Barrels Of Oil Research Articles

Lessons Learned from a Prematurely Ended High-Pressure Air Injection Test in a Light Oil Naturally Fractured Reservoir

Summary Sixty billion barrels of oil still reside in the matrix of mature onshore and offshore Mexican reservoirs located in the southeast basins after primary and secondary recovery. Capillary and viscous forces are responsible for this amount of oil retained within the pore structure of the matrix (immobile oil). Gravitational forces are not enough to counterattack these forces due to the high fracturing intensity. On the other hand, laboratory testing demonstrates that oil residing in the matrix could be mobilized by the exothermic reaction that takes place with air injection. Air injection in homogeneous heavy and light oil sandstones and nonfractured limestones, at small or large scales during short and long periods of time, is feasible for producing resources technically and economically nonrecoverable by other means. However, to the best of our knowledge, the published literature does not report any application of an air injection project in naturally fractured reservoirs. During 2015, an air injection pilot test was performed in a light oil naturally fractured reservoir in Mexico, referred to as “A” field. The implementation of the pilot test was preceded by its corresponding laboratory study, which consisted of five accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) tests and two combustion tube (CT) experiments. The analysis of the aforementioned experimental work led us to corroborate that air and oil react at reservoir conditions. Based on the above finding, the pilot test was conducted by injecting air at a rate of 10 MMscf/D with a wellhead pressure of 4,500 psia for 1.5 years, which was followed by a 1.5-year production period giving a total of 3 years for the pilot test. The results indicate that combustion was successfully applied in the reservoir. However, no oil was produced. This paper discusses the results of a prematurely ended air injection pilot test in “A” field and the main lessons learned from it, which could help in the design and its subsequent implementation in other naturally fractured reservoirs.

The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Impact of Passenger air Transport in Europe on Crude Oil Prices in Terms of Economic Security

The study presents a multidimensional comparative analysis of two dependent variables: the number of passengers transported by air in 28 European countries and the price of one barrel of crude oil in dollars. The conducted analysis shows that in the historical data concerning the identical periods (months) in both tested series, dependencies can be found. This allowed for the construction of a zero-one multiple regression model in order to confirm the impact of the number of passengers travelling by air on the price of one barrel of crude oil and describe this phenomenon with an analytical function.

Reservoir Description, Diagenesis and Reservoir Quality of the Deep Marine Sediments in the Propagation Stage of Rift Basin

The exploration and exploitation of the downthrown side of the productive upthrown Pre-rifting reservoirs at the Gulf of Suez marked bring a renaissance to the rift basin Exploration. This work documents the reservoir performance, trap geometry, and structural style of the downthrown deep marine stratigraphic entrapment. In addition, it outlines the requirements necessary beyond the production mitigations and limits. To gain better understanding of Asl Formation (deep marine) reservoir characteristics early in the exploration program, Asl Formation was cored in the north October J-5 well. A continuous 366- foot (112m) core was recovered including the main reservoir interval, which is producing over 12,000 barrel of oil per day. The J-5 Asl Formation has been interpreted as a synthetic, mixed clastic-carbonate turbidity deposit. Three major lithofacies described are recognizable on electric log. These are sandstone, shale and carbonates. The sandstones dominate the lower portion of the core and are the main oil producing section. Sandstone porosity and permeability range from 17 to 27% and 30 millidarcies to 3 darcies, respectively. Compared to the sandstone, the carbonate turbidites have poorer reservoir quality. They dominate the upper portion of the core and are composed of coarse fossil debris, silica framework grains and rock fragments. Horizontal and vertical permeabilities with rock types. Both the sandstone and carbonate sections of the J-5 core have experienced a complex diagenetic history. Deposition of the cored interval was initiated by a convulsive geological event such as flashflood or earthquake. These events would likely generate sufficient energy for mobilization of onshore and/or near shore sediments into multiple gravity flows having regional extent. The reservoir quality is controlled by a combination of primary depositional fabric and subsequent diagenetic modification. This research work can guide future exploration of reservoir-prone deep marine deposits in the Red Sea Rift and provide a reference for the subsurface deep-water reservoir quality analysis in the propagation stage in the Rift Basins.

