Oil and Gas Production and Exploration, Part I Presented by: Steven Marzuola American Translators Association 52 nd Annual Conference Boston, October 26, 2011 1 Introduction Dope, Joints, Tripping Internal Flush Strippers Casing, Tubing, Liner API - American Petroleum Institute 2
Why oil? Convenience of liquid fuel Large amount of power in small volume ( Energy density ) Refined products 45 megajoules / kg One gallon carries one airline passenger 45 miles Coal: 24 megajoules per kilogram Club sandwich: 1.3 megajoules 3 Life of an Oilfield Reservoir formation Discovery and exploration Drilling Primary production Second production, interventions Abandonment 4
Early oil discoveries Usually guided by surface seepage. Lake Maracaibo, Caspian Sea, western Pennsylvania Used by ships, seeking tar for repairs. Oil was usually a nuisance encountered when drilling water wells Research in mid 1800 s, search to replace whale oil used in lamps First rotary drilled well - 1859, Titusville, PA 5 Blowouts In movies, often portrayed as success. Today, a blowout is a huge and expensive mistake. 6
7 Historical practices On land, in the USA: Surface owner owns everything to the center of the earth. Often led to inefficiencies, legal battles. Today, mineral rights on most property are bought and sold separately from the surface land. Field or reservoir usually managed as a single unit. 8
Congestion Spindletop, Texas, 1902 9 Requirements of a Reservoir 1. Source or Generator rock 2. Reservoir 3. Seal or cap rock 4. Structure, hydrocarbons trap 5. Timing 6. Maturation 7. Migration 10
Exploration aided by geology Surface features Anticlines Faults, Salt domes Presence of iron Subsurface surveys Gravimeter, Magnetometer Seismic - 2D, 3D 11 Anticlines Salt dome 12
Structural trap 13 Gravimeter 14
Seismic surveying 15 3D Seismic images 16
Rig = factory 17 Today s drilling Most wells drilled using rotary drilling Steel drill pipe comes in 30-foot sections that are threaded on both ends. Each section of drill pipe is called a joint. After drilling 30 feet, the kelly must be raised and another joint of pipe added below the kelly. This is called making a connection. 18
Drill string components Typical rotary drilling Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) Additional components: mud motors, LWD / MWD tools, steerable subs 19 Drill bits Diamond bits Tricone rock bit Tungsten carbide inserts 20
Surface components Kelly, kelly bushing, swivel, hose 21 Pipehandling tools Drill pipe slips Tongs 22
Top Drive Advantages Drill with triples Reduced connection time Quickly restore pressure control while tripping out 23 Pressure control 24
Flow of drilling mud 25 Hydrostatic pressure Pressure is proportional to: Height (depth) of fluid column Density (i.e. lbs/gallon) Mud column must counterbalance formation pressure Drilling mud 1.5-2.5 times more dense than water 26
Mud system components Shale shakers Desanders and desilters (hydrocyclones) Degassers Centrifuges Mud agitators Cuttings washers 27 Water-based vs. oil-based muds Water most widely used, but can cause skin damage, contaminate formation In response, oil-based muds were developed Adverse effects on rubber products, (seals, pump parts), environmental concern 28
Modern improvements Major changes in past 20 years are: Computers and software => 3D seismic Top drive - all offshore rigs, big/deep onshore MWD - Measure While Drilling technology Mud motors Directional drilling => horizontal wells 29 Horizontal drilling Multilateral completions Multiple exit points from main well bore Increased length of hole exposed to productive formations 30
Completions Most wells lined with steel casing. Purposes: Protect from cave-ins Protect surface formations, water supply Isolate producing formations Prevent blowouts Innermost pipe is tubing, removable, to isolate flow from casing 31 Casing and wellhead 32
Casing and tubing connections Non-upset External upset www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com IF = internal flush 33 Wellheads/Christmas trees 34
Flange connection 35 Separation equipment 36
Stages of production Primary recovery - natural flow Secondary recovery - mechanical pumping, gas lift Tertiary or Enhanced Oil Recovery - Gas injection, thermal, chemical 37 Workover and well servicing Together known as intervention Workover rig similar to drilling. Performs acidizing, fracturing stimulation, cementing, deeper drilling, recompletion to a different zone, sidetracking Well servicing - wireline, rod pulling units, flexible tubing 38
Well servicing rig 39 Flexible tubing rig 40
Pumping 41 Typical Subsurface Pump 42
Other methods 43 Flowlines and Pipelines Flowlines link individual wells or groups to a processing facility. Gas / oil / water separation Metering Sand removal Pipelines lead from field / process facility, ultimately to refinery 44
Pigs Dumb pigs: Cleaning, water displacement, chemical treatment Smart pigs: Measure internal diameter, inspect for cracking, corrosion Magnetic flux, X-ray, ultrasonic, video 45 Peak Oil, or Hubbert s Peak M. King Hubbert - Shell geophysicist Theory: production tends to follow bellshaped curve. Can be predicted in advance. Production increases early due to discoveries and new infrastructure. Later declines due to depletion. 46
Peak Oil (cont.) Source: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/8310 47 Peak Oil (cont.) In 1956, Hubbert predicted peak of USA production late 1960s - early 1970s. Controversial, but proven right by 1976. Actual peak was in 1970. Is it applicable to world production? Rapidly growing demand in China, India New technologies, increased depletion rates What is the effect of higher real prices? 48
Historical oil production Source: http://wikipedia.org 49 Steven Marzuola 281-381-9337 www.techlanguage.com Houston Interpreters and Translators Association American Translators Association 2011 Steven Marzuola 50