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Development: 1 Natural Gas-Origin and
Development: 1 Natural Gas-Origin and
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1
Natural Gas-Origin and
Development
Introduction
The earliest records of natural gas go back to A.D . 221-263 when it was
t first used as a fuel in China during the Shu Han dynasty . The gas, obtained
from shallow wells, was distributed through an interesting piping system:
hollow bamboos . Later evidence is not found until the early 1 th century,
when natural gas was used on a small scale for heating and lighting in
northern Italy. In the United States , natural gas was first discovered in Fre-
donia , New York , in 1821 . It is this latter discovery that has led, for the most
part, to the developments we see today. In the years following this discovery,
natural gas was used merely as a fuel locally: it was difficult to store and
transport and had little or no commercial value. Even in the 1920s and '30s,
natural gas was only produced as an unwanted byproduct of crude oil pro-
duction . Only a small amount of gas was pipelined to industrial areas for
commercial use, most of it being vented to the air or flared . From these
humble beginnings , the natural gas industrv has burgeoned , especially in
the years following World War II. Natural gas now accounts for almost one-
fifth of the world's primary energy consumption , surpassing coal and second
only to oil (see Tables 1-1 and 1-2).
Several factors are responsible for these developments: New processes per-
mit the manufacture of myriad petrochemicals and fertilizers from natural
gas; gas is a clean, efficient , easily combustible , low-sulfur fuel and has con-
sequently replaced coal as a domestic , industrial , and power generation fuel
in many parts of the world ; difficulties in storing and transporting gas have
been overcome by the development of long-distance , large-diameter steel
pipelines and powerful compression equipment ; liquefied natural gas
(LNG), produced by liquefying natural gas by a refrígeration cycle to less
1
2 Gas Production Engineering
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Natural Gas-Origin and Development 3
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4 Gas Production Engineering
than 11600 of its original volume. can now be transported across the oceans
by insulated tankers.
Gas is nosv a highly desirable hydrocarbon resource. It is no longer cheap;
the price has gone up from a mere S0.07IMscf (1,000 standard cubic feet) in
1950 to $2.79/Mscf currently (1987). The price of gas peaked in 1984. ;when
gas was being sold at $4.80/Mscf. and as much as $9.00/Mscf in some aneas.
Production costs for natural gas have also been rising over the vears. Average
costs in the USA have gone up from $0.86IMscf in 1976 to about $3.90/Mscf
in 1982. But natural gas is still competitive with other fuels. as sho;;-n in
Table 1-3.
Table 1-3
Cost Comparison of Various Commercial Fuels
Table 1-4 shows the production for the twenty leading natural gas pro-
ducers in the world. The foremost gas producers todav are the USA and
USSR, with a gas production of 52 Bscf/d (billion standard cubic feet per
day) and 45 Bscf/d, respectively.
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Natural Gas-Origin and Development 7
Table 1-5
Typical Constituents of Natural Gas (Modified after McCain, 1974)
and the primary reason for gas conditioning and processing is to remove
them as soon as possible from the gas stream. Hundreds of processes and
processing plants have been developed to deal with this problem. Some of
the major contaminants in natural gas are (Curry, 1981):
Mane theories have been proposed for the origin of petroleum fluids.
1
None is perfect, and it is almost impossible to fully, explain the origins of any
given reservoir. The two most wwidely accepted theories are inorganic and
organic. According to the ínorganic theory, hydrogen and carbon reacted
together under the immense pressure and temperature far below the earth's
surface and formed oil and gas. These hydrocarbons then migrated through
porous rocks to collect in various subsurface traps. The more Nvidely ac-
cepted organic theorv states that the hydrocarbons were generated from or- •
ganic matter (land and sea plants and animals) under the influence of pres-
sure and temperature over geologic time. Lavers of mud and silt settled on X!1
these dead organisms by various processes-rivers emptying huge amounts
FigL.r'
of mud and silt into the oceans. wind-blowm dust and sediment, etc. These
WhLi
lavers accumulated, continualle compacted by, the weight of succeeding lay-
ers to form sedimentare rock. Hydrocarbon deposits are entrapped in these
a`)
sedimentare rocks (sandstones, shale, limestones), and may migrate from
their place of formation (source-rock) through suitable porous and permea-
ble strata to suitable geologic traps where they accumulate.