GHG Emissions by (Petro)Chemical Processes and Decarbonization Priorities—A Review

Global warming is becoming an increasing issue, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represent the engine of such a phenomenon. This review aims to identify the origin of GHG emissions and focus in detail on the ones related to (petro) chemical industries. The industrial sector is the primary GHG emitter among all the other anthropogenic sources. The chemical industry is the first in charge of that (having accounted for about 6.5% of the global GHG emissions in 2018). Thought-provoking data such as yearly productivities and emission factors related to the predominant chemicals prompt the reader to acquire a sense of the critical activities responsible for carbon-intensive emissions, which should be the first to be decarbonized. Specifically, ammonia synthesis and steam cracking resulted in the most polluting processes of the chemical industry, being responsible for the release of about 440 and 228 Mt-CO2,eq/y, respectively, in 2020. The same approach also applies to oil refining. Due to the massive amounts of oil barrels produced daily, oil refining is a key player in industrial GHG emissions (about 3% of the global emissions in 2018). Indeed, in 2020, refineries emitted nearly 1313 Mt-CO2,eq/y.

(Europe Section Alessandro Volta Award) From the Oil Barrel to Reactive Metals: An Approach to the Energy Transition

Our society is facing a millennial challenge to slow down global warming below 2 °C in the long term.[1] Ambitious policy frameworks and policy intentions are a must to achieve this target. In fact, analyzing the status quo, International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that the related carbon dioxide tra- jectories are not compatible with the climate targets, even if current policy commitments and pledges by governments are implemented.[2,3] The challenging issues are the limited use of renewables, merely considered for power generation, but only marginally addressing other carbon-intensive industrial sectors (e.g., cement, steel, smelting), and the practical reduction of CO2 emissions from the transport sector.Reactive metal-based storage systems are a new alternative to support the clean energy transition. Herein, the cases of Al and Na are presented, both preliminarily fulfilling the constraints regarding sustainability, but employing two rather different processes. Both, the steam combustion of molten Al for H2 and heat production,[4,5] and a new rechargeable battery, which makes use of seawater and sodium as electrodes, show promising round-trip efficiencies.[6] The latter technology also allows CO2-trapping, desalination, Na metal, and chlorine production. It is argued that further research efforts are needed to verify the sustainability and ability of reactive metal-based technologies to compete with other storage technologies.

Оценка влияния налогообложения выбросов СО2 на российскую отрасль нефтедобычи

The impact of hypothetical restrictions on fossil fuel consumption, implemented through the introduction of a tax on CO2 emissions in the global economy and certain regions, on oil production by Russia, OPEC, and eight other major oil producers is assessed in this article. The first part of this study reviews the current literature on taxation of emissions in the global economy. Approaches to modelling such a policy and the problem of choosing the trajectory of the tax rate are analyzed, as are the main conclusions, consequences, and recommendations for the economic policy of oil exporting countries. Approaches to modelling pricing in the oil market are considered separately. The analysis shows that the premise of oligopolistic strategic interaction of oil exporters plays an important role in modelling the oil market. Subsequently, a model of strategic interaction between countries in the oil market is built according to the Cournot model. This model is calibrated using data on the parameter of demand as well as supply, including the production costs of individual exporting countries according to Rystad. Twelve scenarios for taxation of the industry through the introduction of a tax on CO2 emissions in the amount of $25, $50 and $75 dollars per ton of emissions are built. It is assumed that this tax is converted into a tax on the purchase of oil in proportion to the amount of emissions that are emitted when using each barrel of oil. For each initial value of the tax rate of the tax on emissions, cases are considered when the rate remains unchanged or increases at a constant rate of 1.5% per year. Further, the same options for taxation when applied only by developed countries are also considered. The analysis in this article shows that a gradual increase in the tax rate leads to accelerated oil production. It also reveals the significant role of the spillover effect between markets in the case of the introduction of a tax only in some countries. Thus, with the introduction of a tax of $50 per ton of emissions with an annual growth of 1.5% worldwide, the peak oil price is lower by $29.6 per barrel. With the introduction of such a tax only in developed countries, the fall in oil prices at its peak compared to the baseline scenario without taxation is $18.4 per barrel in the market where a tax was introduced, and $7.8 per barrel in a market that did not impose a tax. It is also indicated that, due to the introduction of the tax, Russia has one of the largest losses in revenue among all oil exporters.

