Lecture 2

Overview of Exploration and Field Development

Module Outline

 Petroleum prospects; source rock, migration, trap, conv./unconv. reservoirs

 Exploration methods; structural geology, surface features, exploration geophysics
 Discovery and prospect evaluation; exploration wells, oil/gas in place,
 Development; development options, well construction, facilities, recovery techniques
 Production; phases of production, reservoir management
 Abandonment; physical and economic depletion, decommissioning, reclamation

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Student Learning Outcomes
 Recall the basic concepts and features of petroleum prospects
 State the differences between conventional and unconventional reservoirs
 Define exploration methods
 Describe exploration wells
 Estimate oil/gas in place from early data
 Define well construction and facilities options for reservoir development
 Explain oil and gas recovery techniques
 State the phases of reservoir production and management options

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Overview of Petroleum Exploration and Production

 From start to end, petroleum exploration and production activities may spread over
several decades of field development
 Petroleum exploration and production (E&P) are also known as field life cycle
 Main steps of petroleum exploration and production processes are
 Exploration

 Appraisal

 Development

 Production

 Abandonment

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Overview of Petroleum Exploration and Production
 The main phases of field life cycle:
 Exploration, Appraisal, Development, Production, Abandonment
 From start to end, a field life cycle may extend over 30-40 years
 Exploration and appraisal stages may last from 5 to 10 years
 Development stage may take from 1 to 5 years
 Production stage may extend from 15 to 30 years
 Abandonment stage may last for several years

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Petroleum Exploration

 Petroleum exploration are composed of the following phases

 Geological surveys
 Geophysical surveys
 Exploration drilling
 Petroleum exploration is mainly performed by geoscientists
 Petroleum resources are mostly deposited in sedimentary basins

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 Petroleum Exploration
 Subsurface temperature, which increases with depth, is a critical factor in generation of oil
 Petroleum hydrocarbons rarely form at temperatures less than 65º C
 Petroleum hydrocarbons are carbonized and destroyed at temperatures above 260ºC
 Most hydrocarbons are found at “moderate” temperatures ranging from 105º to 175º C
 At the exploration stage, petroleum geoscientists establish the existences of
 Source rock containing organic matter

 Trap structure facilitating accumulation of petroleum migrating from source rock

 Seal rock interrupting the migration of petroleum further

 Reservoir rock storing petroleum

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Exploration Methods

 Methods used during the early phase of exploration are

 Satellite images
 Gravity and magnetic surveys
 Seepage to surface
 Oil may be found at Earth surface as seeps
 Seeps are the result of leakage from underlying traps and source rock
 All traps leak to some extend and petroleum show up at Earth surface
 Leakage from petroleum traps and source rock occurs at very slow rates

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Exploration Methods – Petroleum Leakage

Petroleum seepage at
La Brea Tar Pits, California

Ref: Gluyas and Swarbrick, Petroleum Geoscience, 2004

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Exploration Methods – Satellite Images
 Satellite images can be used to
 Observe persistent offshore oil seepage
 Detect seismic lines and well locations
 Map rock formations, elevation, and major structures
 Differentiate major rock types
 Identify barren and productive basin areas
 Perform noninvasive mapping to preserved areas
 Identify fracture systems
 Geochemical alterations of surface rocks by hydrocarbons, which
lead to compositional and color changes

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Exploration Methods – Satellite Images
 Oil seepage, Santa Monica Bay, California  Oil seepage, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan

Ref: Luthi, Petroleum Geology, Class Notes, Delft University

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Exploration Geophysics
 Geophysical methods used in petroleum exploration:
 Gravitational surveys
 Magnetic surveys
 Seismic surveys
 Seismic surveys are the most useful and important
 Seismic data are used to estimate the shapes, locations, and physical
properties of subsurface layers
 Seismic technology has been used since early 1900s
 In 1924, seismic data were used to find Orchard Salt Dome field in Texas

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Exploration Geophysics – Gravity Method
 Gravity method is based on the measurement of small changes in the
acceleration of gravity in the area explored
 Force of gravity varies with
 Elevation
 Rock densities
 Latitude
 Topography
 Weigh of a person is equal to person’s mass multiplied by acceleration
of gravity; W = F = mg, where g is acceleration of gravity
 Mass does not depend on gravity

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Exploration Geophysics – Gravity Method

 In the survey area, changes in acceleration of gravity g may be measured

using an instrument called gravimeter
 Using a gravimeter, g is measured at stations spaced almost uniformly
 Raw g measurements are corrected for
 Elevation
 Latitude
 Topography
 The normal value of g is subtracted from the corrected readings and so
called residual gravity is computed

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Exploration Geophysics – Gravity Method

 The residual gravity are plotted at the

measurement station locations
 Contours of equal residual gravity are
drawn on the residual gravity plot

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 Exploration Geophysics – Magnetic Method

