Pipelines & Pipeline Pigging

While buildup in a pipeline can cause transmittal slows or even plugging of the pipeline, cracks or flaws in the line can be disastrous. A form of flow assurance for oil and gas pipelines and flowlines, pipeline pigging ensures the line is running smoothly. In the remainder of this article, Laversab Oilfield Systems will introduce the basics of pipelines.

The maintenance tool, pipeline pigs are introduced into the line via a pig trap, which includes a launcher and receiver. Without interrupting flow, the pig is then forced through it by product flow, or it can be towed by another device or cable. Usually cylindrical or spherical, pigs sweep the line by scraping the sides of the pipeline and pushing debris ahead. As the travel along the pipeline, there are a number functions the pig can perform, from clearing the line to inspecting the interior.

There are two main hypotheses for why the process is called "pipeline pigging," although neither have been proved. One theory is that "pig" stands for Pipeline Intervention Gadget. The other states that a leather-bound pig was being sent through the pipeline, and while it passed, the leather squeaked against the sides of the pipe, sounding like a squealing pig.

Engineers must consider a number of criteria when selecting the proper pig for a pipeline. First, it's important to define what task the pig will be performing. Also, size and operating conditions are important to regard. Finally, pipeline layout is integral to consider when choosing a pig.

Because every pipeline is different, there is not a set schedule for pigging a line, although the quantity of debris collected in a pipeline and the amount of wear and tear on it can increase the frequency of pigging. Today, pipeline pigging is used during all phases of the life of a pipeline.

Types of Pipeline Pigs

Although first used simply to clear the line, the purpose of pipeline pigging has evolved with the development of technologies. Utility pigs are inserted into the pipeline to remove unwanted materials, such as wax, from the line. Inline inspection pigs can also be used to examine the pipeline from the inside, and specialty pigs are used to plug the line or isolate certain areas of the line. Lastly, gel pigs are a liquid chemical pigging system.

Similar to cleaning your plumbing line, utility pigs are used to clean the pipeline of debris or seal the line. Debris can accumulate during construction, and the pipeline is pigged before production commences. Also, debris can build up on the pipeline, and the utility pig is used to scrape it away. Additionally, sealing pigs are used to remove liquids from the pipeline, as well as serve as an interface between two different products within a pipeline. Types of utility pigs include mandrel pigs, foam pigs, solid cast pigs and spherical pigs.

Inspection pigs, also referred to as in-line inspection pigs or smart pigs, gather information about the pipeline from within. . The type of information gathered by smart pigs includes the pipeline diameter, curvature, bends, temperature and pressure, as well as corrosion or metal loss. Inspection pigs utilize two methods to gather information about the interior condition of the pipeline: magnetic flux leakage (MFL) and ultrasonics (UT). MFL inspects the pipeline by sending magnetic flux into the walls of the pipe, detecting leakage, corrosion, or flaws in the pipeline. Ultrasonic inspection directly measures the thickness of the pipe wall by using ultrasonic sounds to measure the amount of time it takes an echo to return to the sensor.

To be continued...

Crude Oil

Crude oil, a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons with various compositions (especially paraffins, napthenes, aromatics) with different sized molecules and which is liquid under reservoir conditions, is among the most important natural resources of the industrialized nations. It can be used to generate heat, drive machinery, and fuel vehicles and airplanes. Its components are also used to manufacture the majority of the chemical products in existence: plastics, detergents, paints, and even medicines and antibiotics. That is an incredibly wide range of products - all of great utility to man's well-being. Laversab Oilfield Systems has identified what a magnificent discovery crude oil has been for mankind, and is making every effort to help man maximize the amount of oil he can extract from the depths of the earth. Laversab is committed to expanding the world's technical capacity to discover new sources and extend the production lives of existing oil fields. The rig floor computer that Laversab manufactures and distributes is just one of many tools used to do just that - to expand man's technical ability to maximize oil production.

Life Without Oil

Society as it exists today would cease to function as it does without oil. Practically every industry, every venture, from the mom-and-pop stores to the largest corporate behemoths of the 21st century, relies on crude oil. An average of forty percent of all of our textiles and woven fabrics contain oil. Up to forty billion liters of oil a year are used to make the CDs and DVDs we use to download systems software, listen to hip music, and watch great movies. Without oil, it'd be, if not impossible, at the very least, quite difficult to do those things. And, that sofa you're sitting - that is made of oil as well. A single sofa contains 60 liters of oil. Modern life is practically inconceivable without crude oil. The entire world consumes a whopping 14 billion liters of oil every single day.

Laversab Oilfield Systems

Needless to say, oil is an incredibly important resource and an integral part of the proper functioning of our lives. Without it, our society would come to an instant halt. Laversab Oilfield Systems is committed to preventing such a calamitous halt from taking place. The company's commitment to maximizing oil production has made them the market's undisputed leader in the oilfield systems industry. It is the goal of the inimitable founder, Mr. Balsaver, and the rest of the indefatigable workers and engineers at Laversab Oilfield Systems to remain number one in this industry.

