Paper: Alan Townsend, TEMA Oil Gas , Dan Gunderson, BJ Services Co., King Anderson, Authentix Inc.

In 2000 TEMA Oil & Gas ("TEMA") purchased the Simpson-Mann field in Val Verde and Crockett counties. The Simpson-Mann field's completion horizon is the Canyon Sand. From their prior Canyon Sand experience, TEMA's asset management team was convinced that better completions could be made. While the initial post acquisition completions were equivalent to the field's historical completions, TEMA was disappointed in the quality of their new wells. Additionally, TEMA did not think they were improving their understanding of the field's critical characteristics consequently they decided to change. Starting in 2003, TEMA changed their techniques; and expectations in order to enhance their understanding of the Simpson-Mann field. While not confirmed the current theory dictates a radical departure from historical stimulation techniques.We theorize through fracturing data, chemical marking, and early core analysis why we believe the natural fracture system is biased away from vertical.