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Oil well From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An oil well is a general term for any boring through the Earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.

History

Oil extraction in Boryslav in Ukraine in 1909. According to George E. Totten, the earliest known oil wells were drilled in China in 347 CE. They had depths of up to about 800 feet (240 m) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles.[1] The oil was burned to evaporate brine and produce salt. By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines
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Document1 connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to the use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as burning water in Japan in the 7th century.[2] The Middle East's petroleum industry was established by the 8th century, when the streets of the newly constructed Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region.[citation needed] According to Kasem Ajram, petroleum was distilled by the Persian alchemist Muhammad ibn Zakarya Rzi (Rhazes) in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as kerosene in the alembic (al-ambiq),[3][verification needed] and which was mainly used for kerosene lamps.[4] Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil in order to produce flammable products for military purposes. Through Islamic Spain, distillation became available in Western Europe by the 12th century.[2]

Bottom Part of an Oil Well in Brazoria County, Texas (Harry Walker Photograph, circa 1940) Some sources claim that from the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce naphtha for the petroleum industry. These fields were described by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those oil wells as hundreds of shiploads. When Marco Polo in 1264 visited the Azerbaijani city of Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, he saw oil being collected from seeps. He wrote that "on the confines toward Geirgine there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, in as much as a hundred shiploads might be taken from it at one time."

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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1904 oil well fire at Bibi-Eibat. Shallow pits were dug at the Baku seeps in ancient times to facilitate collecting oil, and hand-dug holes up to 35 metres (115 ft) deep were in use by 1594. These holes were essentially oil wells. Apparently 116 of these wells in 1830 produced 3,840 metric tons (about 28,000 barrels) of oil. Also, offshore drilling started up at Baku (then Russian Empire) at Bibi-Eibat field in 1846. In the New World, the first commercial oil well entered operation in Oil Springs, Ontario in 1858, while the first offshore oil well was drilled in 1896 at the Summerland Oil Field on the California Coast. The earliest oil wells in modern times were drilled percussively, by hammering a cable tool into the earth. Soon after, cable tools were replaced with rotary drilling, which could drill boreholes to much greater depths and in less time. The record-depth Kola Borehole used non-rotary mud motor drilling to achieve a depth of over 12,000 metres (39,000 ft). Until the 1970s, most oil wells were vertical, although lithological and mechanical imperfections cause most wells to deviate at least slightly from true vertical. However, modern directional drilling technologies allow for strongly deviated wells which can, given sufficient depth and with the proper tools, actually become horizontal. This is of great value as the reservoir rocks which contain hydrocarbons are usually horizontal, or sub-horizontal; a horizontal wellbore placed in a production zone has more surface area in the production zone than a vertical well, resulting in a higher production rate. The use of deviated and horizontal drilling has also made it possible to reach reservoirs several kilometers or miles away from the drilling location (extended reach drilling), allowing for the production of hydrocarbons located below locations that are either difficult to place a drilling rig on, environmentally sensitive, or populated. Life of a well

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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A schematic of a typical oil well being produced by a pumpjack, which is used to produce the remaining recoverable oil after natural pressure is no longer sufficient to raise oil to the surface. The creation and life of a well can be divided up into five segments:

Planning Drilling
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Completion Production Abandonment

Drilling See also: Boring (earth) The well is created by drilling a hole 5 to 50 inches (127.0 mm to 914.4 mm) in diameter into the earth with a drilling rig that rotates a drill string with a bit attached. After the hole is drilled, sections of steel pipe (casing), slightly smaller in diameter than the borehole, are placed in the hole. Cement may be placed between the outside of the casing and the borehole. The casing provides structural integrity to the newly drilled wellbore, in addition to isolating potentially dangerous high pressure zones from each other and from the surface. With these zones safely isolated and the formation protected by the casing, the well can be drilled deeper (into potentially more-unstable and violent formations) with a smaller bit, and also cased with a smaller size casing. Modern wells often have two to five sets of subsequently smaller hole sizes drilled inside one another, each cemented with casing.