The Future of Oil

The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped. But the unwanted petrol and diesel did not go to waste for long, thanks to the development of the internal-combustion engine a few years later, an invention that is just as (if not more) important than the magnificent rig floor display.

Since then demand for oil has, with a couple of blips in the 1970s and 1980s, risen steadily alongside ever-increasing travel by car, plane and ship. Three-fifths of it ends up in fuel tanks. With billions of Chinese and Indians growing richer and itching to get behind the wheel of a car, the big oil companies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and America’s Energy Information Administration all predict that demand will keep on rising. One of the oil giants, Britain’s BP, reckons it will grow from 89m b/d now to 104m b/d by 2030.

Scraping the barrel

We believe that they are wrong, and that oil is close to a peak. This is not the “peak oil” widely discussed several years ago, when several theorists, who have since gone strangely quiet, reckoned that supply would flatten and then fall. We believe that demand, not supply, could decline. In the rich world oil demand has already peaked: it has fallen since 2005. Even allowing for all those new drivers in Beijing and Delhi, two revolutions in technology will dampen the world’s thirst for the black stuff.

The first revolution was led by a Texan who has just died. George Mitchell championed “fracking” as a way to release huge supplies of “unconventional” gas from shale beds. This, along with vast new discoveries of conventional gas, has recently helped increase the world’s reserves from 50 to 200 years. In America, where thanks to Mr Mitchell shale gas already billows from the ground, liquefied or compressed gas is finding its way into the tanks of lorries, buses and local-delivery vehicles. Gas could also replace oil in ships, power stations, petrochemical plants and domestic and industrial heating systems, and thus displace a few million barrels of oil a day by 2020. This doesn't mean that measurement while drilling will be obsolete by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it will only become more necessary, as the extraction of gas, like oil, also requires measurement while drilling.

The other great change is in automotive technology. Rapid advances in engine and vehicle design also threaten oil’s dominance. Foremost is the efficiency of the internal-combustion engine itself. Petrol and diesel engines are becoming ever more frugal. The materials used to make cars are getting lighter and stronger. The growing popularity of electric and hybrid cars, as well as vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen fuel cells, will also have an effect on demand for oil. Analysts at Citi, a bank, calculate that if the fuel-efficiency of cars and trucks improves by an average of 2.5% a year it will be enough to constrain oil demand; they predict that a peak of less than 92m b/d will come in the next few years. Ricardo, a big automotive engineer, has come to a similar conclusion.

Not surprisingly, the oil “supermajors” and the IEA disagree. They point out that most of the emerging world has a long way to go before it owns as many cars, or drives as many miles per head, as America.

But it would be foolish to extrapolate from the rich world’s past to booming Asia’s future. The sort of environmental policies that are reducing the thirst for fuel in Europe and America by imposing ever-tougher fuel-efficiency standards on vehicles are also being adopted in the emerging economies. China recently introduced its own set of fuel-economy measures. If, as a result of its determination to reduce its dependence on imported oil, the regime imposes policies designed to “leapfrog” the country’s transport system to hybrids, oil demand will come under even more pressure.

A fit of peak

A couple of countervailing factors could kick in to increase consumption. First, the Saudis, who control 11% of output and have the most spare capacity, may decide to push out more, lowering prices and thus increasing demand. Then again, they might cut production to try to raise prices, thereby lowering demand further. Second, if declining demand pushes down the oil price, drivers may turn back to gas-guzzling cars, as they did when oil was cheap in the 1990s. But tightening emissions standards should make that harder in future.

If the demand for oil merely stabilizes, it will have important consequences. The environment should fare a little better. Gas vehicles emit less carbon dioxide than equivalent petrol-powered ones.

The corporate pecking order will change, too. Currently, Exxon Mobil vies with Apple as the world’s biggest listed company. Yet Exxon and the other oil supermajors are more vulnerable than they look (see article). Bernstein, a research firm, reckons that new barrels of oil from the Arctic or other technologically (or politically) demanding environments now cost $100 to extract. Big Oil can still have a decent future as Big Gas, but that will not prove as profitable.

The biggest impact of declining demand could be geopolitical. Oil underpins Vladimir Putin’s kleptocracy. The Kremlin will find it more difficult to impose its will on the country if its main source of patronage is diminished. The Saudi princes have relied on a high oil price to balance their budgets while paying for lavish social programmes to placate the restless young generation that has taken to the streets elsewhere. Their huge financial reserves can plug the gap for a while; but if the oil flows into the kingdom’s coffers less readily, buying off the opposition will be harder and the chances of upheaval greater. And if America is heading towards shale-powered energy self-sufficiency, it is unlikely to be as indulgent in future towards the Arab allies it propped up in the past. In its rise, oil has fuelled many conflicts. It may continue to do so as it falls. For all that, most people will welcome the change. What the future holds for us is still up in the air, but it looks like The Economist has done a great deal of homework on this subject matter. Their predictions definitely hold some value in the eyes of the politically and economically astute.

