Introduction to
Petroleum
Engineering
What is Petroleum
Engineer?
An engineering discipline concerned with
the activities related to the production of
hydrocarbons, which can be either crude
oil or natural gas.
Considered as sector of the oil and gas
industry, which are the activities of finding
and producing oil and gas.
What is Petroleum
Engineer?
A petroleum engineer is involved in nearly all stages of oil and
gas field evaluation, development and production.
The goal of a petroleum engineer is to maximize hydrocarbon
recovery at a minimum cost while maintaining a strong
emphasis on reducing all associated environmental problems.
Petroleum engineers are divided into several groups:
o Petroleum geologists find hydrocarbons by analysing
subsurface structures with geological and geophysical
methods.
What is Petroleum
o
Engineer?
Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of
oil and gas via proper well placement, production
levels, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.
o Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of
drilling exploratory, production and injection wells. It
also include mud engineer who manage the quality of
drilling fluid.
o Production engineers, including subsurface engineers,
manage the interface between the reservoir and the
well, including perforations, sand control, downhole
flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment;
evaluate artificial lift methods; and also select surface
equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, gas,
and water).
What Does Petroleum
Mean?
Petroleum means ‘rock oil’.
word comes from the
literally TheGreek word ‘petra’
(meaning ‘rock’) and the Latin word
‘oleum’ (meaning ‘oil’).
The word petrol is a shortened version of
‘petroleum’.
Petroleum products are all the substances
made from petroleum.
Crude
Oil
• The oil we find underground is called crude oil.
• Crude oil is made of a mixture of different chemicals called
hydrocarbons.
• Crude oil doesn't always look the same – it depends where it
comes from.
• Sometimes it is almost colorless, or it can be thick and black.
But crude oil usually looks like thin, brown treacle.
• When it comes out of a well, the crude oil is often mixed with
gases, water and sand.
Typical Crude Oils Elemental
Analysis
Where Does Petroleum
Occur?
Rocks forming the earth’s crust are divided into three groups
according
to their origin:
• Igneous Rocks
– formed as a result of cooling and solidifying of molten magma
erupted
from the earth’s interior. Granite, Basalt, Andesite…
• Sedimentary Rocks
– formed from the deposition of organic and inorganic
matter. Sandstone, Limestone, Dolomite…
• Metamorphic Rocks
– formed due to high pressure and temperature that change the
igneous and sedimentary rocks to metamorphic rocks.
Quartzites, Shales and Marble…
Organic
• Theory
Tiny animals and plants that live in the sea are
called plankton.
• The plankton that lived in millions of years ago
made our crude oil.
• When they died they sank to the bottom and
slowly got buried by sand and mud.
• Over millions of years, the dead animals and
plants got buried deeper and deeper.
• The heat and pressure gradually turned the
mud into rock and the dead animals and
plants into oil and gas.
Generation of
Petroleum
• Petroleum generation takes place in source rocks.
• Preservation of the organic matter is the key to
the development of potential source rocks.
• The non-hydrocarbon organic matter (kerogen) is
the major source of oil and gas deposits.
Conversion of Kerogen to Oil &
•
Gas
Bacteria convert lipids (fat, oil and waxes) into a waxy
substance called kerogen.
• During burial of sediments, the increase in temperature
results in a progressive change in the composition of
kerogen.
• Three successive stages are distinguished and referred as
diagenesis, catagenesis and metagenesis.
• The main trend is a continuous increase in the carbon
content of kerogen.
Diagenesi
• Diagenesis of s
kerogen is characterized by an
important decrease of oxygen and a
corresponding increase of carbon content with
increasing depth.
• CO2, H2O and some heavy N, S, O compounds
are released.
• Source rocks are considered as immature at
this stage.
Catagenesi
s
• A significant decrease in hydrogen and carbon
content due to the generation and release of
hydrocarbons.
• This is the main zone of oil generation and the
beginning of the cracking phase which
produces wet gas with a rapidly increasing
proportion of methane.
Metagenesi
s
• Begins at temperature exceeding 175C.
• During this stage, a rearrangement of the aromatic sheets
occurs.
• The stacks of aromatic layers, previously distributed at random
in
kerogen, now gather to form larger clusters.
• At this stage, only dry gas is generated.
Where Can We Find Oil and
Gas?
Chemical Composition of
Petroleum
• Substances present in petroleum fall into 2
major groups:
– Hydrocarbon
– Non-hydrocarbon
• The proportions of these
relative the physical
determine compounds
properties of petroleum e.g.
density, viscosity, etc…
Hydrocabon
Composition
Non-
• hydrocarbon
Compounds in this group
contain nitrogen, sulphur
and oxygen (NSO’s).
• Free nitrogen gas may be
generated during the
formation of petroleum.
• Sulphur organic compounds
are often foul smelling. The
best known is H2S.
• Oxygen compounds include
alcohols, ethers and
organic acids.
Fractional
Distillation
Fractional distillation splits the crude oil into simpler
mixtures called fractions. The different fractions are
taken out of the still at different levels.
This happens in a distillation tower (which we shorten to
still).
The crude oil is heated in a furnace to about 370°C and
is pumped into the bottom of a distillation tower. Most
of the hydrocarbons are gaseous, though the very thick
ones are still a liquid even at this temperature.