Laboratory to field scale assessment for EOR applicability in tight oil reservoirs

Tight oil reservoirs are contributing a major role to fulfill the overall crude oil needs, especially in the US. However, the dilemma is their ultra-tight permeability and an uneconomically short-lived primary recovery factor. Therefore, the application of EOR in the early reservoir development phase is considered effective for fast-paced and economical tight oil recovery. To achieve these objectives, it is imperative to determine the optimum EOR potential and the best-suited EOR application for every individual tight oil reservoir to maximize its ultimate recovery factor. Since most of the tight oil reservoirs are found in wide spatial source rock with complex and compacted pores and poor geophysical properties yet they hold high saturation of good quality oil and therefore, every single percent increase in oil recovery from such huge reservoirs potentially provide an additional million barrels of oil. Hence, the EOR application in such reservoirs is quite essential. However, the physical understanding of EOR applications in different circumstances from laboratory to field scale is the key to success and similarly, the fundamental physical concepts of fluid flow-dynamics under confinement conditions play an important role. This paper presents a detailed discussion on laboratory-based experimental achievements at micro-scale including fundamental concepts under confinement environment, physics-based numerical studies, and recent actual field piloting experiences based on the U.S. unconventional plays. The objective of this paper is to discuss all the critical reservoir rock and fluid properties and their contribution to reservoir development through massive multi-staged hydraulic fracture networks and the EOR applications. Especially the CO 2 and produced hydrocarbon gas injection through single well-based huff-n-puff operational constraints are discussed in detail both at micro and macro scale.

Impact of the new measures related to the circular economy on the management of agrochemical packaging in Spanish agriculture and the use of biodegradable plastics

BackgroundWaste disposal is an activity that pollutes the environment. The European Union has developed different legislative measures which are based on the circular economy (CE) to avoid this negative externality. The management of agricultural packaging (fertilizers and phytosanitary products) is carried out through Collective Deposit, Return, and Refund Systems (CDRRS). New regulations on waste tax the consumption of non-recyclable plastic in packaging, but also reward the use of plastic by-products from packaging. The administrations recommend using biodegradable plastic in the means of production, as well as establishing a traceability system (TS) to control the proper management of all the generated waste. The proposed measures can affect producer cost accounts. This work aimed to identify and evaluate the existing agricultural packaging management system in Spain. It also studied the influence of the price of a barrel of oil, crop surface, irrigation regime, and the type of subsectors on CDRRS, and quantified the impact of the latest fiscal measures and initiatives proposed by Spanish administrations.ResultsThe generation of agricultural packaging is influenced by variables including the cultivated area, irrigation regime, and agricultural subsector. The price of a barrel of oil directly influences the current by-product utilization system. Using biodegradable plastic or implementing a TS can increase production costs by up to 9.80%. The current system of subsidies to producers can soften the economic impact caused by the additional cost of biodegradable plastic (4.03%), but no subsidies have been foreseen to encourage the use of environmentally friendly alternatives.ConclusionsFindings indicate that public administrations should be guided by the specific characteristics of the different agricultural systems when defining regulations on agricultural waste management. The fixed rate in the current system of subsidies for using plastic by-products obtained from packaging should be substituted for a variable rate. Transferring powers to autonomous communities to define by-products may lead to heterogeneity in the Spanish territory. New measures derived from the recent environmental agreements to comply with the 2030 Agenda will increase production costs even after considering the current aid scheme. The subsidy coefficient should be increased to 80% of the purchase invoice.

Oil Prices and Exchange Rates: Measurement Matters

This paper examines the relevancy of price measurement for characterizing the relation between real oil prices and real exchange rates. The current empirical literature shows a consensus on using the U.S. CPI to deflate the nominal oil price simply because of its numerous advantages. However, reliance on the U.S. CPI assumes that the worldwide alternative to a barrel of oil is the U.S. consumption basket. There are, however, alternative baskets, and I consider two: the price of gold and the IMF Global Commodity Price Index. Inspection of the results reveals that the relation between real oil prices and real exchange rates is sensitive to the choice of deflator for the price of oil and to the use of effective or bilateral exchange rates. Specifically, using the IMF’s Global Commodity Price Index as a deflator reveals that real oil prices and real exchange rates (effective or bilateral) are clustered along a long-run relation with unitary elasticity. Further, this choice of deflator has the lowest forecast errors. To be sure, much work remains to be completed along the lines of measurement and estimation methods. However, extending the results of this paper will emphasize its main point—namely, that measurement matters.

