Abandoned Oil Fields Research Articles

One-dimensional modelling of air injection into abandoned oil fields for heat generation

With the global drive for net-zero emissions, it has never been more important to find clean energy sources. There are thousands of abandoned oilfields worldwide with the potential to be reactivated to produce clean energy with air injection and subsequent waste fluid sequestration. Air injection, and the development of a fire-front, may be used with enhanced geothermal systems by taking advantage of the inherent increase in heat and pressure. Conventionally used as an enhanced oil recovery technique, air injection has gained the reputation of being a high-risk intervention due to the many failures in its history. Knowledge of how petrophysical rock properties and oil physical and chemical properties control the consequences of air injection is key to optimzing the selection of late-life, or even abandoned oilfields for use in such systems. Here we use one-dimensional modelling to test the effect of varying porosity, permeability, oil viscosity and API gravity on the success of air injection. Modelling shows that the most important factor controlling temperature is the porosity of the reservoir, followed by the API gravity and then the viscosity of the oil. The most important factors controlling velocity of the fire-front are API gravity followed by oil viscosity. We show that reservoirs with high porosity and low permeability with high viscosity and low API gravity oil reach the highest fire-front temperatures. The significance of this work is that it provides several geoscience-related criteria to rank possible candidate reservoirs for reactivation and clean energy generation via air injection: the best candidates will have the highest total porosity, relatively low permeability, highest oil viscosity and lowest API gravity, such fields can then move on to bespoke and more complex simulations.

The Geoscience of In-Situ Combustion and High-Pressure Air Injection

Considering the global drive toward net-zero carbon emissions in the near future, the need to find clean sources of energy has never been more important. It is estimated that globally there are tens of thousands of depleted and abandoned oil fields that may be adapted to produce green energy. These may be re-cycled with the help of air injection, either from the production of hydrogen, as a direct result of oxidation of oil, or the exploitation of the inherent increase in heat flow and pressure via enhanced geothermal systems. In the past, the use of in-situ combustion (ISC) and high-pressure air injection (HPAI) have experienced many failures, largely due to poor project design and inappropriate reservoir selection. Here, we review data from field applications, experimental studies, and numerical modelling to define the roles of sub-surface sedimentology and petrophysics, structural geology, geomechanics, mineralogy, diagenesis, and petroleum geology on the success of ISC and HPAI. We show how current knowledge can help mitigate project failure via improved project design and initial reservoir selection. Improvements to the design and implementation of ISC and HPAI projects promise to allow the utilisation of the many abandoned oil fields, to produce green energy with the added benefit of the cost-effective, and materials and energy efficient, re-use of existing oil field infrastructure. We conclude that the integration of field data, laboratory experiments, and numerical modelling methods previously studied can be used to help develop ISC and minimize risk of failure.

Polymers for enhanced oil recovery: fundamentals and selection criteria revisited.

As the energy demand is escalating tremendously and crude oil being the primary energy source for at least the next two decades, the production of crude oil should be enhanced to meet the global energy needs. This can be achieved by either exploration of new oil fields for crude oil extraction or employing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology to recover the residual oil from existing marginal oil fields. The former method requires more capital investment and time; therefore, this review focuses on the latter. In general, the abandoned oil fields still have 50% of crude left which is unrecovered due to lack of technology. Hence, EOR came into existence after the conventional methods of recovery (primary and secondary recovery) were found to be inefficient and less economical. Nineteen percent of the EOR projects are based upon cEOR methods worldwide, of which more than 80% of projects use economically feasible polymer flooding process for oil recovery. Both synthetic and naturally derived polymers have been used widely for this purpose; however, many recent studies have shown the lower stability of synthetic polymers under extreme reservoir conditions of high salinity and temperature. Additionally, naturally derived polymers face microbial degradation as the major limitation. Therefore, a number of novel polymers are currently studied for their suitability as an efficient EOR polymer. Latest findings have also revealed that biopolymers play an important role in wettability alteration, pore evolution by bioplugging, and reducing fingering effect. Injection of biopolymers can also lead to the selective plugging of thief zones which redirects water flood to the inaccessible oil pores. Therefore, the current study focuses on such principle and mechanism of polymer flooding along with the reservoir and field characteristics which affects the polymer flooding. It also discusses the scope of biopolymer along with the screening criteria for use of novel polymers and strategies to overcome the problems during polymer flooding. KEY POINTS: • Discussion of macroscopic and microscopic mechanisms of polymer flooding. • Screening criteria of polymers prior to flooding are essential. • Biopolymers are eco-friendly and are applicable for a wide range of reservoir conditions.