The type of organic matter and the temperature have an important bear-
ing on the formation of oil or gas. Some scientists believe that terrestrial so`•^
(land) planta and animals predominantly produced natural gas and some
waxv, crudes, whereas the aquatic (sea) organisms produced normal crude
oil. Because rivers play a major role in transporting terrestrial matter to the
sea. river deltas are favorable places for gas to exist. Tvpically, the deepest Fig,;E
sedimenta, deposited in the continental rift and rich in terrestrial organic (Frc
matter, are overlain by marine sediments rich in aquatic matter. Thus, a ver-
tical sequence has been envisaged, -Yvith the gas-generating material at the
ser )1
bottom and the oil-generating material at the top.
cur"1-
It is believed that hydrocarbons generally move upward from their place
of formation to their accumulation sites, displacing the sea water that origi-
nallv filled the pore spaces of the sedimentare rock. This upward movement
is inhibited when the oil and gas reach an impervious rock that traps or seals
the reservoir.
There are mane types, shapes, and sizes of geologic structures that form
the reservoirs for the accumulation of oil and gas, such as anticlines and
domes. fault traps, unconformities, dome and plug traps, lense traps, and gasa`
combination traps. Some of these are shown in Figures 1-1 through 1-4. It resé \
has been found that methane can remain stable at depths of 40,000 ft and pro( r
beyond (Barker and Kemp, 1980). The amount of methane surviving is a stre?.
function of the reservoir lithology-cooler, clean sandstones are more favor- Th...
able than carbonates. Thus, it can be safely assumed that considerable re- con
I
Natural Gas-Origin and Development 9
Figure
1-1. Common types of geologic features and structural traps. (From
Wheeler and Whited, 1985.)
a
b OVE.RSURDEN PRESSURE
ín.PER^U^
WATER
rÁS
i X `MÍc`^ OIL
^^pP ryZ^
O^R
R65ERV ^.^ ^ ^ ¡ i
YSO
Figure
1-2. Structural traps: (a) anticline, formed by upfoiding; (b) normal fault.
(From McElroy, 1987.)
serves of natural
gas may be found at depths of 15,000-30,000 ft that have
currently not been explored.
Figure 1-3. Common types of stratigraphic traps. (From Brown and Miller, 1985.)
iSNpL^a
R"=
1. Proved reserves: This figure indicates the quantities found bv the drill.
The estimates are proved and frequently updated by reservoir charac-
teristics (production data, pressure transient analvsis, reservoir model-
ing, other data) and, therefore, can be determined quite accurately
(see Table 1-6).
2. Potential reserves: These are the additional resources of gas believed to
exist in the earth, as inferred from the prevailing geologic evidence,
but not actually found by the drill yet. This figure, therefore, cannot
be lmown very precisely. It is, at best, a "guesstimate" that mav vare
widely from one investigator to another.
For the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, McKelvev (1972)
provides an excellent guide, shown in Figure 1-3. In this figure, the probable
Undiscovered
or
Identified speculative
1
Proved Probable 1 Possible
or or or
measured indicated inferred
Recoverable
Reserves
Feasibility of
economic
Paramarginal recovery
Resources
Tight Sands
3
Large amounts of gas are locked within very tight formations . with poros-
ities in the range of 5 - 15 %, irreducible water saturation of 50-70 %, and
ultralow permeabilities in the range of 0.001 to 1 md (millidarcy ). Many
geologic formations , especially in the Rockv Mountain area of the USA, con-
tain such gas , which is not possible to produce using conventional fracturing
and completion methods.
There is a need to develop special artificial fracturing techniques to
produce gas economically from tight sands. Three major techniques have
been proposed: nuclear explosives , chemical exxplosives , and massive hy-
draulic fracturing (MHF). Nuclear blasts are dangerous and probably not
feasible at this time . Chemical explosives are also quite dangerous , and ef-
fective only in areas where natural fractures exist (which is not the case for
most tight sands). MHF has been quite successful , and is presently the sub-
ject of much research . An MHF treatment typically requires the injection of
a fracturing fluid (water) at high pressures for mane hours to induce a frac-
ture, followed by a fluid containing the propping agents (glass beads or
sand). When pumping stops, the fluids flow back into the wellbore , leaving
the proppant behind to hold the fracture open.
Tight Shales
Shales are generally rich in organic matter , finely laminated, with a per-
meability of the order of 1 md . Shales, predominantly composed of quartz,
3
14 Gas Production Engineering
with some kaolinite, pvrite, feldspar, and other minerals, constitute about 3
5%, of all sedimentan- rocks in the USA. The Devonian shales in eastern
Kentucky and western West Virginia are well known gas producers. In these 1OJ
r_, 9
shales, production is controlled by natural fractures. The production profile t_A
exhibits a long. slow• decline. The gas has a high Btu value. as high as 1,250
Btu/scf. MHF techniques are useful for tight shales also. These tight shales
are an attractive source of gas and mav contribute very significantly to gas 5
production in the coming vears.