Brief Oil Exposure Reduces Fitness in Wild Gulf of Mexico Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster released 3.19 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2010, overlapping the habitat of pelagic fish populations. Using mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)─a highly migratory marine teleost present in the GOM during the spill─as a model species, laboratory experiments demonstrate injuries to physiology and behavior following oil exposure. However, more than a decade postspill, impacts on wild populations remain unknown. To address this gap, we exposed wild mahi-mahi to crude oil or control conditions onboard a research vessel, collected fin clip samples, and tagged them with electronic tags prior to release into the GOM. We demonstrate profound effects on survival and reproduction in the wild. In addition to significant changes in gene expression profiles and predation mortality, we documented altered acceleration and habitat use in the first 8 days oil-exposed individuals were at liberty as well as a cessation of apparent spawning activity for at least 37 days. These data reveal that even a brief and low-dose exposure to crude oil impairs fitness in wild mahi-mahi. These findings offer new perspectives on the lasting impacts of the DWH blowout and provide insight about the impacts of future deep-sea oil spills.

Using pore system characterization to subdivide the burgeoning Uteland Butte Play, Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

Over 240 horizontal wells with highly variable production results have been drilled in the Uteland Butte member (UBm) of the lower Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah. The best wells have each produced more than 300,000 barrels of oil in the first 12 months of production, with conservative Estimated Ultimate Recoveries (EURs) for several wells above a million barrels. Conversely, the poorest UBm wells have initial production rates of less than 10,000 barrels of oil in the first year and will never recoup their drilling costs. Pore pressure, oil viscosity, well length, and well completion are recognized as important controls on well productivity. Less understood, but of equal importance, is the variability in reservoir types across the UBm play. The UBm can be divided into sub-plays by district using the dominant pore systems in each area. We defined four distinct sub-plays within the Uinta Basin: 1) intergranular-dominated porosity, 2) intercrystalline- pore-dominated dolomite, 3) mixed intercrystalline-organic porosity, and 4) organic porosity. Reservoirs in the intergranular-dominated porosity sub-play are mostly present in the form of nearshore siliciclastic and carbonate bars, such as ooid and ostracod shoals, fluvial mouth bars, and nearshore siliciclastic bars. The normal pressure and charge in these reservoirs are due to hydrocarbon migration out of the deeper basin. Source rocks in this sub-play have an average maturity of 0.5 to 0.7 vitrinite reflectance (VRo), too low for mainstage oil generation for these lacustrine shales (Ruble and others, 2001), and produce highly viscous black wax with very low gas-to-oil ratios (GORs). To date, horizontal wells drilled in this sub-play have not been economically successful. The intercrystalline-pore-dominated sub-play consists of thin (<2 to 8+ feet), laterally continuous, high-porosity dolomites that act as the best reservoirs. The reservoir is normally to slightly overpressured and is predominately charged with hydrocarbons that migrated out of the deeper basin. This sub-play was the first to be drilled horizontally, with the dolomite beds being identified as the highest quality targets. The UBm is thick in the intercrystalline-pore-dominated fairway, consisting of over 130 feet of carbonates and black shales, with only a fraction of the interval being high-porosity dolomites. This sub-play has an average VRo of 0.6 to 0.8, still too low for mainstage oil generation in these rocks and produces a migrated black wax with low GORs. The mixed intercrystalline-organic porosity sub-play is largely self-sourced and significantly overpressured. This sub-play has the thickest gross section and is dominated by thin dolomite beds, thicker argillaceous limestones, and thicker shaley beds, with the latter units contributing significant production. Maturities in this sub-play range from 0.8 to 1.0 VRo. This sub-play produces a yellow to gray wax with moderate GORs. Finally, the organic-porosity-dominated sub-play is highly overpressured and completely self-sourced. There is relatively little reservoir-quality dolomite, the limestones are more argillaceous, and the organic-rich carbonate shales are thicker. The productive reservoir in this sub-play consists of organic porosity largely contained in bitumen that has been expelled at lower maturity, then continued to thermally degrade with higher maturity, converting to zones of interconnected organic porosity. Maturities range from 1.0 to 1.2 VRo and the hydrocarbons produced are a bright yellow wax with relatively high GORs. To be economically developed, each of these sub-plays requires individually tailored drilling, completion, and production strategies. By recognizing the important differences these pore systems exert on best development practices and then accurately mapping them across the basin, operators, interest owners, and regulatory agencies can more efficiently plan operations.