Dynamic reservoir sand characterization of an oil field in the Niger Delta from seismic and well log data

Many oil fields within the Niger Delta have been abandoned after serving their estimated life time largely due to large uncertainties and risks associated with many subsurface complexities and often limited and/or inconsistent surveillance data coupled with the convectional static characterization of the reservoir bodies as is the case of the X- oil Field, south eastern onshore, Nigeria. This research presents a pragmatic approach of integrated dynamic reservoir modelling with uncertainty management techniques, which resulted in robust productivity of the abandoned oil field. The objective is to run and improve comprehensive sensitivity analysis of petrophysical properties in the reservoir, develop PVT analysis, and predict acceptable original oil in place (OOIP), comprehensive production history and expected cumulative oil recovery factor (RF). Integrated dynamic reservoir modelling of static interpreted reservoirs of two vertically stacked reservoirs (A and B) was done. The analysis identified reservoir A with an OWC at 5520 ft with thickness of about 300 ft and STOIIP of 59 MMSTB has an underlying reservoir B with OWC at 6100 ft with thickness of about 300 ft and STOIIP of 21 MMSTB. Average permeabilities and porosities of both reservoirs range from 2.54 to 1115.2 md and 0.2 to 0.33 respectively, with estimated cumulative oil production of 46.62 MMSTB at 55% RF in reservoir A and 17.21 MMSTB at 48% RF in reservoir B. This was estimated to correspond to maximum cumulative oil production of 40 MMSTB by August 2020 indicating that the overall recovery from the field could potentially be increase by 6% from drilling infill wells with drainage targets. Production data analysis indicates that the recovery factors and well recoverable volumes are highly correlated to average net oil pay. The correlations may be used for reserve quality control. It is recommended that improved quality of data couple with integration of statics with dynamic modelling should be a priority to reduce uncertainties and solve problems in situ in field operations leading to increase in oil recovery during activation of abandoned oil field.

Use of abandoned oil wells in geothermal systems in Turkey

Human beings have been benefiting from geothermal energy for different uses since the dawn of civilization in many parts of the world. One of the earliest uses of geothermal energy was for heating and it was used extensively by Romans in Turkey. The Aegean region is favored with a large number of thermal springs known since ancient times. However, it was in the twentieth century that geothermal energy was first used on a large scale for direct use applications and electricity generation. The country’s installed heat capacity is 3322.3 MWt for direct use and 1347 MWe for power production. Also, many drilled wells to extract oil or natural gas were abandoned for various reasons in the southeast of Turkey. Some of the oil fields have heat content that can be used for geothermal energy. Some even have hot fluid in the reservoir. This paper presents an investigation into how to use geothermal energy in abandoned oil and natural gas wells. Methods used to generate geothermal energy from abandoned oil fields other than conventional geothermal energy production are examined. Downhole heat exchangers can be used to extract heat without producing geothermal fluid which decrease gas emissions to the atmosphere and energy need for reinjection, from the abandoned oil wells to generate electricity or direct use applications. Using this method, it is possible to use abandoned wells in southeastern Turkey where this energy improves the economy of the region.

Isolation of Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ Capable to Degrade High Concentration of Fluoranthene

