Technical English 30,000 ft (9,000 m) below the surface and are a variety of
shapes, sizes and ages. Porosity and permeability are two
(Workshop 10%)
Petroleum Reservoirs
A petroleum reservoir, or oil and gas reservoir, is a
subsurface pool of hydrocarbons contained in porous or
fractured rock formations. The naturally occurring
hydrocarbons, such as crude oil or natural gas, are
trapped by overlying rock formations with lower
permeability. Reservoirs are found using hydrocarbon
exploration methods. Crude oil found in oil reservoirs
formed in the Earth's crust from the remains of living
things. Crude oil is properly known as petroleum, and is
used as fossil fuel. Evidence indicates that millions of
years of heat and pressure changed the remains of
microscopic plant and animal into oil and natural gas.
Figure 1. Screenshot of a structure map generated by
Contour map software for an 8500ft deep gas & oil reservoir
in the Erath field, Erath, Louisiana. The left-to-right gap,
near the top of the contour map indicates a Fault line. This
fault line is between the blue/green contour lines and the
purple/red/yellow contour lines. The thin red circular
contour line in the middle of the map indicates the top of
the oil reservoir. Because gas floats above oil, the thin red
contour line marks the gas/oil contact zone
Roy Nurmi, an interpretation adviser for
Schlumberger, described the process as follows:
"Plankton and algae, proteins and the life that's floating
in the sea, as it dies, falls to the bottom, and these
organisms are going to be the source of our oil and gas.
When they're buried with the accumulating sediment
and reach an adequate temperature, something above
50 to 70 °C they start to cook. This transformation, this
change, changes them into the liquid hydrocarbons that
move and migrate, will become our oil and gas
reservoir."
In addition to the aquatic environment, which is
usually a sea, but might also be a river, lake, coral reef or
algal mat, the formation of an oil or gas reservoir also
requires a sedimentary basin that passes through four
steps: deep burial under sand and mud, pressure
cooking, hydrocarbon migration from the source to the
reservoir rock, and trapping by impermeable rock.
Reservoirs exist anywhere from the land surface to
of the primary factors that control the movement and
storage of fluids in rocks and sediments. They are
intrinsic characteristics of these geologic materials. The
exploitation of natural resources, such as groundwater
and petroleum, is partly dependent on the properties of
porosity and permeability.
Porosity is the ratio of the volume of openings
(voids) to the total volume of material. Porosity
represents the storage capacity of the geologic material.
The primary porosity of a sediment or rock consists of
the spaces between the grains that make up that
material. The more tightly packed the grains are, the
lower the porosity. The primary porosity of
unconsolidated sediments is determined by the shape of
the grains and the range of grain sizes present. In poorly
sorted sediments, those with a larger range of grain
sizes, the finer grains tend to fill the spaces between the
larger grains, resulting in lower porosity. Primary porosity
can range from less than one percent in crystalline rocks
like granite to over 55% in some soils. The porosity of
some rock is increased through fractures or solution of
the material itself. This is known as secondary porosity.
Permeability is a measure of the ease with which
fluids will flow though a porous rock, sediment, or soil.
Just as with porosity, the packing, shape, and sorting of
granular materials control their permeability. Although a
rock may be highly porous, if the voids are not
interconnected, then fluids within the closed, isolated
pores cannot move. The degree to which pores within
the material are interconnected is known as effective
porosity. The rounded sand grains provide ample,
unrestricted void spaces that are free from smaller grains
and are very well linked. Consequently, sandstones of
this type have both high porosity and high permeability.
The range of values for permeability in geologic materials
is extremely large. The most conductive materials have
permeability values that are millions of times greater
than the least permeable. The characteristics of the
interstices of certain materials may cause the
permeability to be significantly greater in one direction.
Secondary porosity features, like fractures, frequently
have significant impact on the permeability of the
material. In addition to the characteristics of the host
material, the viscosity and pressure of the fluid also
affect the rate at which the fluid will flow.
Traps
A trap forms when the buoyancy forces driving
the upward migration of hydrocarbons through a
permeable rock cannot overcome the capillary forces of
a sealing medium. The timing of trap formation relative
to that of petroleum generation and migration is crucial
to ensuring a reservoir can form.