Geopressured Aquifers
1
o
High-pressure brine in geopressured aquifers, which can form due to \J
rapid subsidence. mav contain up to 40 scf of natural gas per barrel of water. 3
In the USA, such geopressured aquifers are located predominantly in a band o
that extends onshore and offshore from Texas to Florida along the Gulf of í^j
Mexico. An estimated 2,700 Tscf of gas reserves (unproven at this time) are
associated with this region. However, no commercial means of recovering 4
this gas have been developed to date.
Coal s
Methane gas occlud.ed in coal in minable coal beds with depths less than
P
3.000 ft has been estimated to be 260 Tscf in the US . This significant re-
•
source base, however, mav only produce less than 40 Tscf due to practical
constraints.
Another source of gas generation is coal gasification . The gas derived
from coal usually has a lower heating value than natural gas. The commer- 5
cial viability of coal gasification is not favorable vet.
FLARE
.jo ut
_ern PIPELINE TPANSPORT
GAS
CONSUMERS
¡ese CONOITIONING
TANKER / TRUCX domestic 8
file ( for sale ) 7, industrial
250 TRANSPORT
L a l es
SULFUR, LIOUEFACTION
gas ( LNG )
FERTILISER
OTHER
byproduct1
STRIPPED GAS
TO PETROCHEMI-
NATURAL
CAL INDUSTRY
GAS LIOUIDS NGL TO
. 3a PROCESS INDUSTRY
CONOITIONING PECOVERY
aC to
( for procesa rg)
-ter.
GAS
and FLUIR
METERtNG
of
are
•ing
than
¡t: re-
..,,.,cal
¿ed
er-
4. Separation module for calculating the amounts of gas , oil and water
4on
generated by the wellstream, and their compositions.
5. Metering devices for measuring the amount of gas and oil from the
gh separators.
6. Gas conditioning module for the removal of contaminants from the
ad gas.
7 . Natural gas liquids recovery module.
;as 8. Gas compression/liquefaction for econom.ic transport by tankers, rail-
;as road, and road transport.
9. Flow module for the pipeline transport of gas to consumption sites.
á
This book has been designed to provide information on the design, opera-
tion, and engineering calculations for all of these modules, except the reser-
voir module. Chapters 2 and 3 provide the basic gas properties that are an
essential input in all computations. Chapters 4 through 6 describe separa-
tion and processing for natural gas. Flow calculations are covered in Chap-
ters 7 and S. Chapters 9 and 10 provide information on related topics,
namely, gas compression and gas metering, respectively. Finally, Chapter 11
describes gas gathering and transmission systems and the computational
techniques for handling the complete production svstem.
1. (a) List some factors that mav enhance the appeal of natural gas as a
domestic and industrial fuel. (b) What are some of the factors that
mav reduce the appeal of natural gas as a domestic and industrial
fuel?
2. Whv is natural gas termed a "stable" flammable gas?
3. What impurities can one expect to find in natural gas produced from a
gas field?
4. Whv are gas flares a common sight in mane petroleum producing ar-
eas? Can such fiares be hazardous to the environment? If ves, then
when and whv?
5. As a petroleum engineer vou are taken to tour a gas-producing field.
Can vou tell what type of gas (associated, d.issolved, etc.) is being pro-
duced? What is the minimum information required to draw such a
conclusion?
6. How are gas reserves estimated?
i . Besides conventional reservoirs, what types of gas reserves hoid prom-
ise for the future? Why?
References
,ra- Brown, T. E. and Miller, S., 1985. Laymans Guide to Oil & Gas Invest-
ments & Royalty Income, 2nd Edition. Gulf Publishing Company, Hous-
ton, Texas.
Curry, R. N.,.1981. Fundamentals of Natural Gas Conditioning. PennWell
Publ. Co., Tulsa, Oklahoma, 118 pp.
Grow, G. C., 1980. "Future Potential Gas Supply in the United States-
Current Estimates and VMe -hods of the Potential Gas Committee," pre-
sented at the Am. Inst. of Chem. Engrs. Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, June
9.
McCain, W. D., Jr., 1974. The Properties of Petroleum Fluids. PennWell
Publ. Co., Tulsa, Oklahoma, pp. 3-42.
McElroy, D. P., 1987. Fundamentals of Petroleum 1Maps. Gulf Publishing
Company, Houston, Texas.
^ V -- '_ . ,, ' , V. %., 197 2. "Mineral Resource Estimates and Public Policy,"
American Scientist, 60, jan.-Feb., 32-40.
Wheeler, R. R. and Whited, M., 1985. Oil-From Prospect to Pipeline, 5th
Edition. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas.
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