Harold H. Rogers, III Research Scientist Associate II [email protected] Calculating the Boundary of Oil Fields in Texas using Python in a GIS Workflow October 23, 2019 2019 Texas GIS Forum 

Outline ● Data Problems and Issues ● Take Aways ● Python Code ● Results ● Motivation to Calculate the Well Field Boundary 

Motivation • There are a lot of closely spaced wells in well data • Are these closely spaced wells in the same oil field ? • Oil field names are included in the data • The results can be compared to other established boundaries like counties and basins 

Problems and Issues • What types of wells are in the field? • How do well types affect the boundary ? • How is the data recorded? • What are the result limitations? • How much data editing needs to be done? 

What is an Oil Field? a region rich in petroleum deposits 

Wildcat Drilling Wells What is Wildcat Drilling? Wildcat drilling, also known as exploratory drilling, is the process of drilling for oil or natural gas in unproven or fully exploited areas that either have no concrete historic production records or have been fully exploited as a site for oil and gas output. 

Wildcat Wells 

Production Wells A well from which water, gas, or oil is actually to be recovered, as opposed to other wells, e.g. those designed to determine hydraulic characteristics, to recharge an aquifer, or to act as injection wells to push oil towards the production well. 

Injection Wells An injection well is a device that places fluid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer. The fluid may be water, wastewater, brine (salt water), or water mixed with chemicals. 

Injection Wells 

Types of Wells used to assess characteristics (such as flow rate, reserve quantity) of a proven hydrocarbon accumulation. Development Wells A development well is drilled in a proven producing area for the production of oil or gas. It is drilled to a depth that is likely to be productive, so as to maximize the chances of success. Appraisal Wells 

All Wells in Study Area 

Methods Python Code We need to substitute a value for none • The word LIST • The field name from a list of fields within the csv 

Minimum Bounding Geometry Explanation 

Minimum Bounding Geometry Arcgis Tool 

All Wells Have Boundaries 

Results All types of wells in the field represent the boundary 

Results • The Polygons overlap • Data issues will be apparent after the tool is run (Block 34 or Block 034) • Some wells inside the polygons belong to other fields because of tool limitations • Editing of the oil field polygons is required 

Data Issues 

Results • The Polygons overlap • Data issues will be apparent after the tool is run (Block 34 or Block 034) • Some wells inside the polygons belong to other fields because of tool limitations • Editing of the oil field polygons is required 

Edited Oil Field Boundaries 

Take Aways This tool is not a push button and done tool Editing your data as much as possible before running the tool will save you time in the long run Editing is necessary after the output is generated due to overlapping boundaries Minimum Bounding Geometry shows all the data. The good bad and the ugly 

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