Ramada Field Project

Nueces County, Texas

The Ramada Field was discovered in March, 1957 when the Ramada Oil & Gas Co. #1 Hoting encountered the lower portion of the Oakville Formation trapped against the upthrown side of a “down-to-the-coast” fault trending approximately north-south across the area. The field was developed aggressively thereafter and, by November, 1959, a total of 17 wells had been drilled to develop the field, with a total of 14 wells on the Hoting lease alone.

The productive section in the Ramada Field consists of the lower portion of the Oakville formation and is comprised of multiple sands interbedded with shale. Three reservoirs, the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Oakville sands, are the primary pays in the field and have produced a total of 905,515, 443,452 and 129,052 barrels of oil (BO) respectively, for a cumulative total of 1,478,019 BO. The initial production rates on the wells varied from about 60 to 105 BO per day. The reservoirs exhibited a strong waterdrive mechanism and the wells were produced until 1997 by which time the water cuts had increased to 90% or higher. At that time, an attempt was made to increase total fluid production by installing larger downhole pumps but this resulted in problems with sand production and the wells were shut-in.

Production from the Ramada Field ceased in 1997 due to a combination of the low price for oil (about $15-$18/BO) combined with production problems encountered with sand when an attempt was made to increase fluid from the wells. With the recent dramatic increase in the price of oil vastly improved the economics of producing the remaining reserves of the Ramada Field. Progressive Cavity (PC) Pumps were incorporated as the lifting method for the wells. These pumps proved capable of moving large amounts of fluid with only minor problems in a similar application in the nearby Greta Field.

Initial efforts in the Ramada Field focused on re-establishing production from four shut-in wellbores on the 320 acre Hoting lease, the Hoting #3, and Hoting JL#11, 12, and 13. To handle the significant amounts of saltwater production associated with the oil production, two existing shut-in wellbores situated too far downdip in the field to be commercial producers, the Hoting #2 and Hoting JL #14, were converted to saltwater disposal wells.

Production began in July, 2007. Recompletion efforts in all but the Hoting #11 were unsuccessful and the decision was made to plug and abandon the remaining three wells. Production is approximately 150 BO per month.