1.

2 EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION

OF PETROLEUM

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Describe the formation of oil and gas trap.
2. Identify the important factors and types of rocks in oil and
gas trap.
3. Explain the methods to locate oil.
4. Identify the functions of the drilling tools.
5. Explain the techniques to enhance the oil recovery.
EXTRACTION OF PETROLEUM

Locate the Extract/

Drilling
oil field Recover the oil
 Extraction of Petroleum

Risky and costly to Risk large

investors and amount of
governments due money up to
to commercial hundreds of
failures Exploration of millions
Petroleum

Could harm the

environment Property leasing

 This business is money driven hence business aspect of making

money drive the technical work, not the other way around
PETROLEUM
How Oil & Gas Trap?
How Oil & Gas Trap?
Structural Trap: Understand the subsurface deformation
processes
- Anticline traps: Formed by a folding of rock
- Fault traps: Formed when reservoir rock is split along a fault
line
- Salt domes: Formed because the below ground salt which is
less dense than the above rock, is moving upwards slowly hence
deform and break up rock along the way

Stratigraphic Trap: Study of the origin, composition and

distribution of the rock layers. Hydrocarbon traps result from
changes in rock type or pinch-outs, unconformities or other
sedimentary features
HOW OIL & GAS TRAP?
Source Rock
1 Decomposition of organisms with
mud and silt, along with sand, clay
Heat from within earth
‘cooked’ the mud’s organic
remains into a soup of HC
and minerals, and solidified into (petroleum + NG).
rocks

2 Reservoir Rock
HC expelled from source
Liquids and vapors emitted from the source rocks rockmove (migrates)
moved upward through sediment pores and through reservoir rock
accumulated between the grains of sediment

Seal Rock/
3 Impermeable Rock
Contained water which pushed the lighter
oil and gas upward until they hit the
impermeable rock
How Oil & Gas Trap?
 3 important elements for oil & gas trap:

1. A source for the oil & gas (black waxy shales)

2. A porous reservoir/ sedimentary rock to
accumulate the oil & gas (storing hence
porous) (IMPORTANT FACTOR : Porosity &
Permeability)
3. An overlying seal rock/impermeable rock to
prevent the oil & gas from escaping
POROSITY VALUES FOR AN OIL RESERVOIR
Percentage Description
0-5% Insignificant
5-10% Poor
10-15% Fair
15-20% Good
20-25% Excellent Ref: Levorsen, 1967

• POROSIMETER  measure porosity

•NG compresses and needs less porosity than an oil
reservoir.
•Very deep gas reservoirs need very little porosity because
of the very high pressure.
PERMEABILITY VALUES FOR AN OIL RESERVOIR

Percentage Description
1-10md Poor
10-100md Good
100-1000md Excellent Ref: Levorsen, 1967

• PERMEAMETER  measure permeability

•The greater permeability of a rock, easier it is

for the fluids to flow thru rock.

•HIGHER POROSITY GREATER PERMEABILITY

OIL & GAS TRAP

Sand grains

Pore spaces
(Contained Oil)

Conventional sedimentary rock:

1. Sandstones (intergranular porosity)
2. Limestones (moldic porosity)
3. Dolostones (intercrystalline porosity)
WHO FINDS OIL?
Interpreting subsurface
Geoscientists structure or configuration
through gravity, seismic,
-Geophysicists etc.

-Geologists Understanding the rocks

-Geochemists
Understanding the
subsurface fluids
(petroleum)
How to Locate Oil?

Sensitive gravitymeters
- measure tiny changes in the Earth's
gravitational field that could indicate
flowing oil

Sensitive magnetometers
-measure tiny changes in the Earth's
magnetic field caused by flowing oil
How to Locate Oil?
Satellite images
- record infrared and ultraviolet light
 How to Locate Oil?
Seismology
-creating shock waves that
pass through hidden rock
layers and interpreting the
waves that are reflected back
to the surface

-Computer processes the

geophones data then
convert to Seismic lines/
Seismograph

-Structure, Density, Shapes

of rocks
HOW TO LOCATE OIL?

