Mexico Oil Research Articles

High-Pressure Data and Modeling Results for Phase Behavior and Asphaltene Onsets of Gulf of Mexico Oil Mixed With Nitrogen

Summary This paper presents fluid composition, high-pressure pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) measurements, and equation-of-state (EoS) modeling results for a recombined Tahiti oil, Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and for the oil mixed with nitrogen in various concentrations. The data include: Upper and lower asphaltene onset pressures and bubblepoint pressures for the reservoir fluid swelled with nitrogen. At the reservoir conditions of 94 MPa (13,634 psia) and 94°C (201.2°F), asphaltene precipitation is seen after the addition of 27 mol% of nitrogen. Viscosity data for the swelled fluids showing that the addition of nitrogen significantly reduces the oil viscosity. Slimtube runs indicating that the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of the oil with nitrogen is significantly higher than estimated from published correlations. The data were modeled with the volume-corrected Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) EoS and the perturbed-chain statistical association fluid theory (PC-SAFT) EoS. Although both equations provide a good match of the PVT properties of the reservoir fluid, PC-SAFT is superior to the SRK EoS for simulating the upper asphaltene onset pressures and the liquid-phase compressibility of the reservoir fluid swelled with nitrogen. Nitrogen-gas flooding is expected to have a positive impact on oil recovery because of its favorable oil-viscosity-reduction and phase behavior effects.

Chemical dispersants used in the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis are cytotoxic and genotoxic to sperm whale skin cells

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico drew attention to the need for toxicological studies of chemical dispersants. We are still learning the effects these spills had on wildlife. Little is known about the toxicity of these substances in marine mammals. The objective of this study was to determine the toxicity of the two dispersants (Corexit 9500 and 9527). Corexit 9500 and 9527 were both cytotoxic to sperm whale skin fibroblasts. Corexit 9527 was less cytotoxic than 9500. S9 mediated metabolism did not alter cytotoxicity of either dispersant. Both dispersants were genotoxic to sperm whale skin fibroblasts; S9 mediated metabolism increased Corexit 9527 genotoxicity.

Submersible Optical Sensors Exposed to Chemically Dispersed Crude Oil: Wave Tank Simulations for Improved Oil Spill Monitoring

In situ fluorometers were deployed during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Gulf of Mexico oil spill to track the subsea oil plume. Uncertainties regarding instrument specifications and capabilities necessitated performance testing of sensors exposed to simulated, dispersed oil plumes. Dynamic ranges of the Chelsea Technologies Group AQUAtracka, Turner Designs Cyclops, Satlantic SUNA and WET Labs, Inc. ECO, exposed to fresh and artificially weathered crude oil, were determined. Sensors were standardized against known oil volumes and total petroleum hydrocarbons and benzene-toluene-ethylbenzene-xylene measurements-both collected during spills, providing oil estimates during wave tank dilution experiments. All sensors estimated oil concentrations down to 300 ppb oil, refuting previous reports. Sensor performance results assist interpretation of DWH oil spill data and formulating future protocols.

The people side of process safety

During the past decade, the oil and gas industry has experienced frequent disasters. As evidenced by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well disaster, safety excellence is yet to be achieved. In response to these events, various investigations have led to the publication of recommendations, both for the involved parties and for the wider industry. A key recommendation from the Texas City Refinery disaster highlighted the need to distinguish carefully between process safety and personal safety, and to manage these two types of safety differently (Hopkins, 2011). While it is acknowledged that personal safety systems are far from the silver bullet for managing risk, from the events of the past decade, it is clear that processes and systems are only as good as the people who run them and that there is a need to integrate person and process based safety approaches. We need to consider how the person component interacts with the processes for safety and the ultimate role that individuals and groups within organisations play in the success of our safety interventions. If a process safety initiative is conceptualised similarly to other organisational interventions, people play a significant role in determining the success of a process safety initiative. To illustrate this concept, this presentation demonstrates how applying key concepts from the disciplines of organisational psychology (e.g. change management), social psychology (e.g. team dynamics), and cognitive psychology (e.g. thinking patterns and habits) can make process safety initiatives more effective.