A bacterial strain CMGCZ was isolated from an abandoned oil field soil sample and identified as Rhodococcus sp. by 16S rRNA sequencing. Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ was investigated for the degradation of model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Iranian light crude oil (ILCO) as a sole carbon source in minimal medium. Biodegradation enhancement was attained by supplementing the minimal medium with yeast extract (YE). Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ was capable to degrade 13.2 % naphthalene (Nap), 13.1 % phenanthrene (Phe), and 99.3 % fluoranthene (Fla) in 1 week and 11 % aliphatic fraction of ILCO in 2 weeks as a sole carbon and energy source. Effect of YE supplementation on degradation potential of Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ depended upon the added hydrocarbon in the medium. YE completely inhibited Nap degradation, slightly enhanced degradation of Phe (14.8 %) and ILCO aliphatics (13.2 %), and promoted a more rapid degradation of Fla (100 %). YE addition promoted rapid degradation of Fla and eliminated delay of 24 h in Fla degradation that was observed in minimal medium. Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ was capable to degrade high concentrations of Fla (1000 mg l−1). Rieske [Fe2-S2] center was amplified in Rhodococcus sp. CMGCZ that exhibited homology with Rieske [Fe2-S2] domain protein of Mycobacterium species and pahAC gene of uncultured bacterium clones.

Atlas for drug discovery.

Reports of increasing antibiotic resistance and sagging drug discovery rates are appearing with increasing frequency, and many warn that we are living on the wrong side of an antibiotic peak—a period in which ever-fewer new antibiotics are being discovered at ever-increasing costs (1). In response, efforts to discover new antibiotics and other drugs have taken many forms, including looking at formerly productive sources that were thought exhausted, much as rising oil prices led to new extraction techniques for abandoned oil fields. For several decades, small molecules produced by soil bacteria were our most important source of new drugs, as represented by the antibiotics erythromycin and vancomycin, the anticancer agents bleomycin and mitomycin, and the immunomodulators cyclosporin and rapamycin (2). In the last two decades, almost all pharmaceutical companies have abandoned bacterially based drug discovery because it seemingly fits poorly with the high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry approaches that define the industry’s favored discovery paradigm, and because its high rate of rediscovering previously known compounds indicated that it was unlikely to yield new drugs (3). More recently, genomic revelations have dramatically altered our view of soil bacteria. The revelations were of two sorts: ( i ) most bacteria (∼99%) cannot be cultured under typical laboratory conditions, and ( ii ) even those that can be cultured produce only a fraction (∼10%) of the small molecules encoded in their genomes (4⇓–6). These dual shortfalls in culturing and expression pointed to a bonanza of … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jon_clardy{at}hms.harvard.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Habitat Characteristics of Polar Bear Terrestrial Maternal Den Sites in Northern Alaska

Polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) give birth to and nurture their young in dens of ice and snow. During 1999-2001, we measured the structure of 22 dens on the coastal plain of northern Alaska after polar bear families had evacuated their dens in the spring. During the summers of 2001 and 2002, we revisited the sites of 42 maternal and autumn exploratory dens and recorded characteristics of the under-snow habitat. The structure of polar bear snow dens was highly variable. Most were simple chambers with a single entrance/egress tunnel. Others had multiple chambers and additional tunnels. Thickness of snow above and below dens was highly variable, but most dens were overlain by less than 1 m of snow. Dens were located on, or associated with, pronounced landscape features (primarily coastal and river banks, but also a lake shore and an abandoned oil field gravel pad) that are readily distinguished from the surrounding terrain in summer and catch snow in early winter. Although easily identified, den landforms in northern Alaska were more subtle than den habitats in many other parts of the Arctic. The structure of polar bear dens in Alaska was strikingly similar to that of dens elsewhere and has remained largely unchanged in northern Alaska for more than 25 years. Knowledge of den structure and site characteristics will allow resource managers to identify habitats with the greatest probability of holding dens. This information may assist resource managers in preventing negative impacts of mineral exploration and extraction on polar bears.

Assessment of the photoenhanced toxicity of a weathered oil to the tidewater silverside

