Something new is going on in the Wyoming oil and gas sector, and it's not just coalbed methane (CBM). Over a 3-year period, CBM activity in the "Cowboy State" has increased from 229 to 1,374 producing wells. Correspondingly, production has increased eightfold to a remarkable 225 MMcfd.
Yet behind the scenes of this drilling boom, with about 115 operators spudding 20-25 wells/day, an old breed of driller has begun to integrate internet-based field and well information with geographical information systems (GIS) and satellite navigation technologies (GPS).
A sense of the scope of this new activity comes from avid industry watcher Bruce Lambertson, whose Mountain Sports store in Casper sells so much of the high-tech GPS equipment, along with the customary topographic maps that hikers and hunters like to use these days.
"Workers are using these technologies to watch what each other is up to," said Lambertson. "In essence, this has brought the art of scouting to a new level."
Internet action
Rick Marvel, engineering manager for the Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC), says the state website (http://wogcc.state.wy.us) has been recording 1,000 hits/day between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. On this site, WOGCC provides well coordinates, production data, permit approvals, tax information, and so on, made available to anyone who wishes to use it. And because operators can track each other through the website, looking for tops, casing points, or perforation intervals, the learning curve has been accelerated.
Marvel says the commission provides the means to download or hyperlink information to a variety of software programs. For example, "Production data and coordinates can be easily imported into Geographix, ArcView, and Excel." In addition, a WOGCC link to a topographic mapping package (www.alltopo.com), directly places oil or gas well spots on 71/2 min topographic maps, including right-click hyperlinks back to the website for additional information.
Finally, a GIS front end located at the University of Wyoming's internet map server (http://wims.sdvc.uwyo.edu/ wyoims2/wims2a.html) allows users to build custom-designed base maps without installing a GIS.
Mapping by satellite
GIS, GPS, and internet technologies are also providing new tools for surface planning and facility management. "By downloading GPS waypoints into (a GIS), I can go out in the field and spot new roads and pipeline routes at 50 mph," said Larry Brown, owner of H&B Petroleum Consultants. "While it doesn't replace the surveyor, it's great for planning."
In the future, these tools will become more important as operators strive to overcome water problems associated with CBM. "The reason why the economics looked so attractive (in the beginning) was because there was no water-handling expense," said Darrick Stallings of Yates Petroleum Corp. "We could simply pump the fresh water to the nearest drainage."
However, with the hugely unexpected water volumes now being produced, and little need for drinking-quality water in a state of 450,000 people, "the costs paid to owners for storage and erosion damage can drive total well cost upwards of $100,000."
In the past, this would have been a very formidable problem to overcome. Yet today, given the advances in electronic topographic maps, GIS programs, the internet, and satellite navigation systems, no one is better prepared than a Wyoming cowboy.