Wicked Problems in Technical Communication

This article develops a framework for rhetorical inquiry that builds on the concept of wicked problems as conceptualized through social policy and design studies research. Responding to technical communication scholarship that calls for increased engagement with public issues and controversies, the author specifically discusses a writing course that used the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a basis for teaching problem-based rhetorical invention, document production, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional development. The framework described in this article ultimately offers a heuristic for students to research and write about ill-defined problems that must be addressed in time but that demand sustained engagement over time—activities that begin in the classroom but ideally continue to develop throughout their personal and professional lives.

Severe Slugging in Air-Water Hybrid Riser System

In the subsea pipeline gathering system, severe slugging flow is prone to occur. Severe slugging flow brings major threat to production and flow assurance in oil and gas industry due to periodical pressure oscillation and large liquid volume. Currently many researchers pay much more attention on L-shaped riser, catenaries, and S-shaped riser; little research has been made on hybrid riser, which is applied in the Africa West and Gulf of Mexico oil fields. Flow characteristics simulation for hybrid riser is made in this paper, using the one-dimensional and quasi-equilibrium model to simulate not only the riser-base pressure, severe slugging period, and the liquid slug length of the whole system but also base-pressure in the flexible pipe section. The calculated results match well with the experiment data. Besides, the influence of flexible pipe to the severe slugging characteristics of hybrid riser system is analyzed, which are significant for the determination of riser structure.

Public Perception of Ocean Governance and Marine Resources Management in Taiwan

Understanding public perception of the oceans, and relationship between society and the sea is an important key to the sustainable management of marine resources. This research reports the first population-based survey on Taiwanese public knowledge, attitudes, and actions on marine-related issues. The stratified random sampling by county was completed with 1,120 telephone respondents from October to December 2010. More than 60% of the respondents have heard about global warming, sea-level rising, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the coral reef bleaching crisis, and Japan whaling fisheries. However, less than 20% of the respondents are aware of Taiwanese domestic marine policies, such as the Ocean White Paper. On resources conservation, 74.7% of the respondents support the bluefin tuna catches regulations and 76.6% agree that the shark fin fisheries will impact shark resources. Education and age are the major affecting variables for resource conservation and knowledge. Higher education and age 40–49 are most supportive of conservation measures. For marine recreational activities, 42.2% of the respondents can swim, and 44.2% of the respondents had not visited the beach in the previous year. The results suggest that the government could establish a specialized agency to strengthen its marine policy and take more actions to protect ocean environment and conserve marine resources. To encourage more Taiwanese to participate in ocean recreational activities, the government could build a safe facility for marine recreation, cooperate with the private sectors in education, and provide outreach to raise public awareness of the oceans.

Rhetorical Framing in Corporate Press Releases: The Case of British Petroleum and the Gulf Oil Spill

This article examines how British Petroleum (BP) used conventional features of the press release genre to characterize its involvement in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Findings suggest that press releases served two related functions: individually, they highlighted the company's public attempts to stabilize a dynamic situation and take responsibility for seemingly positive developments in the coastal region; and together, they contribute to an evolving narrative through which BP attempted to craft its image as an innovative corporation, conscientious environmental agent, and generous benefactor to those affected by the spill. The author argues that the features of the press release genre contribute to strategic rhetorical framing and thus offer important insights into the ways in which organizations position themselves in relation to environmental crises.

Potential of biodiesel from waste cooking oil in Mexico

The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential use of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil (WCO) in Mexico and its CO2 emission reduction potential for the Mexican transport sector and associated costs. The results show, based on 2010 data, that the potential of biodiesel from WCO is between 7.8 PJ and 17.7 PJ that represent between 1.5% and 3.3% of petro-diesel consumption for the road transport sector and can reduce between 0.51 and 1.02 Mt of CO2, (1.0%–2.7% of CO2-associated emissions), depending on the recovery ratio of WCO from vegetable oil consumption for cooking and considering CO2 emissions for biodiesel production and methanol emissions during production and combustion in the blend. Primary energy used to produce 1 MJ of WCO-biodiesel is 0.8727 MJ, while literature reports 1.2007 MJ to produce 1 MJ of petro-diesel. Biodiesel costs are similar to petro-diesel costs if WCO is free. The paper offers suggestions for policies that promote increased recollection of WCO for biodiesel production and reduced illegal marketing of WCO, which is the main barrier to increase biodiesel production from WCO. The data used for the analysis is based on a case study of a WCO biodiesel plant that operates in Mexico City.