E&P Notes (September 2022)

E&P Notes (September 2022)

Big Fracs That Add More Oil May Also Mean More Water, and That Can Be All Right

A few years ago, Occidental Petroleum managers were puzzled by why their recent Permian Basin wells were producing more water per barrel of oil, so they asked some engineers to figure out what was wrong. Their concern was understandable. While the company’s well evaluation system was supposed to screen out prospects likely to become big water producers, the amount of water flowing out of wells in the Delaware Basin drilled after 2018 far exceeded volumes from previous years. “We found that newer wells had a steeper increase in water cut over time than older wells,” the coauthors of an Occidental paper wrote about the work done to answer the question. They added, that “pre-2018 wells had an average water cut increase of 4% in the first 300 days (after cleanup) and then stayed relatively flat after 300 days, whereas post-2018 wells’ water cut increased at an average of 12% in the first 300 days and 16% in the first 600 days before reaching a plateau” (URTeC 3720245). Those trends, plus wells ultimately reaching an 80% water cut, suggested that a string of wells may have been drilled into water aquifers. While that is a risk in the Permian, the evidence suggests that the geology in the wells they compared was similar before and after 2018, even though the water cut levels were not. A big difference was how the wells were fractured. In 2018 Occidental began doing bigger fracturing jobs, using more water and sand per foot, which increased the number of stages and fracturing clusters. Those changes added oil production because “high conductivity speeds production and enhances the well’s net present value,” said Samuel Amadi, a senior reservoir engineering advisor for Occidental, while presenting the paper at the recent Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC). Based on production records, the water/oil ratio also was higher. Using data from comparable wells before and after the completion design changes, a model was created that quantified the relationships between fracturing designs and the oil, water, and natural gas flowing out of Occidental wells. “One recurring observation in all these completion scenarios is that a better-completed well will have higher fluid withdrawal and a steeper water cut trend after cleanup than a poorly completed well for the same reservoir and operating conditions,” the paper’s authors wrote. A coauthor, Xueying Xie, principal and manager of unconventional recovery design at Occidental, added that based on her team’s simulations, “we know we are not doing something wrong. This is doing a better job. It speeds production.” But unlike a well drilled through a fault connecting it to an aquifer, there was a limit to the water produced from these extremely tight formations. Like the oil production in more aggressively completed wells, the water production peaked at a higher level than the less intensely fractured wells but declined over time to a similar level. “On the water production side, just the pace changes,” Xie said.

The Conundrums of Illicit Crude Oil Refineries in Nigeria and Its Debilitating Effects on Nigeria’s Economy: A Legal Approach

Nigeria’s oil industry encounters crude oil theft in commercial quantities, which is often exported to neighbouring countries. This has occasioned a loss of revenue and has caused environmental pollution due to oil spillages. There is a need for a stringent legal framework to combat the menace caused by incessant crude oil thefts, pipeline vandalisation by militants, and inadequate maintenance of existing crude oil refineries. The study adopts doctrinal legal research methods and a conceptual approach with the consideration of primary and secondary sources of law, for instance, the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI Act 2007, International Conventions, law textbooks and peer-reviewed journals. The justification for using the method was to establish the trustworthiness of the findings on illicit crude oil refineries. The findings reveal that the Nigerian government has lost more than 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily valued at USD six billion as a result of crude oil theft. This has reduced oil revenues, which ought to have added to the national treasury. The Petroleum Production and Distribution (Anti-Sabotage Act) 2007, which proscribes disruption of petroleum products in Nigeria, has not been diligently enforced. There is also an absence of a specific oil and gas legal framework criminalising crude oil theft. Section 3(e)(f)(iv) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Act only offers pipeline security as one of the functions of the corps, without distinctly stating the penalties to be imposed on those damaging crude oil pipelines. The study designs a hybrid model for the renovation of the country’s crude oil refineries. It also advocates the need to redefine legal regimes on illegal oil refineries by amending the Petroleum Industry Act to include specifically illegal oil refineries provision and to effectively criminalise crude oil theft. The implications of the main results are as follows: criminalising crude oil theft and pipeline vandalisation with vigorous punishments will serve as deterrence to others in the sector, increase revenues for the government and reduce environmental pollution.