Understanding the Reservoir

A petroleum reservoir is a term that is used to describe the accumulation of crude oil in a defined location. Usually, the location where the crude oil may have formed is often underground or beneath the sea or ocean floor. These formations are the result of the decomposition of organic matter over the course of centuries, which is why the fuel or energy that is derived from such is known as a nonrenewable source of energy. This means any depletion of such a deposit cannot be replenished the same way in the foreseeable future, making it absolutely necessary for other sources of energy to be developed to take the pressure off the fast-depleting global petroleum reservoir that has been subjected to intense demand from consumers of energy. Laversab Oilfield Systems has developed a reputation in manufacturing some of the most reliable equipment in the oilfield industry. A surface system is just one of piece of equipment that a petroleum engineer utilizes to maximize productivity. The Zone 1 Computer is another. Laversab manufactures both of these, and they are among the most reliable and useful products in the market out there.

A petroleum reservoir may be discovered by accident, as has happened when the oil seeps to the surface or when the oil seeps into water supply, consequently revealing its presence in that location. Other times, it is often necessary to intentionally explore different regions through the application of scientific and geographic knowledge with the view of discovering other places that may contain petroleum reservoir. Some regions of the world have vast crude oil deposits or are blessed with the presence petroleum reservoir within their geographic territory. Where this is the case, such countries can expect to make a lot of money from the sale of the oil both in its crude and refined state.

Indeed, some oil companies dedicate a lot of resources in the form of manpower, economic and material resources to the discovery of any form of petroleum reservoir. Some of these oil companies have expensive oil rigs located on both onshore and offshore facilities where they are utilized in drilling holes that go down many feet into the ground as part of the process of extracting the crude oil from the reservoir. Even though the presence of a petroleum reservoir is considered a stroke of good fortune by the residents of that area due to the economic benefits, some members may not be quite as thrilled due to the negative environmental and adverse health consequences associated with the various processes of drilling for the petroleum. For example, the practice of gas flaring is one that releases noxious fumes into the environment, and the many cases of oil spills also contribute to the detrimental effects associated with petroleum reservoir exploration.

Why Be A Petroleum Engineer?

Why study petroleum engineering?

As a petroleum engineer you will be responsible for the identification and production of hydrocarbons, requiring a range of skills in engineering and geoscience disciplines. You may work on a drilling rig, as part of a multi-disciplinary team for an energy company or as one of a diverse range of service contractors who support the extraction of hydrocarbons.

This is an exciting and technically challenging program; a program that will equip you for a range of careers in the petroleum industry; a program that is as exciting as the work it takes to create a Laversab Rig Floor Computer or a Laversab Driller’s Display Unit. Ongoing growth in worldwide energy consumption means demand for petroleum engineers is high. Oil companies and service providers are actively recruiting graduates in this area, which remains buoyant despite the economic climate.

The journey it takes to become a petroleum engineer is open and welcoming, with low competition: most universities have great student ratios and an excellent reputation for high quality research. The discipline as a whole has exceptional links with the best part of the economy, which takes success to a whole different and higher plane. Major oil and gas companies are actively recruiting students from our all over the world, as well as offering internships and sponsorship for post-graduate study to exceptional students. Folks can move to the Middle East, get paid great money, with relatively low stress compared to other engineering jobs.

Petroleum Engineering is an interdisciplinary subject, so you will study a broad range of subjects including geology, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, chemistry and mathematics. You will be taught how hydrocarbon is generated, stored and produced in the subsurface. On completion of the programme you will understand the life-cycle development of oil and gas fields, and how petroleum engineers operate them effectively.

Whatever career path you choose, our experts at Laversab will equip you with a range of technical and transferrable skills and knowledge.

As well as lectures, you will learn through:

• Problem-solving exercises that are based around real-world data and problems.
• Laboratory classes using subsurface rock and fluid data.
• Construction and flow simulation of geocellular models using industry-standard software (provided by Schlumberger).
• Fieldwork, to examine the geological heterogeneity encountered in hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Petroleum engineers are involved in the discovery, recovery and maintenance of the world’s oil and gas supplies. The activities are important because safe, affordable and clean energy is a requirement for future generations.

As a result the necessity for improved production from mature fields, alongside exploration for hydrocarbon reserves in increasingly challenging environments means that petroleum engineers with specific skills sets are in great demand across the petroleum industry.

Job opportunities for petroleum engineers are very diverse and occur along the entire value chain of hydrocarbon exploration and production. You can get your hands dirty on a drill rig, perform sophisticated analyses in the laboratory, or work with advanced computer software to create reservoir models. As a petroleum engineer you could work out in the field and travel the globe - or enjoy the relative comfort of an office job.

