» Bushwhacker Project
Palo’s Bushwhacker Prospect is located in West-Central Vernon County, Missouri between Nevada, Missouri on the east and Fort Scott, Kansas to the west. It is composed of a large Warner Sand body (the Deerfield Lobe) that is a point bar and channel complex consisting of merged Upper and Lower Warner Sands. The lobe is isolated from neighboring Warner sand bodies in the area due to it having an oil column at least 86 feet in height and a lowest known oil level 32 feet lower than in the Warner Sand body (the Richards Lobe) to the west. Well and core data indicate that the Deerfield Lobe holds substantial oil deposits.
Steam flooding in various forms has been used for decades to produce heavy crude. The SAGD method which is extensively used in Canadian heavy oil fields has proven to be a very successful method. The SAGD method utilizes two parallel, horizontal wellbores. One wellbore injects steam into the reservoir, and the other wellbore collects the heated, more viscous oil. While the SAGD horizontal steam flooding method has been quite successful, Palo has obtained the exclusive license for the United Sates for a new process, the CHOP Process, which promises to take steam flooding of heavy oil reserves to the next level of efficiency and profitability.
The technology for a new heavy oil recovery process (CHOP Process) was developed and patented over the past seven years by Frank J. Schuh. Mr. Schuh served as the trouble-shooting drilling engineer for Arco for many years. While at Arco, Mr. Schuh invented several pieces of equipment and developed numerous processes which have helped revolutionize the oil and gas industry. His work was instrumental in the development of horizontal drilling as we know it today. With considerable input from Halliburton, General Electric through their VetcoGray division, Principal Technology and others, Mr. Schuh developed the CHOP Process. The CHOP Process uses a dually completed horizontal well to simultaneously inject steam and produce heavy oil from a single wellbore. This process significantly reduces damage to surface lands and promises to be the most efficient and financially rewarding method of heavy oil recovery available today. Palo has acquired the exclusive license agreement for the implementation of the CHOP Process. A nationwide search and evaluation of heavy oil deposits was conducted by Palo geologist Bill Frew, in order to identify the most optimal areas for testing the CHOP Process. Mr. Frew selected the Bushwhacker Prospect, and Palo obtained oil and gas leases on the identified acreage. A recent study of the oil in place under Palo’s Bushwhacker leases by the petroleum consulting firm Cawley, Gillespie and Associates concluded that there is between 31.5 and 45.2 million barrels of oil under the Palo leases.
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