The history of Madison Group exploration and production in the North Dakota Williston Basin with an update on Madison Group source rocks

The Williston Basin has proven to be a global super basin in terms of oil production and reserves (Sonnenberg, 2020). Although recent production in the basin has been dominated by the Middle Member of the Bakken Formation, the Madison Group has yielded over a billion barrels of oil since 1951. The Madison Group consists of the Charles, Mission Canyon, and Lodgepole formations with various members in each. These formations are found in both the United States and Canada and led Williston Basin production until 2008. As with many petroleum plays, the Williston Basin enticed oil men for many decades with the prospect of oil before finally yielding to success. Success, which is so often accompanied by a bit of good fortune, is a matter of finances, persistence, and technology, ultimately paving the way to successful commercial wells. Many factors contributed to the ongoing production results in the basin and include seismic, horizontal drilling, and completion technologies, and of course, good geological assessments. The history of production in the basin is also detailed by the history of petroleum geochemistry. Source rock and oil geochemistry progressed from scratch tests, test tube pyrolysis, and standard physicochemical properties, such as API gravity, to detailed chemical investigations including high resolution gas chromatography and biomarker analysis.

A “Ticking Bomb” Named FSO Safer: Environmental Impact and State Responsibility under the View of International Law of the Sea

Oil spill is known as one of many common environmental disasters. Many oil spill disasters have cost countries and companies around the world huge amount of losses, and most importantly severe environmental damage which is not recoverable. Currently, one of Yemeni ships named FSO Safer is trapped and stranded around 5 miles from the outer coast of Yemen. The ship is carrying around 1 million barrels of crude oil in its storage, unfortunately the ship is currently in a poor condition and unstable, which may cause the largest super tanker oil spill disaster in the history, even worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster. Countries around the world including UN Members are looking for an immediate alternative to mitigate the disaster, as the Yemeni Government is currently in an armed conflict with the Houthi and have a very limited resource. This paper will analyze, which country will be affected by this imminent peril, who shall be responsible for the disaster and whether an exceptional circumstance that surrounds Yemen Government may discharge them for their responsibility as a state. This paper found that, this imminent disaster, will affect most of the countries located in the area of Red Sea, and the responsibility to deal with this imminent disaster are attached to all the affected countries under the UNCLOS 1982, including Yemen without any exception. An international movement initiated by the UN and Yemen Government itself must act immediately to prevent the disaster.

All-Electric Boosting-Control System Simplifies, Improves Operating Processes

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC 31943, “Introduction to New Technology Applications, Data-Acquisition Capabilities, and Features of the All-Electric Boosting Control System,” by Kjetil Bergtun, Carsten Mahler, and Trond Melheim, OneSubsea. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2022 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. The complete paper describes an all-electric system (AES) and how its implementation will simplify operating processes, reduce topside and subsea weight and cost, and lower the risk of hazardous fluids escaping into the ocean. The authors place special focus on the electrical actuators that were introduced in this project as well as the challenges faced during project execution. Vigdis Field The Vigdis field was discovered in 1986 between the Snorre, Statfjord, and Gullfaks fields in the Tampen area of the North Sea. The development consisted of seven subsea templates and two satellite wells producing to the Snorre A (SNA) facility, which contains a dedicated processing module for Vigdis. In 2002 the plan for development and operation of the Vigdis extension was approved. An unprocessed wellstream is transported from Vigdis to the Snorre A platform by two flowlines. Stabilized oil is transported by pipeline from Snorre A to Gullfaks A for storage and export (offloading). The second platform (SNB) in the Snorre field is 11 km north of SNA. The Snorre field is approximately 130 km from the Norwegian coast, nearly at the same latitude as Florø. When the Vigdis field came onstream in 1997, recoverable resources were estimated at 200 million bbl of oil. The field has now produced 394 million bbl, and recoverable resources have been increased to 455 million bbl of oil. Production from the field was limited by the capacity of the production lines and pressure drop across the topside chokes. Reservoir deliverability was limited by low reservoir pressure in some parts of the field, together with increasing water cut, leading to reduced energy into the system, which in turn caused dropping wellhead pressures.

Investigation of the Corrosion Mechanism for Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) Using a Split-Chamber Zero Resistance Ammetry Technique