Latest Oil Field Technology

Laversab, Inc. is a prime supplier of hazardous location computers, terminals and displays to the extremely demanding oilfield service industry. The cutting-edge technology that Laversab has created is among the most sophisticated and innovative technology in existence. Their innovative computers are Class 1, Div 1 and Div 2 certified by UL, certified for Zone 1 and 2 locations by ATEX as well as IECEx certified. The devices are built to survive in the most rugged and extreme of oilfield environments. Laversab Oilfield systems are in use in every corner of the world and under every possible climactic condition.

In the oilfield domain, new advances have appeared on the horizon. Here are six innovative ways experts hope will make the next oil spill less tragic.

1. A clay sponge to draw out oil and leave water behind

We reach for a sponge to clean up spills in our kitchens, so imagine what a giant one could do for a spill. While it seems like science fiction, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a super-lightweight clay sponge to draw out oil from contaminated water. The extracted oil could then be recycled. The substance, which experts are calling an aerogel, is a freeze-dried mixture of clay with a polymer and air. It works in freshwater, salt water and on plain surfaces. Researchers are developing the sponge for further tests. You can learn more about aerogel here.

2. One boat to out-skim them all

Booms and skimmers are popular cleanup devices currently used in oil spills, but skimming cannot be done in rough, windy seas, nor is it effective at night when visibility is low. However, the company Extreme Spill Technology has developed a high-speed skimming vessel that the company claims can solve these issues. While traditional skimmers cannot successfully operate in waves higher than 1.5 meters, EST’s boat can skim in waves higher than 3 meters. The lightweight vehicles can operate faster than traditional skimmers, and the machines do not clog as easily. The boat has been successfully tested by the Canadian Coast Guard. As CEO David Prior shared with MNN, the company plans to sell the boats worldwide.

3. Magnetic soap may clean tainted water

One of the main “cleaners” on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were dispersants. As we previously reported, almost 3 million liters of dispersants and soaps were used in the cleanup. However, dispersants are problematic because they do not easily break down in the environment. Scientists from the University of Bristol have developed a new, iron-rich salty soap that reacts to magnetic forces once it is in the water. The salts form a magnetic core when placed in a solution. When a magnetic force is applied, the core — with the oil — rises to the surface of the water. The research is still theoretical, but experts hope that it's the first step toward a new, important cleaning formula.

4. A special skimmer with groove technology

After the 2010 spill, Wendy Schmidt, president of the Schmidt Family Foundation, which works to create clean energy solutions, launched the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. The $1.4 million competition encouraged the best and brightest in the field of oil cleanup to present their solutions. The winner was Elastec/American Marine, an Illinois-based company that developed a kind of barrel skimmer than can separate oil from water, even in waves. The skimmer met the contest’s minimum requirement of an efficiency rate of 70 percent, skimming as much as 2,500 gallons per minute.

5. Kevin Costner’s oil filtration machine

When you think of Kevin Costner and water, you might picture the Oscar-winning actor sporting gills and swimming around an underwater ski lift. (See the actor’s 1995 watery post-apocalyptic film, "Waterworld.") However, it was the Gulf oil spill that revealed Costner’s greener side. Alongside his scientist brother Dan, Costner debuted an oil-filtration device that had been in development for more than a decade. As we previously reported, Costner has invested $26 million of his own money into a device that works on a centrifuge principle, separating and jettisoning clean water from oil. In 2011, it was revealed that British Petroleum had spent $16 million on the devices, even though they were shown to have failed initial field tests. While the devices show some promise, they became easily clogged with the heavier, sticker oils once in the field.

6. Peat moss mixture cleans up

Nature may soon mop up after our spills. Scientists in Norway have discovered that simple peat moss is an extremely good at absorbing oil. The company Kallak Torvstrøfabrikk is developing a product called Kallak Absorbent, which can be placed directly into the oil-soaked water. Ragnar Kallak, the company's founder, explained it to Science Daily: “[Peat moss] absorbs the oil on contact and encapsulates it. Water does not penetrate the peat moss, so the encapsulated oil is trapped in a non-sticky crust which is easily removed from the surface of the water.” Kallak Absorbent was deemed a success against a 2009 oil spill off the coast of Norway.

Oilfield Terminology (Part 3)

This is part three in our series on oilfield terminology. So far, in part 1, we've covered the following basic terms and concepts: petroleum engineering, natural gas, hydrocarbon, gasoline, reservoir and drilling rig. In part 2, we shifted gears a bit and introduced a panoply of totally new concepts; those being: blowout, tool pusher, pig, moon pool. The following article is hopefully going to further expand our oilfield ken.