 Petroleum geologists broadly classify traps into
three categories that are based on their geological
characteristics: the structural trap, the stratigraphic trap
and the far less common hydrodynamic trap. The
trapping mechanisms for many petroleum reservoirs
have characteristics from several categories and can be
known as a combination trap.
Structural traps
Structural traps are formed as a result of changes
in the structure of the subsurface due to processes such
as folding and faulting, leading to the formation of
domes, anticlines, and folds. Examples of this kind of trap
are an anticline trap, a fault trap and a salt dome trap.
They are more easily delineated and more
prospective than their stratigraphic counterparts, with
the majority of the world's petroleum reserves being
found in structural traps.
Stratigraphic traps
Stratigraphic traps are formed as a result of lateral
and vertical variations in the thickness, texture, porosity
or lithology of the reservoir rock. Examples of this type of
trap are an unconformity trap, a lens trap and a reef trap.
Hydrodynamic traps
Hydrodynamic traps are a far less common type of
trap. They are caused by the differences in water
pressure, which are associated with water flow, creating
a tilt of the hydrocarbon-water contact.
Seals
The seal is a fundamental part of the trap that
prevents hydrocarbons from further upward migration.
A capillary seal is formed when the capillary
pressure across the pore throats is greater than or equal
to the buoyancy pressure of the migrating hydrocarbons.
They do not allow fluids to migrate across them until
their integrity is disrupted, causing them to leak. There
are two types of capillary seal whose classifications are
based on the preferential mechanism of leaking: the
hydraulic seal and the membrane seal.
The membrane seal will leak whenever the
pressure differential across the seal exceeds the
threshold displacement pressure, allowing fluids to
migrate through the pore spaces in the seal. It will leak
just enough to bring the pressure differential below that
of the displacement pressure and will reseal.
The hydraulic seal occurs in rocks that have a
significantly higher displacement pressure such that the
pressure required for tension fracturing is actually lower
than the pressure required for fluid displacement – for
example, in evaporites or very tight shales. The rock will
fracture when the pore pressure is greater than both its
minimum stress and its tensile strength then reseal when
the pressure reduces and the fractures close.
Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to
cut or enlarge a hole in solid materials. The drill bit is a
multipoint, end cutting tool. It cuts by applying pressure
and rotation to the workpiece, which forms chips at the
cutting edge. Drilled holes are characterized by their
sharp edge on the entrance side and the presence of
burrs on the exit side (unless they have been removed).
Also, the inside of the hole usually has helical feed marks.
Drilling may affect the mechanical properties of the
workpiece by creating low residual stresses around the
hole opening and a very thin layer of highly stressed and
disturbed material on the newly formed surface. This
causes the workpiece to become more susceptible to
corrosion at the stressed surface.
Gas lift is one of a number of processes used to
artificially lift oil or water from wells where there is
insufficient reservoir pressure to produce the well. The
process involves injecting gas through the tubing-casing
annulus. Injected gas aerates the fluid to reduce its
density; the formation pressure is then able to lift the oil
column and forces the fluid out of the wellbore. Gas may
be injected continuously or intermittently, depending on
the producing characteristics of the well and the
arrangement of the gas-lift equipment. Gas lift is a form
of artificial lift where gas bubbles lift the oil from the
well. The amount of gas to be injected to maximize oil
production varies based on well conditions and
geometries. Too much or too little injected gas will result
in less than maximum production. Generally, the optimal
amount of injected gas is determined by well tests,
where the rate of injection is varied and liquid
production (oil and perhaps water) is measured.
Although it is recovered from the oil at a later separation
stage, the process requires energy to drive a compressor
in order to raise the pressure of the gas to a level where
it can be re-injected.
Comprehension:
1. Extract the following information:
a. Name 3 prefixes and 3 suffixes from the
reading, and explain Why they are 3 pts c/u
b. Name 4 possible false cognates from the
reading, and explain why are they false
cognate 4pts
2. According to you, define the reading levels
presented in the previous article 5pts
3. Briefly describe in your own words what is
shown in Figure 1 5 pts