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is one of the most aggressive forms of corrosion leasing to infrastructure and equipment damage in various industries, including oil and gas, water systems, medical devices, marine environments, nuclear waste storage facilities, and aviation fuel systems and storage. During the last 10 year, PHMSA estimates that MIC has caused 503 internal corrosion incidents at a reported property damage of $188 million and a loss of 53,000 barrels of oil. Some common bacteria associated with MIC are sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), iron and CO2 reducing bacteria and iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria. SRB are generally considered the most aggressive group of bacteria in pipeline systems that causes MIC and pitting, especially of carbon steel in the oil and gas industry. SRB are facultative anaerobes and thrive in anoxic environments, using sulfate as a terminal electron acceptor and producing hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as a metabolic byproduct. Furthermore, SRBs also can reduce both nitrate and thiosulfate and obtain their energy from organic nutrients, such as lactate.Electrochemical techniques to monitor for MIC focus on studying the electrochemical characteristics of the interface or mass transport properties of a system that are modified by the microbiological activities. Polarization sensors, such as the BIOX system or BioGeorge, use polarization based on a galvanic couple between a stainless steel electrode and a sacrificial anode. The measured galvanic current is proportional to biofilm that has grown on the electrode surface. Other electrochemical sensors use electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) or amperometry to measure biofilm thickness by comparing the electrochemical signatures of a reference channel (without bacteria) to a measurement channel (exposed to bacteria); while sensors based on electrochemical resistance use linear polarization measurements to determine the amount of biofilm on an electrode surface. Electro hydrodynamical impedance has also been used to measure the diffusion coefficient in a biofilm and correlate to biofilm growth and thickness. While these approaches can accurately predict the presence and/or thickness of a biofilm on a metal surface, they cannot determine the risk of MIC associated with biofilm formation, as the presence of a biofilm does not necessarily mean that a surface experiences MIC. Additionally, many of the techniques are destructive or require visual examination of the surface after analysis.This work presents a split-chamber zero resistance ammetry (SC-ZRA)-based approach to overcome the limitations to MIC monitoring described above and serve as a screening system to determine the risk of MIC associated with certain microorganisms or groups of microorganisms. Previous work using a split-chamber approach to assess MIC was used by Daumus for the study of stainless steel corrosion in the presence of sulfate reducing bacteria, and subsequently used by Miller et al to evaluate MIC under aerobic, Fe (III)- and nitrate-reducing conditions. In this approach, two identical electrochemical cells (chambers) are separated by an ion-transport membrane. Each chamber contains an identical electrode of the same material which are electrically connected through a zero-resistance ammeter. When one of the chambers is inoculated with microorganisms, the galvanic current between the two electrodes is measured through the zero ammeter. This configuration mimics the microbiologically induced development of localized anodic and cathodic patches on a metal surface that leads to corrosion. The flow of electrons (difference in corrosion current between the two chambers) depends solely on the microbiological activities of bacteria in one of the two chambers, so the influence of the microorganisms on MIC, as well as the extent of corrosion, can be quantified.Using the SC-ZRA technique we were able to characterize the mechanism and electrochemical signatures of SRB corrosion. Specifically, we found that in split-chamber incubations containing an electron donor, electrons flow from the inoculated to the uninoculated chambers. While the current direction could be interpreted as electron transfer such as in a microbial fuel cell, these systems deploy inert graphite electrodes. When used for MIC characterization, the SC-ZRA uses reactive carbon steel electrodes. Indeed, when positive current was detected, greater corrosion was detected on WE1, which is consistent with redox couples, as well as previous work to characterize MIC using SC-ZRA measurements. After depletion of an electron donor, SRB uses electrons from the metals surface as an electron donor reversing the flow of electrons from the uninoculated to the inoculated chamber. In future work, this technique can be used to provide a mechanistic understanding and a monitoring tool for corrosion of metals that are exposed to SRB under a variety of redox regimes.

E&P Notes (July 2022)

E&P Notes (July 2022)

The Effect of Non-Linear Wave on Oil Spill Dispersion

On 31 March 2018, an oil spill accident polluted Balikpapan Bay. A failure occurred in a pipeline running from Penajam to Balikpapan Oil Refinery, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Leaking pipeline caused the total estimated volume of leaked oil to approximate 44,000 Barrels of crude oil. MoTuM was used to simulate the dispersion of oil in the area. The modeling results indicate that a strong dynamic tidal current in the Bay controls the oil’s movement. The MoTuM software is suitable for spill combating, contingency plans, and backtracking. MoTuM is developed in Windows System, which integrates 3D Non-Orthogonal Boundary Fitted Ocean Hydrodynamics Model, Trajectory, Fates, Stochastic, Backtracking in Geographic Information System. This paper presents a further study of the effect of non-linear waves on the dispersion of oil in the Bay. The simulation results were validated by comparing the model with a satellite image. The agreement between the result of simulation and satellite image is excellent and shows that the non-linear wave is an essential factor for oil spill dispersion.