 The magnetic methods detects changes in the Earth’s magnetic field

 The changes in the Earth’s magnetic field are caused by the variations in the
magnetic properties of rocks
 Basement and igneous rocks are highly magnetic
 The magnetic method done by plane or satellite
 Plane or satellite allows rapid surveying, mapping, and good areal coverage
 Magnetic surveying is often employed at the beginning of the exploration
activities

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Exploration Geophysics – Magnetic Method

 Variations in the local magnetic field are due mainly to the following
 Lithologic changes of basement rocks with corresponding differences in
magnetite content
 Elevation changes on the top of basement
 The instruments used to measure the earth’s magnetic field are called
magnetometers
 Magnetometers measures the intensity or field strength of the earth’s
magnetic field in the unit of Tesla (T) or NanoTesla (nT)
 Today, most magnetic surveys are made from airplanes

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Gravity and Magnetic Method

Total Magnetic Intensity

Bouguer Gravity Map

Ref: Schroeder, Geology and Geophysics in the Petroleum Industry

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Method

 The seismic method is rather simple in concept

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrj7lulFe_M
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxJa7EvYoFI
 An energy source (dynamite in the early days) is used to produce seismic waves
(similar to sound waves)
 Seismic waves travel through the earth to detectors
 The detectors convert the motion or pressure variations to electricity that is recorded
by electronic instruments
 In petroleum exploration, geophones are used to record seismic wave
 In case of petroleum exploration in marine environment (sea), hydrophones are used
to collect seismic data

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Method

Ref: https://wedocs.unep.org

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Method

 Seismic surveys are conducted using multiple sources creating multiple

seismic waves
 Different geological layers have different densities and elastic properties
 When a seismic source creates a pulse that propagates through the
sedimentary layers, the sound waves travel with different velocities
between the layers

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Method

 At the interfaces between different geological layers, there are two significant
physical phenomena
 Reflection

 Refraction

 Part of the seismic ray is reflected back to the detectors/receivers at surface

 Reflected waves are recorded by the detectors at the surface
 Part of the seismic ray travels through the interface and propagates in the layer
below; i.e., seismic wave is refracted

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Seismic Waves
 A seismic source at any point on the Earth generates several types of seismic waves
 Seismic waves are classified as
 Body waves

 Surface waves

 Surface waves propagate approximately parallel to the Earth’s surface

 Surface waves do not propagate directly through the Earth’s interior
 Surface waves have limited significance in oil and gas exploration
 Body waves travel through the interior of Earth along paths controlled by the material properties
 There are two kinds of body waves
 P wave (primary wave) also known as compressional wave or longitudinal wave

 S wave (secondary wave) also known as shear wave

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Seismic Waves – P Wave
 Seismic surveying is largely concerned with the primary P waves
 These waves can travel through any type of material, including solids
liquids, and gases
 P waves can travel nearly 1.7 times faster than S waves
 Typical speeds of P waves are 330 m/s in air, 1450 m/s in water and
about 5000 m/s in granite

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Exploration Geophysics – Data Recorded by Geophones

 Geophones record the waves reflected from the interfaces between

different layers
 Attributes of the reflected waves measured by geophones are listed
below
 Amplitude
 Phase
 Frequency
 Polarity
 Arrival time

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Processing

 The prime objective in the processing stage is to enhance the signal and
suppress the noises and multiples
 Mathematics used in seismic processing is quite advanced and complex
 Seismic processing is performed by specialists on super computers
 There are specialized commercial software for seismic processing
 Many different procedures are used in seismic processing

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Ref: Bjorlykke, Petroleum Geoscience, 2010

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Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Interpretation

 Seismic images are studied by geologists and geophysicists (geoscientists)

 Geoscientists interpret the composition, fluid content, extent and
geometry of rocks in the subsurface
 Seismic data can be used in many ways such as regional mapping, prospect
mapping, reservoir delineation, seismic modelling, direct hydrocarbon
detection and the monitoring of producing reservoirs
 Based on the seismic interpretation, geoscientists decide if an area is a
possible prospect for hydrocarbon
 If the answer is positive, an exploration well is to be drilled

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 Exploration Geophysics – Seismic Interpretation
 Green color shows fractured and interbedded sandstones
 Purple color shows organic-rich shales

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Exploration Drilling

 The only way to find commercial amounts of gas and oil is to drill a well
 A well drilled to find a new gas or oil field is called a wildcat well
 Most wildcat wells are dry holes with no commercial success
 The well is drilled using a rotary drilling rig
 During drilling, rock fragments cut by drill bit is circulated out of well
 Drill cuttings are examined by geologists

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Exploration Drilling

Ref: http://www.ikonet.com

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Exploration Drilling
 The well penetrates hundreds of sedimentary rock layers consisting of
shales, sandstones, and limestones
 The following list of information may be found from drill cuttings
 Rock composition and lithology
 Physical properties of rocks
 Aging of rocks by examining microfossils
 Geological structure
 During drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD) and logging-while-
drilling (LWD) tools are run