Petroleum Play

Petroleum Play (sometimes simply just "play") is a group of oil prospects or oil fields located in the same region that are controlled by an identical set of geological circumstances. Its most common use is in the realm of the exploitation and extraction of hydrocarbon-based resources.

The typical steps in the actual play cycle are as follows:

1. Initial observations of potential reserves
2. Testing & adjustments made to the opening estimates of extraction
3. High degree of success in identifying and extracting oil from reserves
4. Lower degree of success as the reserves begin to get depleted
5. Gradual decrease in further exploration of the region

Oil Depot

An oil depot, which is at times also called an oil terminal, is an industrial facility for the storing of oil & petrochemical products. These products are generally sent out to end users or further storage facilities. Oil depots are typically located near refineries, but some are actually attached to pipelines from which they draw their supplies.

Roughneck

A roughneck is a term used to describe the hard-manual labor workers in the oilfield industry. Although the term is used to describe a bevy of different hard-manual workers across different industries, it is most commonly used to describe oil rig workers. The term has been around for quite some time now. It became popular in the 1930s. The physically demanding work helped the workers develop thick, strong, burly necks, making them easily distinguishable from the rest of the crowd. And so, for this reason, the term caught on like wildfire. People seem to use the term with a badge of honor; there is no derogatory connotation to the term whatsoever.

Petrochemicals

Petrochemicals are chemical products that are derived from petroleum. A great deal of chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or even renewable sources like corn or sugar cane. The 2 most common petrochemical classes are olefins (which includes ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (which includes benzene, toluene & xylene isomers). Oil refineries make olefins and aromatics by fluid catalytic cracking of petroleum fractions. Chemical plants produce olefins through the steam cracking of natural gas liquids such as ethane and propane.

Oilfield Terminology (Part 2)

We are continuing our series on oil field terminology. Below we have listed another handful of terms and concepts that are key to getting a better grip of the oil industry.

Blowout

Here is one of the terms you hope you never have to hear again. Talk about a catastrophe, both in terms of financial and environmental. A blowout is basically the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well. This occurs after the pressure control systems have failed.

Before the advent of pressure control equipment in 1921, the uncontrolled release of oil and gas from a well while drilling was super common. People called it oil gusher back then, or even gusher or wild well. The minutest spark can lead to an incredibly catastrophic oil or gas fire.

Tool Pusher

A tool pusher (also spelled toolpusher) is a job within the oil drilling industry. It is sometimes also called a pusher for short. On a land drilling rig, the pusher can also be the rig manager, making him responsible for each of the operations on deck. On drillships, however, or on offshore oil rigs, pushers are basically department heads that are in charge of the drilling department and reporting to the OIM (or the Offshore Installation Manager). This all depends on the company, of course. The majority of the time, companies like to do it where there is an Offshore Installation Manager who the toolpusher reports to.

Pig

No, we are not talking about those pink creatures with the voracious appetites. In the oil field domain, the term pig, is actually a a nound and a verb. In the context of piplines, pigging refers to the practice of using devices called pigs that perform various maintenance operations on a pipeline.

The included operations consist of cleaning and inspecting the pipeline. This is accomplished by inserting the pit into what is known as a "pig launcher". A pig launcher, or a launching station, is an oversized section in the pipeline. The launcher is closed and the flow of the product in the pipeline is actually used to push it along in the pipe. This continues on until it reaches the receiving trap, known as the pig catcher.

Moon Pool

A moon pool is a feature of marine drilling-platforms, drill-ships & diving support vessels. It is also called a wet porch in underwater habitats. A moon pool is an opening in the floor or base of the hull, chamber, or platform giving access to the water beneath it, which allows the technical staff or even the researchers to lower tools and instruments into the sea. In the oilfield systems domain, a moon pools are used in just the same way, only that the degree to which they are depended on varies. Today's drilling-platforms use the most sophisticated moon pools. They are integral to the success of the operation.

Oilfield Terminology (Part 1)

So we are making an effort to give the general population a better understanding of what value Laversab brings to society. And it'd make sense to start by listing and defining some basic terms - to familiarize everyone with the oilfield terminology. The oil industry is an incredibly demanding and exciting industry which employs among the most sophisticated technology around. Who would have thought that the oil industry would get so technologically advanced? If you weren't cognizant of this, no worries, you are not in the minority. Most likely, the technological advances in the oil industry wouldn't be all that you weren't cognizant of, and so, it is our goal to make the discipline much easier to apprehend. We will try and meet that goal by going over some of the core concepts that those in the oil industry must have a firm understanding of.

Let us start by making explicit what we mean by oilfield terminology. Oilfield terminology encompasses those jargon terms which are used by folks working in the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. It includes terms describing equipent, professions, and procedures specific to the industry. Some of these terms are formal terms with formal definitions - made official by leaders in the industry. Others are slang terms that have become popular over time - many of them used by oilfield workers long before being considered terms worth referencing.

Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum Engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the development and exploitation of crude oil and natural gas fields. It also includes the technical analysis and forecasting of their future performance. A petroleum engineer aims to extract gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon products from the earth. Everything from dilling, to producing, to processing, and to transporting these products falls under the petroleum engineer's job responsibility.

Natural gas

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is formed when layers of buried plants, animals, and gases are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands and thousands of years. Plants obtain energy from the sun, and that energy is stored in the form of chemical bonds in natural gas. Because natural gas cannot be replenished on a human time frame, it is a nonrenewable resource. It is a hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting mostly of methane. Natural gas is an energy source that is very valuable when it comes to electricity generation. Also, when it comes to fueling vehicles, natural gas is by far one of the most efficient energy sources. Natural gas is most often found deep into the ground - in underground rock formations.

Hydrocarbon

A hydrocarbon is any of a class of organic compounds consisting entirely of both hydrogen and carbon. Most hydrocarbons that are found on earth naturally occur in crude oil. Decomposed organic matter provides a great deal of carbon and hydrogen, which can lead to an endless chain of when bonded.

Petroleum

Petroleum is a naturally occurring, oily, thick, typically dark-colored liquid that is a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in many different places in the world. It is commonly obtained by drilling and it is used either in a natural state or a refined state as fuel. It is most commonly separated by distillation into gasoline, and in lesser cases, benzene, kerosene, naphtha and paraffin. The term petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. Petroleum is recovered mainly via oil drilling.

Gasoline

Gasoline is a clear liquid derived from petroleum. It is mainly used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. Gasoline consists mostly of organic compounds that are obtained by the fractional distillation of petroluem. Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts. Without it, gasoline could not be produced.

Reservoir

A reservoir is a subsurface rock formation that contains one or more than one individual and and separate natural accumulations of moveable petroleum, confined by rock that is impermeable and characterized by a single pressure system.

Drilling Rig

A drilling rig is a machine that is used to create large holes in the ground. They can be massive structures - used not just for oil wells or natural gas extraction wells, but for water wells as well. In the case of an oil or natural gas drilling rig, the sizes vary, but they are mostly very large in size. They are used to identify geologic reservoirs, as well as to create holes that allow the extraction of oil or natural gas from those reservoirs.

Oil and natural gas wells have traditionally been drilled vertically, at depths ranging from a few thousand feet to as deep as five miles. Today, advances in drilling technology allow oil and natural gas companies to reach more reserves while reducing environmental impact by:

• reducing the surface “footprint” of drilling operations
• drilling smaller holes and generating less waste
• creating less noise,
• avoiding sensitive ecosystems
• completing operations more quickly.

Here are some technologies used:

Horizontal Drilling - Horizontal drilling starts with a vertical well that turns horizontal within the reservoir rock in order to expose more open hole to the oil. These horizontal “legs” can be over a mile long; the longer the exposure length, the more oil and natural gas is drained and the faster it can flow. More oil and natural gas can be produced with fewer wells and less surface disturbance. However, the technology only can be employed in certain locations.

Multilateral Drilling - Sometimes oil and natural gas reserves are located in separate layers underground. Multilateral drilling allows producers to branch out from the main well to tap reserves at different depths. This dramatically increases production from a single well and reduces the number of wells drilled on the surface

Extended Reach Drilling - Extended Reach Drilling - Extended reach drills allow producers to reach deposits that are great distances away from the drilling rig. This can help producers tap oil and natural gas deposits under surface areas where a vertical well cannot be drilled, such as under developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Wells can now reach out over 5 miles from the surface location. Offshore, the use of extended reach drilling allows producers to reach accumulations far from offshore platforms, minimizing the number of platforms needed to produce all the oil and gas. Onshore, dozens of wells can be drilled from a single location, reducing surface impacts.

Complex Path Drilling - Complex well paths can have multiple twists and turns to try to hit multiple accumulations from a single well location. Using this technology can be more cost effective and produce less waste and surface impacts than drilling multiple wells.

Rock and fluid properties will determine how much oil and natural gas can be recovered from a reservoir. After an exploratory well has been drilled, it is evaluated to determine if there is enough oil and natural gas in the reservoir to make it economically feasible to initiate recovery operations.

Drill Cuttings and Core Samples - As the drilling mud is brought to the surface, it is run through a sieve to removed the drill cuttings (pulverized rock) before the mud is recycled down into the well. Small pieces of rock are selected for microscopic analysis to determine the type of rock being drilled, how porous it is, and whether oil is present. The drilling mud also is analyzed with sensors to see if trace amounts of oil or natural gas are present — an indication of a possible accumulation at depth. In the past, rock cuttings were the principal source of well information.

Well Logging - A special bit can be used to cut a cylindrical piece of rock that can be brought to the surface for analysis. The core is sent to a laboratory where the exact porosity and permeability can be determined. This gives a good indication of how well oil or natural gas would flow through the rock. Fluid samples can be taken and analyzed to determine the amount and type of hydrocarbon present in the rock.