Crude Oil Sorption by Raw Cotton

Since the recent Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the need for environmentally friendly oil sorbents has intensified. This study deals with the sorption of crude oil by raw cotton, a biodegradable sorbent. To our best knowledge, the data related to crude oil sorption by unprocessed raw cotton and correlation with cotton characteristics such as micronaire, fineness, and maturity are unavailable. More importantly, our work quantifies the oil sorption (g/g) of low micronaire (immature) cotton. Results showed at the minimum level, low micronaire raw cotton has 30.5 g/g crude oil sorption capacity. Furthermore, the crude oil sorption capacity of low micronaire cotton was significantly higher than the sorption capacity of high micronaire cotton. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and environmental scanning electron microscopy analyses support the correlation between the quality characteristics of raw cotton and its oil sorption capacity. In contrast to synthetic sorbents, raw cotton with its h...

Media-Induced Or Search-Driven?

In an effort to advance knowledge of the online agenda-setting process during a trigger event, this longitudinal macro-level study explores the over-time relationship between US news media attention and aggregate search interest of the online public in BP plc throughout the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. The results provide strong evidence of an interactive two-way street in the transfer of salience between the media and search agendas. In addition to slower-moving, basic agenda-setting effects of news coverage volumes on aggregate search query volumes, this study documents an instance of faster-moving “reverse agenda setting” with the news media responding to search trends during the prolonged oil spill disaster. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

New Mexico Oil and Gas Update

No opinions were issued by the New Mexico Supreme Court during the survey period relating to oil and gas law. However, on August 24, 2012, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued its opinions in Edwin Smith, L.L.C. v. Synergy Operating2 and ConocoPhillips Company v. Patrick H. Lyons, both of which involve oil and gas properties. The Lyons opinion touched on a number of significant oil and gas issues, including the implied duty to market and the marketable condition rule in New Mexico, but again declined to address the marketable condition rule as unnecessary given the statutory origin of the state lease forms at issue. Even more significantly, the New Mexico Supreme Court requested briefing on, but as of the date of this review has not yet ruled on, whether it will accept the case for reconsideration.

Geophysical records of anthropogenic sinkhole formation in the Delaware Basin region, Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, USA

A significant minority of sinkholes that formed in gypsum bedrock in the Delaware Basin region are of human origin. These anthropogenic sinkholes are often associated with improperly cased abandoned oil wells or with solution mining of salt beds in the shallow subsurface. In July 2008, a sinkhole formed abruptly at the site of a brine well in northern Eddy Co., New Mexico. The well operator had been injecting fresh water into underlying salt beds and pumping out the resulting brine for use as oil field drilling fluid. Borehole problems had prevented the operator from conducting required downhole sonar surveys to assess the dimensions of subsurface void space. The resulting sinkhole formed in just a few hours by catastrophic collapse of overlying mudstone and gypsum and in less than 1 month had reached a diameter of 111 m and a depth of 64 m. Fortuitously, a seismometer had been deployed 13 km southeast of the brine well a few months earlier and precursor events were captured on the seismograph record a few hours before the subsurface cavity breached the surface. Four months later, another sinkhole collapse occurred in northern Eddy Co., again associated with a brine well operation. These events prompted the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division to review its regulations regarding brine well operations in the southeastern New Mexico oil fields. A third brine well within the city limits of Carlsbad, N. Mex., has been shut down to forestall possible sinkhole development in this more densely populated area. Electrical resistivity surveys have been conducted adjacent to the Eddy Co. sinkholes to assess the potential for additional subsidence or collapse events in the future.