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Exploration Drilling

 MWD and LWD tools are located just above the drill bit
 LWD measurements include resistivity, natural gamma ray, formation
density, and neutron porosity logs
 From LWD measurements, rock and fluid properties are evaluated
 More importantly, the wildcats wells may be cored across the petroleum
containing rock layers
 Rock and fluid properties nay be directly measured on the core plugs cut
from whole cores

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Exploration Drilling

 The information obtained from drill cuttings, LWD measurements, and

measurements on core plugs are used to confirm, modify, or update the
geological maps and geophysical models
 If a petroleum bearing reservoir rock is confirmed, well may be
temporarily put on production and tested
 Typically, drill-stem-test (DST) or wireline formation tester (WFT) tools
are used to run flow tests
 By analyzing DST flow tests, permeability, well productivity, and
reservoir boundaries may be estimated

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Appraisal Phase
 Once a petroleum discovery is made, there are much uncertainty about
its size, location, and extent
 During appraisal stage, several more wells are drilled and tested
 The early stages of appraisal focus on
 Defining the size and shape of the field
 Determining type of the fluids
 Locating the position and depth of the fluid contacts
 During appraisal phase, dense grid seismic data are collected
 Internal architecture of reservoir is studied

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Appraisal Phase

 Large data acquisition programs are run on the wells

 Often, some or all wells may be cored
 Core samples are cut from whole cores
 Core samples are used to predict rock and fluid properties
 Wireline logs are run in all wells
 From wireline logs, rock types, fluid types, fluid distributions, and some
seismic properties are estimated
 Oil, gas, and water samples are collected in wells

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Appraisal Phase
 Pressure transient tests are run on wells to determine
 Permeability
 Well productivity index
 Reservoir boundaries
 Formation damage around well
 Well drainage area/volume

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 Development Phase
 Information collected during the appraisal stage is used to construct a
field development plan (FDP)
 Field development plan includes
 How many wells are needed
 Where the wells should be drilled
 What surface production facilities should be designed
 Preliminary project economics and budget proposal

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 Metering, storage, and export facilities

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 Development Phase
 A reservoir model is built
 The reservoir model is based on the available static data
 Typically, static reservoir model contains the following data
 Geological description of reservoir shape
 Formation thickness and net-to-gross ratio
 Porosity and permeability distribution in reservoir
 Measured pressures
 Faults and potential permeability barriers
 Fluid properties

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Production Phase

 Once petroleum potential of the field is proven to be economically

viable, the field is put on production
 The production phase commences with the first commercial quantities
of petroleum flowing through wells
 The commencement of production phase is a turning point from a cash
flow perspective
 Only after the inception of commercial petroleum production, the
company start to generate revenue from the prior investment

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Production Phase

 During production phase, we measure the following production data

 Oil, gas, and water production rates in each well
 Cumulative oil, gas, and water production from each well
 Wellhead pressures and temperatures
 Flowing bottomhole pressures
 Reservoir pressure
 Gas-oil ratio, gas-water ration, water-oil ratio
 Production data are called as dynamic data since they are measured
under dynamic flow conditions

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Production Phase
 The static reservoir model constructed during the development phase is
revised and modified
 The reservoir model is conditioned to available production data
 Simulated production data from the reservoir model are compared to the
measured production data
 The reservoir model is fine-tuned
 The dynamic production data yield much greater insights into the
internal architecture of the field and help to improve reservoir
description

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Production Phase

 The reservoir model is updated regularly

 Additional production wells may be drilled
 Production profile from a reservoir may be divided into three periods
 Buildup period
 Plateau period
 Decline period
 During buildup period
 Newly drilled producers are brought on stream
 Oil production rate from field increases gradually

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Production Phase

 Typically, buildup period lasts for several years

 During plateau period,
 Oil production rate from the whole field is stabilized
 Production facilities at surface run at full capacity
 Oil rate in older wells declines
 High oil rates in newly drilled wells balances the production decline in older
wells
 Generally, the plateau period lasts about 3-5 years
 After drilling all the wells planned, the field production trend enters a
decline period lasting the longest (typically 10-30 years)

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Production Phase
 During decline period, oil production rates from total field and also from
each well decrease continuously
 Only a relatively small percent of total oil in place may be recovered by
natural reservoir drive energy; typically from 5% to 35% depending on
reservoir fluid and rock properties
 To increase oil recovery and to offset the decline in oil production, we
may inject external fluids into reservoir rock
 Injection of external fluids into reservoir rock is known as enhanced oil
recovery

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Production Phase
 Among the external fluids injected into reservoir rocks are
 Water; Natural Gas
 Steam
 Carbon dioxide; Nitrogen
 Polymer; Surfactant
 To inject of external fluids into reservoir rock, the injection wells must
be constructed

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 Abandonment Phase
 A field is abandoned when net cash flow becomes negative
 Production may also be stopped if production facilities and wells require
considerable new investment to operate
 Field abandonment is also called as decommissioning or reclamation
 Abandonment process may take several years to complete
 At abandonment, all the wells must be plugged and put into a safe state so
that there cannot be any fluid leaks from the wells
 Production facilities at the surface must be dismantled and removed from
the field

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