Wells are completed for production if the value of the recoverable oil and/or natural gas is greater than the cost of drilling and producing them and delivering them to market. If not, the well is plugged In accordance with industry standards and federal or state requirements (depending on the location) and the site is restored.

Laversab’s latest Atex computers - the Zone-1 and Zone-2 rig-floor computers are designed to overcome challenges presented by drill rig environments.

Onshore Drilling (Part 3)

As of result of advances in horizontal drilling natural gas resources in shale basins has been more accessible leading to more diversified sources of natural gas. Combining this with other technologies such as seismic imaging has contributed to lower marginal operating and capital costs, which in turn allow natural gas producers to more economically extract natural gas from resources.

Horizontal drilling also permits the development of natural resources with minimal above-ground disturbance, reducing the environmental footprint of natural gas operations and the cost and potential disturbance of existing roads or other infrastructure. Directional drilling and horizontal drilling terms are often used interchangeably. Directional drilling refers to drilling at a slant or angle to increase contact with the resource. Horizontal drilling is a type of directional drilling. Horizontal drilling uses a technique known as hydraulic fracturing in order to extract natural gas from geologic formations. For more information please visit our hydraulic fracturing section. Measurement while drilling is something that is carefully done during this process. To fail to do so can be financially crippling - leaving plenty of money on the table.

Most wells drilled for water, oil, natural gas, information or other subsurface objectives are vertical wells - drilled straight down into the earth. However, drilling at an angle other than vertical can obtain information, hit targets and stimulate reservoirs in ways that can not be achieved with a vertical well. In these cases, an ability to accurately steer the well in directions and angles that depart from the vertical is a valuable ability.

When directional drilling is combined with hydraulic fracturing some rock units which were unproductive when drilled vertically can become fantastic producers of oil or natural gas. Examples are the Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin and the Bakken Formation of North Dakota.

Why Drill Wells That Are Non-Vertical?

Directional and horizontal drilling have been used to reach targets beneath adjacent lands, reduce the footprint of gas field development, increase the length of the "pay zone" in a well, deliberately intersect fractures, construct relief wells and install utility service beneath lands where excavation is impossible or extremely expensive.

Sometimes a reservoir is located under a city or a park where drilling is impossible or forbidden. This reservoir might still be tapped if the drilling pad is located on the edge of the city or park and the well is drilled at an angle that will intersect the reservoir.

If a rock unit is fifty feet thick, a vertical well drilled through it would have a pay zone that is fifty feet in length. However if the well is turned and drilled horizontally through the rock unit for five thousand feet then that single well will have a pay zone that is five thousand feet long - this will usually result in a significant productivity increase for the well. When combined with hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling can convert unproductive shales into fantastic reservoir rocks.

This is done by drilling in a direction that intersects a maximum number of fractures. The drilling direction will normally be at right angles to the dominant fracture direction. Geothermal fields in granite bedrock usually get nearly all of their water exchange from fractures. Drilling at right angles to the dominant fracture direction will drive the well through a maximum number of fractures.

Onshore Drilling (Part 2)

Cable tool drilling has historically taken many forms. These tools have now become so sophisticated, and so complex, that it takes a company like Laversab oilfield systems to generate said tools. Laversab oilfield systems has created highly advanced surface system equipment. In the early days of percussion drilling, equipment was very crude compared to today’s technology. The ‘springpole’ technique, used in the early 1800s, consisted of a flexible pole (usually a tree trunk) anchored at one end, and laying across a fulcrum, much like a diving board. The flexible pole, or springpole, would have a heavy bit attached at the loose end. In order to get the bit to strike the ground, workers would use their own body weight to bend the pole toward the ground, allowing the bit to strike rock. The tension in the pole would spring the bit free, in case it became stuck in the ground.

Many improvements have been made since these early percussion rigs. In fact, it was from cable tool drilling that one of the most important drilling advancements was made. In 1806, David and Joseph Ruffner were using the springpole technique to drill a well in West Virginia. In order to prevent their well from collapsing, they used hollow tree trunks to reinforce the sides of the well, and to keep water and mud from entering the well as they dug. They are credited as the first drillers to use a casing in their well – an advancement that made drilling much more efficient and easily accomplished. It is believed by many that ‘Colonel’ Drake’s 1856 well achieved success due to the use of steel casing to reinforce the well. Drake’s well was drilled using steam powered cable tool drilling methods.

Innovations, such as the use of steam power in cable tool drilling, greatly increased the efficiency and range of percussion drilling. Conventional man-powered cable tool rigs were generally used to drill wells 200 feet or less, while steam powered cable tool rigs, consisting of the familiar derrick design, had an average drilling depth of 400 to 500 feet. The deepest known well dug with cable tool drilling was completed in 1953, when the New York Natural Gas Corporation drilled a well to a depth of 11,145 feet. Despite the historical significance of cable tool drilling, modern drilling activity has shifted mainly toward rotary drilling methods. However, the foundation of knowledge laid by years of cable tool drilling is, in many cases, directly transferable to the practice of rotary drilling.

