Society of Petroleum Engineers
Distinguished Lecturer 2004-05 Lecture Season

Nov 16, 2004
Tunnel Vision Management of Mature Oilfields
I. Ershaghi

Dr. I. Ershaghi

Bio:

Dr. I. Ershaghi is the Omar B. Milligan Professor of the Petroleum Engineering Program at the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC. He is also serving as the Director of the West Coast Petroleum Technology Transfer Council and the Executive Director of the USC-ChevronTexaco Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies (CiSoft).

Abstract

With the continuous projected increase in worldwide and U S demand for petroleum, domestic producers should have every incentive to keep their brown fields alive and producing for decades to come. During the times of uncertain oil prices,however, management of mature assets have often fallen short to myopic visions depicted by short-term survival and cash-and-run instincts. The long term damages done to mature assets, subjected to such instinct-based management schemes, is harmful to the
asset, to the demand market and to the public. In this presentation, the added benefits of sensible asset management approaches that can inject some degree of basic asset knowledge and optimization techniques in the life of mature fileds will be discussed. These optimization methods require the responsibilities shared by the operators, the local and federal government and the public at large. A proactive campaign to disseminate information about the need for such a critical and collaborative mission for the betterment of our local industry and for the consumers will be discussed.

LASPE Forum Committee:
Maryam Davari, 213-225-5900x209, mkashfi@breitburn.com
Brandy Fellers, 562-624-3237 brandy_fellers@oxy.com
Rick Finken 562-570-3961, richard_finken@longbeach.gov