• The table shows the names and uses of the fractions that
come from the distillation process. It also shows the
ranges of hydrocarbons in each fraction.
The First Oil
Well
The modern oil industry dates back about 150
years.
The world’s first oil well was drilled in Titusville,
Pennsylvania in 1859. It struck oil at 21 meters
below ground and produced 3,000 liters of oil a
day.
Known as the Drake Well, after "Colonel" Edwin
Drake, the man responsible for the well, it began an
international search for petroleum, and in many ways
eventually changed the way we live.
World Oil Reserves by
Region
Proven
Reserves
• Proven reserves are those quantities of
petroleum which, by analysis of geoleogical
and/or engineering data, can be estimated
with reasonable certainty to be commercially
recoverable, from a given date forward, from
known reservoirs and under current economic
conditions, operating methods and
government regulations.
Unproven
Reserves
• Unproven reserves are based on geological and/or engineering
data similar to that used in estimates of proven reserves, but
technical, contractual, or regulatory uncertainties preclude such
reserves being classified as proven.
• Probable reserves are attributed to known accumulations and
claim a 50% confidence level of recovery. Industry specialists refer
to them as "P50" (i.e., having a 50% certainty of being
produced).
• Possible reserves are attributed to known accumulations that have
a less likely chance of being recovered than probable reserves.
This term is often used for reserves which are claimed to have at
least a 10% certainty of being produced ("P10"). Reasons for
classifying reserves as possible include varying interpretations of
geology, reserves not producible at commercial rates, etc…
Society of Petroleum
Engineer
• SPE was founded in
1957
• The largest professional society for
petroleum engineers having about 124,000
members.
• Provides the means for collection and exchanging
of technical information concerning the oil and gas
industry.
• Provides opportunities through its programs
for interested individuals.
Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting
Countries “OPEC”
• OPEC is an international Organization of twelve developing countries,
which are heavily reliant on oil revenues as their main source of income.
• The current Members are: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and
Venezuela.
• Since oil revenues are so vital for the economic development of these
nations, they aim to bring stability and harmony to the oil market by
adjusting their oil output to help ensure a balance between supply and
demand.
• OPEC's 12 members collectively supply about 40 per cent of the world's
oil output, and possess more than three-quarters of the world's total
proven crude oil reserves.
World Proven Oil
2012
— Reserves
OPEC
Country Reserves (MMbbl)
1,112,448 - 1,199,707
1 Venezuela 297,570
2 Saudi Arabia 267,910
3 Canada 173,625 - 175,200
4 Iran 157,300
5 Iraq 140,300
6 Kuwait 104,000
7 United Arab Emirates 97,800
8 Russia 80,000
9 Libya 48,014
10 Nigeria 37,200
Upstream, Midstream &
Downstream in the Oil
Business
The Upstream of the Oil & Gas
Industry
• Also called E & P (Exploration & production).
• It covers all the activities from the search of oil & gas resources to
the field production point.
• This includes: exploration activities, drilling, production,
field processing and field storage of hydrocarbon.
• It is the most critical element of the industry as it has the biggest
capital expenditures (> $500 billion/year).
• It carries a lot of risk related to the huge uncertainties during the
exploration phase and hazards during the drilling and production
phases.
Midstream &
Downstream of the Oil
• There & Gas Industry
no agreement on the definition of midstream
downstream
is and
activities.
• Generally, activities mainly include
distribution/sale,
downstream Petroleum
gasProducts distribution & storage
and
Petroleum products retail.
• Midstream is the bridge between oil & gas production and the end
users. It involves mainly gathering & transportation of natural gas
and crude oil.
• Gas Processing & Oil refining are considered by some as part of
the
downstream activities and by others as midstream activities.
The Life Cycle of Oil and Gas
Projects
• The life cycle of an oil & gas projects could extend to
many
years.
• It starts from the time the license is awarded until the
time comes to decommission.
. Exploration Drilling
• Drilling a well is a highly coordinated
event usually planned by the
operating company and conducted by drilling contractors.
• Drilling is costly and therefore optimisation of time is essential.
• Continual drilling can provide greater integrity of the wellbore reducing
the risk of problems that might occur.
• Time required for drilling a well is highly variable depending on the
geology of the area, rig capability, depth and size of the hole, supply
management, weather conditions, ……..
• Exploration is very risky because of the lack of sufficient
drilling
information before drilling the
wells.
Appraisal Drilling
• The objective of appraisal drilling is to collect more information that help
the operator make the decision to go ahead with field development or
not.
• Also, it is important to collect data that help in efficient development
of
the field.
• Less riskier than exploration drilling because of the information collected
from the exploration well
• Step-in or step-out approach
• May involve drilling one or more than one well depending on the size
of
Field Development
• The most important and costly decision in the life cycle of the project. All
internal and external approvals have to be obtained first.
• A Field Development Plan (FDP) document has to be produced detailing
the forward plan and showing the project economics. A Final Investment
Decision (FID) is to be taken by top management.
• The two main activities during field development are development drilling
and facilities construction.
Field Production
• The time when revenues start coming in
• It lasts for tens of years
• The main objective during this stage is to optimise production and
identify any future investment opportunities within the field.
• Information collected during production is important to revise the FDP
and all subsurface models
• Special attention is given to the environment and the communities