Placing Geophones Seismograph

 Seismology (Onshore)

Thumper/Vibrator

- On land we used to use dynamite to create shock waves.

- ‘Thumper' truck drives to the site, raises itself up on hydraulic lifts, and
then begins vibrating.
- The sound waves travel downward, hit something solid, reflected back to
the surface where sensors (used to be called stingers) are placed along the
ground.
- Sensors are connected back to a recording device.
SEISMOLOGY (OFFSHORE)

Send down sound waves, let them reflect, and pick up the reflection with
sensors (hydrophones or, on land, seismographs).

The speed will change depending on the make up of the rock type.

The reflected wave returns at a speed characteristic of the material it has been
travelling through.

The result is a set of seismic lines that the geologists and hydrogeologists interpret.
Different types of oil rigs used for various depths.
DRILLING FOR
OIL & GAS
DRILLING FOR OIL & GAS
Wells were drilled with cable tools in which a heavy
drill bit on a cable was repeatedly dropped up and down
on the ground to literally "chop" a hole down to the trap.

Rotary drilling: a
bit on the end of a
of drill pipe is
rotated.
 Drilling for Oil & Gas
Drilling fluid (water & mud) is Drilling fluids
pumped down the pipe to flow through
the bit & lubricates the bit, washes
away the cuttings, and maintains
pressure in the hole to prevent the well
from becoming a blowout.

The mud flows back to the surface

through the gap between the drill pipe
and the hole.

This gap is called the Annulus. Annulus

Mud circulation in the hole

DRILLING FLUIDS
Also called ‘MUD’
Functions :
1.Lubricates the drilling tools
2.Washes up rock cuttings
3.Balances pressure of fluids in
the rock formations below

WHY?
To prevent BLOWOUT
Drilling Process
turntable

 Place the bit, drill collar and

drill pipe in the hole.
 Attach the kelly and turntable
and begin drilling.
 As drilling progresses, circulate
mud through the pipe and out
of the bit to float the rock
cuttings out of the hole.
 Add new sections (joints) of
drill pipes as the hole gets
deeper.
 Remove (trip out) the drill pipe,
collar and bit when the pre-set
depth (from a few hundred to
a couple-thousand feet) is
reached.
Drilling Wells
ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR)
Primary Recovery
- Makes use of the natural conditions in the reservoir to
drive out the oil after a well is drilled
- Pressure from the underground will help to bring the
fluids to the top
- After that, technology such as pumps will be used to help
continue to bring fluids to the top
- Oil recovered : 15 - 20% of the original oil in place

1. Solution Gas Drive 2. Gas Cap Drive 3. Water Drive

Solution gas

Solution Gas Drive

Gas Cap Drive
Well head

Water
underpressure

Water Drive
OIL RECOVERY
Secondary Recovery
Enhance or replace the primary recovery techniques
Recovery factor after primary and secondary: 35-45%
Rely on the supply of external energy into the reservoir

1. Water flooding
Involve injecting water into the
underground reservoir to
displace the oil where it can be
lifted to the surface by pumps.

2. Immiscible gas injection

Injection of low pressure gas to
maintain reservoir pressure
OIL RECOVERY
Tertiary Recovery
- Generic term : Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
- Take over when secondary recovery no longer
effective
- Increase the mobility of oil by heating the oil,
reducing its viscosity hence easier to be extracted
- Cogeneration plant: Uses gas turbine to
generate electricity and the waste heat to
produce steam, then injected into the reservoir
- Oil Recovery : 30 – 60% of the original oil in place.
1. Steam injection /Thermal processes
- Raise the temperature of the oil
- Reduces the oil's viscosity
- Improves its ability to flow through the reservoir
2. Miscible techniques
- Injection of a gas such as NG, N2 or CO2
- Raising the pressure within the reservoir
- Expand in the reservoir
- Push the additional oil to the wellbore
3. Chemical injection
- Involves "polymers" to increase the effectiveness
of water injection
Drill pipes

