OPIC Core and Well Cutting Research Facility at the University of Oklahoma. Courtesy Photo/University of Oklahoma website

The Osage Minerals Council voted to pay $1,350 for the installation of a “core” sample at the Oklahoma Petroleum Information Center’s Core and Well Cutting Research Facility, located in Norman, Okla. 

A core sample is a cylindrical piece of subsurface material removed by a special drill and brought to the surface for examination. It aids researchers in determining the porosity and permeability of a well in that region. A core sample from the Osage Mineral Estate was recently donated to the minerals council and now the council wants that sample placed in the research facility.

The OPIC is part of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, which is a state agency for research and public service located on the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma and affiliated with the OU Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy.

The OPIC houses more than 100 miles of core from almost 10,000 Oklahoma wells, samples from over 50,000 wells, well logs, production reports, and other material vital to petroleum exploration and production, according to the OPIC website. The collection resides in Norman, Okla., and is available to users through on-site visits by appointment. The collection contains information, maps and materials useful to industry, academia, scout and school groups, landscapers and civic planners, hunters and fishers, hikers, and those needing topographic maps.

Chairman Everett Waller said he would also like to get a core sample to the University of Tulsa because TU already has an area specifically dedicated to the Osage Reservation, “we’ll probably be asking OU to do the same.”

Council members discussed possible opportunities having a core at the University of Oklahoma could bring the council.

“We can maybe have a sponsor event down there and we could showcase maybe an area we’re interested in,” said Councilman Talee Redcorn.

The discussion of the core piqued an interest in the council to better study the Osage Reservation’s subsurface.

Redcorn said he would like to “get as much core as possible and store recovery work. One of the many things we’re hearing from all these consultants and experts out there is, you know, we’ve got to have core.”

Studying core would allow OMC to have a better understanding of the subsurface in the mineral estate and validate the model development for enhanced oil recovery and estimate recovery.

“We’re looking at these extraneous areas, say orphan well locations, where many people have walked away from. That’s why it’s on the orphaned well list. And then the other side is that enhanced oil recovery side. These are areas that have not been totally exploited in Osage County,” Redcorn said.

For more information about the OPIC and the Core and Well Cutting Research Facility, call (405) 325-1299.