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Oil and Gas Production
and Exploration, Part I
Presented by:
Steven Marzuola
American Translators Association
52
nd
Annual Conference
Boston, October 26, 2011
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Introduction
Dope, Joints, Tripping
Internal Flush
Strippers
Casing, Tubing, Liner
API - American Petroleum Institute
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Why oil?
Refined products 45 megajoules
/ kg
One gallon carries one airline
passenger 45 miles
Coal: 24 megajoules per
kilogram
Club sandwich: 1.3 megajoules
Convenience of liquid fuel
Large amount of power in small volume
(Energy density)
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Life of an Oilfield
Reservoir formation
Discovery and exploration
Drilling
Primary production
Second production, interventions
Abandonment
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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 1800s, search to replace
whale oil used in lamps
First rotary drilled well - 1859, Titusville, PA
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Blowouts
In movies, often
portrayed as
success.
Today, a blowout
is a huge and
expensive
mistake.
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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.
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Congestion
Spindletop, Texas, 1902
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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
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Exploration aided by geology
Surface features
Anticlines
Faults, Salt domes
Presence of iron
Subsurface surveys
Gravimeter, Magnetometer
Seismic - 2D, 3D
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Anticlines
Salt dome
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Structural trap
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Gravimeter
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Seismic surveying
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3D Seismic images
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Rig = factory
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Todays 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.
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Drill string components
Typical rotary drilling
Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA)
Additional components: mud
motors, LWD / MWD tools,
steerable subs
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Drill bits
Diamond bits
Tricone rock bit
Tungsten carbide inserts
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Surface components
Kelly, kelly bushing, swivel, hose
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Pipehandling tools
Drill pipe slips
Tongs
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Top Drive
Advantages
Drill with triples
Reduced connection
time
Quickly restore
pressure control while
tripping out
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Pressure control
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Flow of drilling mud
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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
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Mud system components
Shale shakers
Desanders and desilters (hydrocyclones)
Degassers
Centrifuges
Mud agitators
Cuttings washers
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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
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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
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Horizontal drilling
Multilateral completions
Multiple exit points from
main well bore
Increased length of hole
exposed to productive
formations
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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
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Casing and wellhead
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Casing and tubing
connections
Non-upset
www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com
External upset
IF = internal flush
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Wellheads/Christmas trees
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Flange connection
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Separation
equipment
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Stages of production
Primary recovery - natural flow
Secondary recovery - mechanical pumping,
gas lift
Tertiary or Enhanced Oil Recovery - Gas
injection, thermal, chemical
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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
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Well servicing rig
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Flexible tubing rig
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Pumping
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Typical
Subsurface
Pump
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Other methods
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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
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Pigs
Dumb pigs: Cleaning, water displacement,
chemical treatment
Smart pigs: Measure internal diameter, inspect
for cracking, corrosion
Magnetic flux, X-ray, ultrasonic, video
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Peak Oil, or Hubberts Peak
M. King Hubbert - Shell geophysicist
Theory: production tends to follow bell-
shaped curve. Can be predicted in
advance.
Production increases early due to
discoveries and new infrastructure. Later
declines due to depletion.
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Source: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/8310
Peak Oil (cont.)
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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?
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Historical oil production
Source: http://wikipedia.org
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Steven Marzuola
281-381-9337
www.techlanguage.com
2011 Steven Marzuola
Houston Interpreters and
Translators Association
American Translators Association