Christmas tree @
Well head
-blowout
preventer (BOP)
Nodding Donkey/Pump Jack (Onshore)
DRILLING FOR OIL & GAS
DEEP WATER PLATFORMS(OFFSHORE)
 JACK UP RIG PLATFORM

Can be jacked up above the sea

using legs that can be lowered,
much like jacks.
Water depths : 400-550 feet
(120-170 m)
They are designed to move from
place to place, and then anchor
themselves by deploying the legs
to the ocean bottom using a rack
and pinion gear system on each
leg
FIXED PLATFORM

Built on concrete or steel

legs, or both, anchored
directly onto the seabed,

A deck for drilling rigs,

production facilities and
crew quarters.

Water depths :1,700 ft

(520 m).
The Grane Platform, Norway
SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE PLATFORM
Hulls (columns and pontoons) for
the structure to float and sufficient
weight to keep the structure upright.

It can be moved from place to

place

Can be ballasted up or down by

altering the amount of flooding in
buoyancy tanks

Anchored by chain, wire rope

Water depths : 200 to 10,000 Oil Platform P-51 off the

Brazilian coast
feet (60 to 3,000 m).
TENSION LEG PLATFORM (TLP)

Floating platforms tethered

to the seabed in a manner
that eliminates most vertical
movement of the structure.

Water depths : 6,000 feet

Conventional TLP
(2,000 m).

The "conventional" TLP is a

4-column design which looks
similar to a semisubmersible.
SPAR PLATFORM
Spars are similar with the seabed like
TLPs

Spars designed in three configurations:

1."conventional" one-piece cylindrical hull
2."truss spar" - midsection is composed of
truss elements connecting the upper
buoyant hull with the bottom soft tank
(permanent ballast)
3."cell spar" - multiple vertical cylinders.

The spar has more inherent stability than Devil's Tower Spar Platform
a TLP since it has a large counterweight at
the bottom

Ability to move horizontally and to

position itself over wells at some distance
from the main platform location.

Water depth : 2000-10000 ft

MAIN FUNCTIONS & COMMON UTILITIES ON
TYPICAL OFFSHORE PLATFORMS

MAIN FUNCTIONS COMMON UTILITIES

Exploration/ drilling Power generation
Oil & gas production Living quarters
Storage Communication
system
Processing Compressed air
system
Housing of crew Fuel storage/ supply
system
DRILLING BARGE
Used mostly for inland, shallow water
drilling
(ex: lakes, swamps, rivers, and canals)

Drilling barges are large, floating

platforms

Towed by tugboat from location to

location.
DRILLING SHIP
A drillship is a maritime vessel that
has been fitted with drilling
apparatus.

It is most often used for exploratory

drilling of new oil or gas wells in deep
water but can also be used for
scientific drilling.

Most drillships are outfitted with a

dynamic positioning system to maintain
position over the well

Water depths :12,000 ft (3,700 m).

Moveable Rigs (for exploratory wells)

Drilling Barge Drillingship

Jack Up Rig Semi-submersible rig

FIELD PROCESSING
Objectives:
- purify the oil and gas
- dispose any harmful contaminants
• Desalting/Dehydration - removal of water bound in an
oil-water emulsion and is carried out through a
combination of chemicals, application of heat and
electricity and the proper retention time in the
demulsifier.

• Sweetening - refers to the removal of H2S, typically by

means of stripping with natural gas available from the
reservoir.

• Stabilization - refers to the removal of light gas

components dissolved in the oil in order to increase its
vapor pressure. There are various techniques for
accomplishing this. Note that removal of light gases
occurs at conditions where H2S can also vaporize, so
some sweetening occurs simultaneously.
NEW OIL & GAS FIELD DISCOVERY IN MIRI
JANUARY 2013
VIDEO