of flooding by water incomparatively loose sands in a high flush production field. This field offered an excellent example not only for studying the effects ofrapid drilling and development and the far more difficult problem ofencroachment and migration of water through a productive sand, but also forobserving and calculating with certain assumptions the percentage of recovery.It is not possible to determine the part of the high yield per acre thatproperly might be credited to rapid drilling versus the part recovered byflooding or washing the sand.