Horizontal Drilling

Horizontal drilling is flexible in that it allows for the extraction of natural gas that had previously not been feasible. Although on the surface it resembles a vertical well, beneath the surface, the well inclines so that it runs parallel to the natural gas formation. These legs can go in different directions at different depths and can be more than one mile long horizontally, in addition to the vertical well that can be thousands of feet below the surface. Horizontal drilling allows one surface well to branch out underground and tap many different natural gas resources. It also allows the well to make contact with larger areas within productive formations.

Onshore Drilling (Part 1)

Drilling into the Earth in the hopes of uncovering valuable resources is nothing new. In fact, the digging of water and irrigation wells dates back to the beginning of recorded history. At first, these wells were primarily dug by hand, then by crude stone or wood tools. Metallurgy brought about the use of iron and bronze tools to delve beneath the Earth’s surface, and innovations led to more efficient ways of removing debris from the newly dug hole. The first recorded instance of the practice of ‘drilling’ holes in the ground came about around 600 B.C., when the Chinese developed a technique of repeatedly pounding bamboo shoots capped with metal bits into the ground. This crude technology was the first appearance of what is known today as ‘percussion drilling,’ a method of drilling that is still in use. Much advancement has been made since these first bamboo drilling implements. This section will cover the basics of modern onshore natural gas drilling practices. Laversab oilfield systems equips its clients with the technology and tools to expedite the drilling process.

There are two main types of onshore drilling. Percussion, or ‘cable tool’ drilling, consists of raising and dropping a heavy metal bit into the ground, effectively punching a hole down through the earth. Cable tool drilling is usually used for shallow, low pressure formations. The second drilling method is known as rotary drilling, and consists of a sharp, rotating metal bit used to drill through the Earth’s crust. This type of drilling is used primarily for deeper wells, which may be under high pressure.

Cable Tool Drilling

Cable tool, or percussion drilling, is recognized by many as the first drilling method employed to dig wells into the earth for the purpose of reaching petroleum deposits and water. This method is still in use in some of the shallow wells in the Appalachian Basin, although rotary drilling has taken over the bulk of modern drilling activities.

The basic concept for cable tool drilling consists of repeatedly dropping a heavy metal bit into the ground, eventually breaking through rock and punching a hole through to the desired depth. The bit, usually a blunt, chisel shaped instrument, can vary with the type of rock that is being drilled. Water is used in the well hole to combine with all of the drill cuttings, and is periodically bailed out of the well when this ‘mud’ interferes with the effectiveness of the drill bit.

Offshore Drilling

Offshore oil drilling is an oil extraction technique which allows oil companies to access deposits of oil buried under the ocean floor. Most typically, offshore drilling sites are situated over the continental shelf, although advancements in drilling technology have made platforms even further out to sea economically and physically feasible. Many people are opposed to offshore oil drilling, due to concerns about its impact on the environment, and the unaesthetic appearance of oil rigs off the coastline.

Many sections of the Earth's oceans have massive deposits of oil buried deep beneath their surface, and these oil deposits are extremely appealing to many oil companies. The first offshore oil drilling operation was established in 1938 in the Gulf of Mexico, and other producers quickly started to follow suit in other regions of the world. By the 1970s, many communities had enacted specific bans against offshore drilling, and the issue became a bone of contention in some areas.

There are several ways in which an offshore oil drilling operation can be run, and the type of oil rig used is usually dependent on the depth at the location, the type of oil, and prevailing conditions. Classically, fixed rigs are built into place on the ocean floor, with multiple well heads and adjustable parts to allow engineers to extract oil from the surrounding area. Floating rigs are also used, in some regions, and in some areas offshore oil drilling is conducted on ships for even more mobility.

Working on an offshore drilling rig can be extremely dangerous. Although hazardous area computers help obviate some danger, the risks of something going wrong still are much higher in the drilling industry than in most others. Several accidents have caused rigs to explode, capsize, or become badly damaged, with accompanying loss of life, and many crews today are housed offsite, so that if something happens to the rig, the loss of life will be less severe. Workers on oil rigs still have to contend with severe weather conditions, problems with the rig, and geological conditions which could become dangerous, and they are typically highly paid in recognition of the risks of the industry.

The environmental effects of offshore drilling are primarily caused by pollution related to poorly maintained and operated rigs. Oil spills around rigs are common, especially at the seafloor, where drilling may stimulate seepage, and heavy metal pollution can also occur. Some people also feel that offshore oil drilling disrupts and confuses marine life, although ironically rigs can also provide shelter to seabirds and fish.