Bretagne, one of the largest producers of oil in Kentucky, offers on-the-job training where employees can count on getting their hands dirty right away, Larry Oliver says.

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As the search for new sources of oil continues, resourceful producers that can use technology to make the most of their holdings stand to reap big benefits. Nashville, Tenn.-based Bretagne is one of those companies, according to CEO Virginia Lazenby. Even though the company is a “small, independent producer that produces less than 1,000 barrels a day,” she says, Bretagne is nonetheless poised to continue standing strong, thanks to its enhanced recovery technologies.

Despite its small size, Bretagne is one of the largest producers of oil in Kentucky. Lazenby says the company’s field in eastern Kentucky is where it does most of its work, using enhanced recovery techniques to increase recovery from stripper wells. Bretagne was formed in 1988 when Lazenby took over the operations from a preceding company.

Lazenby says stripper wells are becoming a bigger focus for the industry, but many producers just don’t have the technology and expertise to make much use of them. “More people are coming into stripper wells because prices are up,” she says.

Getting the Most
The company’s insistence on using enhanced recovery technology is the primary reason for its success and survival, Lazenby says.

“These wells are shallow and small, but they are just as complicated, sometimes more so, than other wells,” she says.

Bretagne has been using enhanced recovery technologies since its inception, and Lazenby credits a joint venture with Miller Energy Technologies LLC and its president, Bernie Miller, for that technological platform. Miller is noted to have driven development of recovery processes using nitrogen and liquid CO2, as well as artificial lift systems for stripper wells. “We have an ongoing water flood in our field, and in addition we have enhanced that operation by treating the wells with nitrogen and sometimes nitrogen-CO2 mix,” Lazenby says.

In this process, nitrogen soaks into the wells, helping to make the water flood technique more effective. She notes that Bretagne has been able to yield outputs of 300 barrels from wells that were only expected to give 50 barrels using this technique. You can see that we believe in enhanced recovery.”

Self-Performing
Bretagne also counts its ability to self-perform most of its work as a major strength, Lazenby says. “We pride ourselves on a very good operating group,” she says. “We’ve been able to establish an operating group because we have economies of scale and can do everything in our operations with the exception of fracing our wells [and] logging.”

The company’s service division, for example, has a drilling rig, pulling units, cementing equipment and bulldozers. Bretagne is also able to deliver oil to refineries itself thanks to a trucking unit.  We work closely with our suppliers and service companies who are an important part of our operation. “I think it makes for a very efficient operation,” Lazenby says.

Labor Pool
Besides the weather, which Manager of Operations Larry Oliver says is always an issue, Lazenby says labor is at the top of Bretagne’s list of concerns. Fortunately, she adds, the company’s approach has made it successful, which is the ultimate feature for attracting employees. “We are a company that, with Larry’s guidance and our strategic decisions, has been able to attract very good people,” Lazenby says.

Oliver says that new employees can count on getting their hands dirty right away, as Bretagne believes firmly in on-the-job training.

If It Ain’t Broke …
Lazenby says Bretagne will continue to follow its formula. “We have a lot of oil in place with these stripper wells,” she says. “We plan to continue the water floods, enhance the water flood and continue to find enhanced recovery techniques.”