Proprietary Filtering Technologies
EnerMax recently developed two new technologies which increase the likelihood of pinpointing - with greater than 80 percent accuracy - sizeable oil reserves still available in portions of the Permian basin that were previously thought to contain no commercial-scale hydrocarbons. The proprietary technologies, called GeoMax and StrataMax, represent an advance in filtering techniques for seismic data that better identify areas where major oil deposits have evaded detection previously.
Using GeoMax, a filtering process that helps better define prolific sections of the Wolfcamp formation, EnerMax is now able to create a drill grid that indicates where and where not to drill. The other recently developed process, StrataMax, helps identify specific signatures within the Devonian that are likely to contain oil, but were previously thought to be non-commercial producers.
In a recent case study, EnerMax ran data for a well-developed oilfield that has been a prolific producer for decades. If the GeoMax grid had been available during the time the field was developed, it would have correctly predicted the most prolific producers as well as the areas that turned out to be non-commercial with accuracy of above 80 percent. Because the technology was not available, the area was drilled using a hit-or-miss approach. As a result, a high number of non-commercial wells were drilled.
EnerMax is now employing its new technologies to significantly reduce the odds of dry holes, starting with the West Janice projects. In addition to the supporting data on the Wolfcamp, EnerMax's other proprietary filtering process allows the company to identify the second porosity section of the Devonian formation with success rates exceeding 90%.
Historically, the second porosity section of the Devonian formation has not been identifiable using traditional geological and geophysical models. For this reason, EnerMax believes there are a tremendous amount of untapped Devonian reservoirs within the Permian Basin.. The recently completed West Janice #1 project was an 11,500 foot vertical test of the Wolf Camp formation and first and second porosity sections of the Devonian formation. The prospect was generated using 2-D and 3-D seismic data reprocessed with EnerMax's proprietary filtering process, along with other historical production data. At 9,500-9.530 feet (ft,) the Wolf Camp XX (double X) was perforated on Thursday, November 13, 2008, showing an apparent live reservoir charged with good pressures. EnerMax's technical team believes that a production level of 250-300 barrels of oil a day will be achieved from this zone. EnerMax's technical team also believes that the first and second porosity sections of the Devonian formations are capable of producing in excess of 600,000 barrels of oil.
"In each one of the zones tested proves that we have encountered a Devonian and Wolfcamp formation that is oil saturated," said EnerMax president Bret Boteler. "Field averages indicate that this well bore is capable of producing 1.2 million barrels of oil over its life."
The drilling location of West Janice #1 is only seven miles west of 19 previously drilled wells that produced in excess of 26 million barrels of oil.
"At a time where exploration costs remain extremely high and prices are seesawing in a very volatile manner, it is especially critical to push technology to the max to make better-informed decisions about where to drill," Boteler said. "We expect that these new filtering processes will virtually eliminate undesirable projects so that our capital can be allocated towards prospects with considerably higher probabilities of success."