self trainning Petroleum: Building the Wells

self trainning Petroleum: Building the Wells: After geologists and reservoir engineers determine where the wells should be, crews level the site, construct a lease road, erect th...

Building the Wells

After geologists and reservoir engineers determine where the wells
should be, crews level the site, construct a lease road, erect the
drilling rig, and place support facilities on the pad. for efficiency,
and to minimize disturbance at the surface, BhP Billiton Petroleum
typically drills and completes several wells from a single pad,
directing each wellbore to a different part of the target zone. When the wells are to be hydraulically fractured, an array of large trucks,
pumps, storage units, and control systems will be brought in for
several days. once all the wells are completed, the perimeter of the site is restored as close as possible to its original condition, leaving only a minimal surface footprint.

Surface drilling and casing
Drillers start a new well by drilling a hole to a depth of
approximately 80-100 feet, and installing a large-diameter pipe called a conductor casing, which is then cemented in place.

Protecting the water table
once the conductor casing is set, drilling continues to a depth that
state regulatory agencies determine is well below the level of any fresh ground water. the heavy pipe called surface casing is then
installed and cemented in place by pumping cement down the pipe. the cement circulates to the bottom of the surface casing and rises
back to the surface on the outside of the casing, forming another layer of protection and strength.

Horizontal drilling
Shale wells are usually completed with a horizontal section. As the
wellbore continues downward and it approaches the target shale, drilling engineers guide the drill bit, curving the borehole until its
path is horizontal or nearly so. the finished hole may run horizontally for a mile or more through the hydrocarbon-rich layers of rock.

Production Casing
the drilling phase is finished after drillers install and cement an
additional set of piping from the bottom of the well all the way back to the surface, forming yet another barrier between the rock and the inside of the well.

the first most important gaint unconventional petroleum north america

The Eagle Ford Shale Hydrocarbons in economic quantities were discovered in the  eagle Ford shale in 2008.  Since then, the region has become the epicenter of shale operations in Texas, and one of the premiere plays in North a merica.

The Eagle Ford spans more than 400 miles of south-central Texas. The heart of the play about 50 miles wide and has an average thickness of 250 feet. It is a giant resource that will be productive for many years to come.

Oil Drilling rig introduction

Oil Rig Systems

Once the equipment is at the site, the crew sets the rig up. Here are the major systems of a land oil rig:

Power system

• large diesel engines - burn diesel-fuel oil to provide the main source of power
• electrical generators - powered by the diesel engines to provide electrical power

Mechanical system - driven by electric motors

• hoisting system - used for lifting heavy loads; consists of a mechanical winch (drawworks) with a large steel cable spool, a block-and-tackle pulley and a receiving storage reel for the cable
• turntable - part of the drilling apparatus

Rotating equipment - used for rotary drilling

• swivel - large handle that holds the weight of the drill string; allows the string to rotate and makes a pressure-tight seal on the hole
• kelly - four- or six-sided pipe that transfers rotary motion to the turntable and drill string
• turntable or rotary table - drives the rotating motion using power from electric motors
• drill string - consists of drill pipe (connected sections of about 30 feet (10 meters) and drill collars (larger diameter, heavier pipe that fits around the drill pipe and places weight on the drill bit)
• drill bit(s) - end of the drill that actually cuts up the rock; comes in many shapes and materials (tungsten carbide steel, diamond) that are specialized for various drilling tasks and rock formations

Casing - large-diameter concrete pipe that lines the drill hole, prevents the hole from collapsing, and allows drilling mud to circulate

Mud circulation in the hole

Photo courtesy the Energy Institute

Circulation system - pumps drilling mud (mixture of water, clay, weighting material and chemicals, used to lift rock cuttings from the drill bit to the surface) under pressure through the kelly, rotary table, drill pipes and drill collars

pump - sucks mud from the mud pits and pumps it to the drilling apparatus
pipes and hoses - connects pump to drilling apparatus
mud-return line - returns mud from the hole
shale shaker - shaker/sieve that separates rock cuttings from the mud
shale slide - conveys cuttings to the reserve pit
reserve pit - collects rock cuttings separated from the mud
mud pits - where drilling mud is mixed and recycled
mud-mixing hopper - where new mud is mixed and then sent to the mud pits

Derrick - support structure that holds the drilling apparatus; tall enough to allow new sections of drill pipe to be added to the drilling apparatus as drilling progresses

Blowout preventer - high-pressure valves (located under the land rig or on the sea floor) that seal the high-pressure drill lines and relieve pressure when necessary to prevent a blowout (uncontrolled gush of gas or oil to the surface, often associated with fire)

drilling for oil

in2008 alone, the United States produced an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and imported 9.8 million barrels per day from other countries [source: U.S. Energy Information Administration]. This oil gets refined into gasoline, kerosene, heating oil and other products. To keep up with our consumption, oil companies must constantly look for new sources of petroleum, as well as improve the production of existing wells.How does a company go about finding oil and pumping it from the ground? You may have seen images of black crude oil gushing out of the ground, or seen an oil well in movies and television shows like "Giant," "Oklahoma Crude," "Armageddon" and "Beverly Hillbillies." But modern oil production is quite different from the way it's portrayed in th

Cairo Driller Buys Ben Loyal Jack up

DES Advanced Energy Systems, Cairo, has bought the Ben Loyal jack up drilling rig from KCA Deutag, Aberdeen, for an undisclosed price.

KCA Deutag acquired the rig, which was built in 1981, in 2005. The rig had been under contract in the Gulf of Mexico until last October.

The cantilever unit can drill to as deep as 25,000 ft in as much as 300 ft of water.

Israel accept development of giant offshore gas fields

srael has greenlighted the respective development and expansion of Leviathan and Tamar natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea.

Noble Energy Inc., Houston, says it was notified by the Israeli government that it will implement a natural gas framework, resolving and providing exemption from claims of the antitrust authority with respect to the Leviathan partners’ acquisition of petroleum rights in the underlying permits (OGJ Online, Sept. 4, 2015).

The framework also enables marketing of Leviathan gas to Israeli customers for the first time. The development of Leviathan will substantially expand Noble’s capacity to deliver gas to Israel and the region, as well as provide a second source of domestic natural gas supply and redundancy of infrastructure for Israel


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