AbstractStudies were conducted to determine the interactive toxicity of a water‐accommodated fraction (WAF) of a weathered middle distillate petroleum and solar radiation to an estuarine organism, the tidewater silverside (Menidia beryllina). Juvenile silversides were monitored for survival and growth during a 7‐d static renewal exposure to dilutions of WAFs of an environmentally weathered oil collected in the vicinity of an abandoned oil field in California. Ultraviolet (UV) treatments were based on incident sunlight intensity and spectra measured at this site. Exposure to UV alone was not lethal to the fish, and WAF in the absence of UV was toxic at the highest total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration (3.03 mg/L) after 96 h of exposure. Water‐accommodated fractions toxicity increased significantly with increasing UV irradiance and duration of exposure. The 7‐d LC50 concentrations for the control, low, medium, and high irradiance were 2.84, 1.27, 0.93, and 0.51 mg/L TPH, respectively. Significant mortality occurred among fish previously exposed to WAF in the absence of irradiance, whereas WAF toxicity was unaffected by UV exposure prior to the toxicity test. Thus, the mode of action is a photosensitization of the accumulated petroleum residue rather than a photoactivation of WAF. Chemical analysis indicates that the WAF contains limited amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) known to be photoenhanced, suggesting that other constituents may be responsible for the observed photoenhanced toxicity.

Photoenhanced toxicity of a weathered oil onCeriodaphnia dubia reproduction

Traditionally, the toxic effects of petroleum have been investigated by conducting studies in the absence of ultraviolet radiation (UV). Photomediated toxicity is often not considered, and the toxic effects of an oil spill can be grossly underestimated. The toxicity of a weathered oil collected from a monitoring well at an abandoned oil field to Ceriodaphnia dubia was examined in the presence of UV. A solar simulator equipped with UVB, UVA, and cool white lamps was used to generate environmentally comparable solar radiation intensities.C. dubia were exposed to six concentrations of water accommodated fractions (WAF) of weathered oil in conjunction with three levels of laboratory simulated UV (Reference = < 0.002 microW/cm(2)UVB; 3.0 microW/cm(2) UVA; Low = 0.30 microW/cm(2) UVB; 75.0 microW/cm(2) UVA; High = 2.0 microW/cm(2) UVB; 340.0 microW/cm(2) UVA) and visible light. Seven day static renewal bioassays were used to characterize WAF/UV toxicity. WAF toxicity significantly (p < 0.05) increased when the organisms were exposed to WAF in the presence of UV. The photoenhanced toxicity of the WAF increased with WAF concentration within each UV regime. Relative to the reference light regime, the average number of neonates from adults exposed to 1.6 mg TPH/L decreased significantly by 20% within the low light regime, and by 60% within the high light regime. These results indicate that organisms exposed to dissolved-phase weathered oil in the presence of environmentally realistic solar radiation, exhibit 1.3-2.5 times greater sensitivity, relative to organisms exposed under traditional laboratory fluorescent lighting.

A Way to Make CO 2 Go Away: Deep-Six It

CLIMATE CHANGEWhile climate experts try to get a better fix on the carbon cycle, some engineers are taking what they view as the obvious next step: devising schemes for funneling excess COinto the deep ocean, unminable coal seams, abandoned oil fields, and isolated aquifers. One idea now leading the pack is to pipe COwaste from power plants to the bottom of the sea.

Abstract :Application of Environmental Assessment to Remediation of Abandoned Oil Field Sites

Abstract :Application of Environmental Assessment to Remediation of Abandoned Oil Field Sites

Teal South Prospect, Offshore Louisiana: Successful Re-Development of an Abandoned Oil Field Using New Technologies : ABSTRACTS

Teal South Prospect, Offshore Louisiana: Successful Re-Development of an Abandoned Oil Field Using New Technologies : ABSTRACTS

Comparison of Fort Union Formation Reservoir Types in Outcrop and in Nearby Abandoned Oil Fields, Southern Wind River Basin, Wyoming

Comparison of Fort Union Formation Reservoir Types in Outcrop and in Nearby Abandoned Oil Fields, Southern Wind River Basin, Wyoming