La Huasteca colonizada por la explotación petrolera. Tampico, una novela

This article is part of a broad research on reviews narrative over oil and social life in modern Mexico. Te saga starts in the second half of the twenties of the last century, and no wonders that the initial stories were written by foreign authors. One of the first novels focused in Mexican Petroleum, from the American Joseph Hergesheimer is Tampico, published in 1926 and translated to Spanish in 1929. Te present essay intends to present a writer and a novel scarcely known in the Mexican cultural field. Tampico’s textual analysis shows its internal organization, and the colonizing ideology that sustains it.

Parameter identification in the biodesulphurization of an exhaust catalyst

Natural gas contains a small percentage of hydrogen sulphide which should be recovered, before the fuel distribution, since it is a toxic and corrosive component. Sulphur recovery is usually done from a catalysis process where an adsorbent material removes the sulphide from the natural gas. Since this process works continuously with large input flow rates, the catalyst reaches a saturation state and it should be substituted and/or reactivated. Chemical are the most used method for the reactivation of such catalysts; nevertheless alternative methods have been explored from some years ago. In this work a biological method is studied in order to remove the sulphur from an exhaust catalyst used in the Pemex (the Company which manage oil and natural gas in Mexico) sulphur recovery plants. A kinetic analysis is done and a mathematical model, including parameter identification, for Thiosphaera pantotropha is presented. Experimental data from a laboratory set-up are employed to do this study. A removing of around 80% of the sulphide from the exhaust catalyst is obtained from preliminary laboratory experiments. These results are comparable with the reported in the literature and can be used for a future scaling procedure.

Public perceptions of the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Personal experiences, information sources, and social context

The 2010 British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill highlighted long-standing questions about energy exploration and its social and environmental implications. Sociologists studying environmental disasters have documented the social impacts resulting from these events and dissatisfaction with government and industry responses. In this paper, we use data from a survey conducted during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to examine how Louisiana and Florida residents' social backgrounds, experiences with the spill, and trust in information sources predict their perceptions of governmental and BP response efforts. We find that direct personal impacts and compensation strongly influence the evaluations of responding organizations. Age and place of residence also predict such assessments. Finally, levels of confidence in television news and BP as sources of information appear to shape Gulf Coast residents' opinions about the work of organizations responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Loop Current eddy merger exposed by satellites during Gulf of Mexico oil spill

The clockwise flow of water that extends northward into the Gulf of Mexico known as the Loop Current, and its associated eddies, regularly produces strong currents of 2–4 knots in the northern Gulf. Cyclonic (i.e., counterclockwise rotating) eddies, migrating along its outer margin, are difficult to study due to their rapid and unpredictable growth and propagation, as well as persistent cloud cover. We have found that night-time midinfrared satellite images obtained every 30 minutes from geostationary satellites used to quantify sea surface temperature, superimposed with daily updated gridded sea surface height data based on several satellite altimeters, allows us to track the Loop Current and cyclonic eddiesmore effectively than previous methods.1, 2 During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we assessed daily changes in the motion of the Loop Current, its cyclonic eddies (called Loop Current frontal eddies), and detached anticyclonic eddies by analyzing daily-updatedmaps of sea surface temperatures and heights. We used ship-board acoustic Doppler current profiler current measurements and time-series positions from satellite-tracked Global Positioning System (GPS) buoys to validate our satellite data interpretations.3 Surface oil is often mapped using readily available passive radiometric optical imaging, such as ‘true-color’ images from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors (see Figure 1). During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill these data were useful, but not totally reliable due to solar interference with the optical sensors. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors proved more valuable, as the backscatter signal is very sensitive to surface oil and is usable in all weather, day Figure 1. Top: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ‘true-color’ image depicting the offshore entrainment of the Deepwater Horizon oil toward the Loop Current front on 17May 2010. Middle: Radarsat-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image also depicting the surface oil on 17May 2010. Bottom: Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite East (GOES-East) sea surface temperature image depicting the Loop Current and the large merged cyclone north of the Loop Current on 17–19 May 2010. Superimposed on the color-coded sea surface temperatures are the oiled area, traced from the

Alleviating the negative impact of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil leaks on the physical and psychological health of ethnic minority immigrants: A Vietnamese case study.

