Fairway: a lesson in unitization

In a short 5 yr since the discovery, Fairway Field's (James lime) Unit, in Anderson and Henderson Counties, Tex., became effective on Oct. 1. Barring unforeseen delays or obstacles, installation of the pressure-maintenance program should be in full operation by 1966. The unit provides for a single operation of a complex reservoir owned by some 220 working interest owners and more than 1,500 royalty owners. The unit's single, coordinated recovery program is estimated to result in ultimate recovery of around 200 million bbl as compared with only 65 million by primary competitive operations. From the start, the discovery of the field marked it for unitization to employ a program similar to the miscible pressure-maintenance oil project as now planned. Reservoir data were gathered from the beginning. A reservoir analysis was obtained before the second well was drilled and an extensive coring program was eventually extended over the entire field. These were great aids in the technical negotiations necessary to develop the unit participation formula. A map shows the unit boundary and a table shows the facts in regard to Fairway.