Abandoned Oil Fields of Texas Gulf Coast: ABSTRACT

One nonconventional oil target in Texas is the oil that remains in abandoned fields, defined as those fields that had no oil or gas production in 1977 and 1982. This target includes oil that has not been tapped by conventional field development because of reservoir heterogeneity and oil in reservoirs that have not been subjected to any secondary or tertiary recovery efforts. A total of 138 abandoned oil fields having individual cumulative production greater than 500,000 bbl are located in the Texas Gulf Coast (Railroad Commission of Texas Districts 2, 3, and 4). These 138 onshore fields produced 276 million barrels of oil before being abandoned. Nongiant fields in the Texas Gulf Coast average about 40% ultimate recovery, so these fields probably originally contained about 700 million bbl of oil in place. Therefore, about 424 million bbl of oil remain unrecovered. End_Page 472------------------------------ Reservoirs in these abandoned fields are Tertiary sandstones. The 44 abandoned fields in the upper Texas Gulf Coast (District 3) produced from a wide range of plays; those plays with the largest number of abandoned fields are Yegua and Frio deep-seated domes, Eocene deltaic sandstone, and Frio barrier/strand-plain sandstone. The 19 abandoned fields in the middle Texas Gulf Coast (District 2) produced mainly from Wilcox and Frio fluvial/deltaic sandstones and from Frio and Jackson-Yegua barrier/strand-plain sandstones. The lower Texas Gulf Coast (District 4) contains 75 abandoned fields that produced from Frio fluvial/deltaic and barrier/strand-plain sandstones and from Jackson-Yegua barrier/strand-plain sandstones. End_of_Article - Last_Page 473------------

Saturation Distribution and Injection Pressure for A Radial Gas-Storage Reservoir

Abstract A mathematical model is presented and solved for determination of the saturation distribution and pressure in a radial gas-storage reservoir. The model consists basically of two parts:the growing gas-bubble core, andthe surrounding aquifer. Since the total pressure at the injection well is a function of the two-phase flow in the gas bubble and the unsteady single-phase flow in the aquifer, the resistance to flow in both zones was taken into consideration. The assumptions involved for both the radial equivalent of the Buckley-Leverett two-phase-flow equation and the injection-pressure equation are as follows:the geometry is radial,the gas bubble is free to expand or contract,compression or expansion of the gas within the bubble may occur at the beginning of a time step,the fluids are immiscible,water is incompressible within the gas-storage region whereas it is compressible outside of this region,a stable gas-water interface exists andgas injection occurs at a constant rate or a series of constant rates. The mathematical model was solved numerically using an IBM 650 computer. A comparison is presented between the predicted results of the model, the results assuming steady-state flow and the actual initial injection-pressure history of an operating reservoir. Using the initial field pressure for a basis, the average deviation between the predicted pressure and the actual field pressure was less than 4.3 per cent. Introduction Underground storage of natural gas in abandoned oil fields, in abandoned coal mines, in caverns and in aquifers has had varying degrees of success. The lack of these first three facilities in the vicinity of most major gas marketing areas is leading more and more to storage in virgin aquifers. For the most part, this storage in aquifers has led to the study upon which this paper is based. Several excellent papers have been published discussing the problems involved in the underground storage of natural gas; however, to these writers' knowledge, none of them considered the two-phase flow of fluids in the gas bubble and the fact that the gas bubble will grow or shrink in size depending upon the injection and withdrawal history of the reservoir. Not only will both of these factors influence the required injection pressure, but also they will have a definite bearing upon the amount of water production occurring upon withdrawal from the storage area. To solve this problem on an IBM 650 computer, several simplifying assumptions were made. Only the drainage portion of the relative-permeability curve was considered, thereby neglecting any hysteresis effects introduced during an imbibition cycle. The quantity of gas withdrawn during the period of the field study was only a small percentage of the total gas in place; therefore, this assumption is justified. For the problem studied in this case, the combined effects of capillarity and gravity were assumed to be negligible. This assumption becomes less valid as the formation thickness or the average pore diameter increases markedly. The justification of these assumptions should be studied in each case. THEORY This mathematical model for the prediction of saturation distribution and pressure for a radial gas-storage aquifer is based upon the equations for radial two-phase fluid flow and for radial, unsteady-state, single-phase fluid flow. The two-phase flow is considered to take place in a "core" whose radius is equal to the maximum radius that the gas zone will attain, as indicated in Fig. 1. The injection-withdrawal history is approximated by a series of constant flow rates. Within the "core", gas is assumed to behave as a semi-compressible fluid; that is, the gas is assumed to have a constant density based on the average gas-zone pressure for the flow period. Between each constant-rate time increment, the gas density is allowed to change. This involves an iterative solution of the pressure equation. The liquid phase in this zone is considered to be incompressible, whereas it behaves as a compressible liquid outside of this region. JPT P. 1389^