The disproportionate impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico on ethnic minorities, particularly the English literacy–challenged populations (e.g., Vietnamese) is an important public health concern. An understanding of the etiology and manifestation of disaster-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) promotes community resiliency. In emergency situations, socioeconomically marginalized ethnic minorities who are not fluent in English are at a disadvantage. These individuals often face economic and social barriers due to their limited-English-proficient (LEP) communication with government personnel, lack of scientific knowledge about the environmental hazards, and limited access to mental health care during postdisaster events. The objective of this commentary is to examine the potential impact of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Leaks on the physical and psychological health of Vietnamese ethnic minority residents living in the emergency-impact area. The article first provides a...

How Technology Is Radically Reshaping Supply, Demand, and the Energy of Geopolitics

Guest editorial To understand how radically the energy industry is changing, consider this: The United States is the number one producer of natural gas in the world. Given appropriate policy and smart investments, it could eventually attain energy independence. What is driving this energy revolution? Technology. Cutting-edge hardware and software are unlocking geological potential in places and ways hardly imaginable even a few years ago, and energy companies now rank among the most important—and sophisticated—technology pioneers in the world. Great Game 2.0 and the Power of One The global energy map has been redrawn and expanded by technology. Whereas the “Great Game”—the often violent scramble among nations for control of territories harboring energy reserves—is still relevant, today it has become equally, if not more, important to control the technology assets, the hardware, and the software. Thus, the game has changed. New technologies have empowered nations, and they have made corporations and individuals active participants in the energy game. Smart meters, the Internet, and advanced software allow individuals to fine-tune energy consumption, underscoring the “Power of One”—the ability of every person to proactively manage his or her energy consumption and carbon footprint. This generational change is a function of heightened awareness of the impact of energy consumption on household expenses, foreign policy, and the environment. Energy consumption is no longer an economic act; it is becoming a conscious act and an act of conscience. By understanding and managing energy use, individuals can save money, companies can increase profits, and both can lessen their environmental impact. Everyone wins. Danger Ahead—A License to Operate? The breakneck pace of the energy technology revolution has likely masked inherent risks, especially in terms of the environment and public reaction. The expansion of hydraulic fracturing and the accelerated production of the Canadian oil sands coincided with the global economic crisis that began in 2008. This initially blunted reaction to potential dangers of new energy technologies, because the general public was absorbed by its core economic concerns and thus inclined to think more about the savings from less expensive energy than about environmental concerns. Essentially, in the competition between desire for cheaper energy and fear of the eco-consequences of fossil fuels, desire was at the forefront. Today, environmental concerns are again front and center because of the recent series of energy-linked environmental challenges and public concerns: the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Fukushima nuclear incident, the controversy over hydraulic fracturing, and more. The unsettled nature of these concerns means companies still have not secured a free and clear “license to operate” from the public. Our knowledge of the potential and consequences of new technologies is in its infancy. “The Great Game 2.0” may well decide which countries and companies emerge as enduring powers in the 21st century.

Symbolic Action Through Microblogging During and After a Crisis: Tweeting the Oil Spill

This paper examines how microblogging practices (the writing and broadcasting very short messages online through services such as Twitter) shape symbolic action during and in the aftermaths of a crisis. Symbolic action is especially crucial in crises contexts. Microblogging has recently become one of the most significant aspects of the “Web 2.0” generation of tools and has in particular been hailed as having had impacts in recent critical events and social uprisings. We conceptualize that microblogging practices might shape symbolic action in times of crises through four distinct but interrelated roles of: information sharing, sensemaking, community building, and activism. We examine instantiations of these roles over time in the case study of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. To do so, we collected and analyzed more than 75,000 tweets posted from April 20th, 2010 to November 30th 2011. Our analysis combines descriptive quantitative analyses, word cloud visualization techniques and an interpretive narrative. We draw implications of this research for the understanding of changes in the public sphere with microblogging and more generally social media in the context of crises.