Gas field

This Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production is going to take you through all of the major stages In the life of an oil or gas field from exploration, through appraisal, development planning, production, and finally to decommissioning. 

Specifically, this volume Intends to help the reader to understand the major technical and business considerations which make up each part of the life of a typical oil or gas field, and to demonstrate the link between the many disciplines involved. 

Initially new wells may still be brought on stream but the older wells start to decline. A constant production rate is maintained. This period is typically 2 to 5 years for an oil field, but longer for a gas field. 

In many oil and gas fields throughout the world hydrocarbons are found in fault bound anticlinal structures. This type of trapping mechanism is called a combination trap. 

If compaction occurs as a result of production careful monitoring is required. The Ekofisk Field in the Norwegian North Sea made headlines when, as a result of hydrocarbon production, the pores of the fine-grained carbonate reservoir collapsed and the platforms on the seabed started to sink. The situation was later remedied by inserting steel sections into the platform legs. Compaction effects are also an issue in the Groningen gas field in Holland where subsidence in the order of one meter is expected at the surface. 

We have all used maps to orientate ourselves in an area on land. Likewise, a reservoir map will allow us to find our way through an oil or gas field if, for example we need to plan a well trajectory or If we want to see where the best reservoir sands are located. However, maps will only describe the surface of an area. To get the third dimension we need a section which cuts through the surface. This is the function of a cross section. Figure. 5.44 shows a reservoir map and the corresponding cross section. 

Gas reservoirs are produced by expansion of the gas contained in the reservoir. The high compressibility of the gas relative to the water in the reservoir (either connate water or underlying aquifer) make the gas expansion the dominant drive mechanism. Relative to oil reservoirs, the material balance calculation for gas reservoirs is rather simple. A major challenge in gas field development is to ensure a long sustainable plateau (typically 10 years) to attain a good sales price for the gas the customer usually requires a reliable supply of gas at an agreed rate over many years. The recovery factor for gas reservoirs depends upon how low the abandonment pressure can be reduced, which is why compression facilities are often provided on surface. Typical recovery factors are In the range 50 to 80 percent. 

The main differences between oil and gas field development are associated with ... 

In contrast to an oil production profile, which typically has a plateau period of 2-5 years, a gas field production profile will typically have a much longer plateau period, producing around 2/3 of the reserves on plateau production in order to satisfy the needs of the distribution company to forecast their supplies. The Figure 8.9 compares typical oil and gas field production profiles. 

Figure 8.9 Comparison of typical oil and gas field production profiles...

One of the major differences in fluid flow behaviour for gas fields compared to oil fields is the mobility difference between gas and oil or water. Recall the that mobility is an indicator of how fast fluid will flow through the reservoir, and is defined as... 

In a gas field development, producers are typically positioned at the crest of the reservoir, in order to place the perforations as far away from the rising gas water contact as possible. 

The above descriptions may suggest that rather few wells, placed in the crest of the field are required to develop a gas field. There are various reasons why gas field development requires additional wells ... 

The primary drive mechanism for gas field production is the expansion of the gas contained in the reservoir. Relative to oil reservoirs, the material balance calculations for gas reservoirs is rather simple the recovery factor is linked to the drop in reservoir pressure in an almost linear manner. The non-linearity is due to the changing z-factor (introduced in Section 5.2.4) as the pressure drops. A plot of (P/ z) against the recovery factor is linear if aquifer influx and pore compaction are negligible. The material balance may therefore be represented by the following plot (often called the P over z plot). 

Typical recovery factors for gas field development are in the range 50 to 80 percent, depending on the continuity and quality of the reservoir, and the amount of compression installed (i.e. how low an abandonment pressure can be achieved). 

One of the main surface equipment items typically required for gas fields is compression, which is installed to allow a low reservoir pressure to be attained. Gas compression takes up a large space and is expensive. If gas compression is not initially required on a platform, then its installation is usually delayed until it becomes necessary. This reduces the initial capital investment and capital exposure. Figure 8.12 indicates when gas compression is typically installed ... 

In gas field development, the recovery factor is largely determined by how low a reservoir pressure can be achieved before finally reaching the abandonment pressure. As the reservoir pressure declines, it is therefore common to install compression facilities at the surface to pump the gas from the wellhead through the surface facilities to the delivery point. This compression may be installed in stages through the field lifetime. 

When an oil or gas field has just been discovered, the quality of the information available about the well stream may be sparse, and the amount of detail put into the process design should reflect this. However, early models of the process along with broad cost estimates are needed to progress, and both design detail and cost ranges narrow as projects develop through the feasibility study and field development planning phases (see Section 12.0 for a description of project phases). 

Frank Jahn has worked as a Petroleum Geologist mainly in Brunei, Thailand, the Netherlands and the UK. He has designed and taught multi-disciplinary training courses related to oil and gas field exploration and development worldwide. After 11 years with a multinational company he became co-founder of TRACS International in 1992 where he is a Director. 

Sulfur also occurs in natural gas and petroleum crudes and must be removed from these products. Formerly this was done chemically, which wasted the sulfur new processes now permit recovery. Large amounts of sulfur are being recovered from Alberta gas fields. 

The principal source of helium is certain natural gas fields. The helium contents of more than 10,000 natural gases in various parts of the world have been measured (9). Helium concentrations of a few are Hsted in Table 2. In the United States, recovery of helium is economical only for helium-rich gases containing more than about 0.3 vol % belium. Most of the United States helium resources are located in the midcontinent and Rocky Mountain regions, and about 89% of the known United States supply is in the Hugoton field in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas the Keyes field in Oklahoma the Panhandle and Cliffside fields in Texas and the Riley Ridge area in Wyoming (11). 

No method has been devised to estimate with complete accuracy the amount of cmde petroleum that ultimately will be produced from the world s conventional oil and gas fields. Degrees of uncertainty, therefore, should be attached to all such estimates. These uncertainties can be expressed in several ways, the most important of which is achieved by dividing a resource into various categories. Several petroleum resources classifications have been proposed, and a comprehensive discussion of them (1), as well as the definition used in the assessment of the undiscovered resources of the United States (2), have been provided. Seven commonly used categories of resources are given here. 

Helium is extracted from natural gas in the southwestern United States and moved by a 685-km, 50-mm dia pipeline to storage in a partially depleted gas field near Amarillo, Texas, as part of the U.S. government s helium conservation program. 

The demand for gas is highly seasonal. Thus pipeline companies economi2e by si2ing production faciUties to accommodate less than the system s maximum wintertime demand. Underground storage faciUties are used to meet seasonal and daily demand peaks. In North America, gas is stored in three main types of underground formations depleted oil or gas fields, aquifers that originally contained water, and caverns formed by salt domes or mines. 

In oil and natural gas fields and reservoirs, the boreholes are cased to stabilize the wells. Depending on the depth and the operating conditions, several pipes may be fitted inside each other in the area near the surface (telescope casing) (see Fig. 18-1). 

Mining machinery and equipment, except oil and gas field machinery and equipment... 

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