Mud log in process, a common way to study the lithology when drilling oil wells. To drill the well

The drill bit, aided by the weight of thick walled pipes called "drill collars" above it, cuts into the rock. There are different types of drill bit; some cause the rock to disintegrate by compressive failure, while others shear slices off the rock as the bit turns. Drilling fluid, a.k.a. "mud", is pumped down the inside of the drill pipe and exits at the drill bit. Drilling mud is a complex mixture of fluids, solids and chemicals that must be carefully tailored to provide the correct physical and chemical characteristics required to safely drill the well. Particular functions of the drilling mud include cooling the bit, lifting rock cuttings to the surface, preventing destabilisation of the rock in the wellbore walls and overcoming the pressure of fluids inside the rock so that these fluids do not enter the wellbore. The generated rock "cuttings" are swept up by the drilling fluid as it circulates back to surface outside the drill pipe. The fluid then goes through "shakers" which strain the cuttings from the
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Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

Document1 good fluid which is returned to the pit. Watching for abnormalities in the returning cuttings and monitoring pit volume or rate of returning fluid are imperative to catch "kicks" early. A "kick" is when the formation pressure at the depth of the bit is more than the hydrostatic head of the mud above, which if not controlled temporarily by closing the blowout preventers and ultimately by increasing the density of the drilling fluid would allow formation fluids and mud to come up through the annulus uncontrollably. The pipe or drill string to which the bit is attached is gradually lengthened as the well gets deeper by screwing in additional 30-foot (9 m) sections or "joints" of pipe under the kelly or topdrive at the surface. This process is called making a connection. Usually, joints are combined into three joints equaling one stand. Some smaller rigs only use two joints and some rigs can handle stands of four joints.

This process is all facilitated by a drilling rig which contains all necessary equipment to circulate the drilling fluid, hoist and turn the pipe, control downhole, remove cuttings from the drilling fluid, and generate on-site power for these operations.

Modern driller Argentina. Completion Main article: Completion (oil and gas wells) After drilling and casing the well, it must be 'completed'. Completion is the process in which the well is enabled to produce oil or gas. In a cased-hole completion, small holes called perforations are made in the portion of the casing which passed through the production zone, to provide a path for the oil to flow from the surrounding rock into the production tubing. In open hole completion, often 'sand screens' or a 'gravel pack' is installed in the last drilled, uncased reservoir section. These maintain structural integrity of the wellbore in the absence of casing, while still allowing flow from the reservoir into the wellbore. Screens also control the migration of formation sands into production tubulars and surface equipment, which can cause washouts and other problems, particularly from unconsolidated sand formations of offshore fields. After a flow path is made, acids and fracturing fluids may be pumped into the well to fracture, clean, or otherwise prepare and stimulate the reservoir rock to optimally produce hydrocarbons into the
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Document1 wellbore. Finally, the area above the reservoir section of the well is packed off inside the casing, and connected to the surface via a smaller diameter pipe called tubing. This arrangement provides a redundant barrier to leaks of hydrocarbons as well as allowing damaged sections to be replaced. Also, the smaller crossectional area of the tubing produces reservoir fluids at an increased velocity in order to minimize liquid fallback that would create additional back pressure, and shields the casing from corrosive well fluids. In many wells, the natural pressure of the subsurface reservoir is high enough for the oil or gas to flow to the surface. However, this is not always the case, especially in depleted fields where the pressures have been lowered by other producing wells, or in low permeability oil reservoirs. Installing a smaller diameter tubing may be enough to help the production, but artificial lift methods may also be needed. Common solutions include downhole pumps, gas lift, or surface pump jacks. Many new systems in the last ten years have been introduced for well completion. Multiple packer systems with frac ports or port collars in an all in one system have cut completion costs and improved production, especially in the case of horizontal wells. These new systems allow casings to run into the lateral zone with proper packer/frac port placement for optimal hydrocarbon recovery. Production The production stage is the most important stage of a well's life, when the oil and gas are produced. By this time, the oil rigs and workover rigs used to drill and complete the well have moved off the wellbore, and the top is usually outfitted with a collection of valves called a Christmas tree or Production trees. These valves regulate pressures, control flows, and allow access to the wellbore in case further completion work is needed. From the outlet valve of the production tree, the flow can be connected to a distribution network of pipelines and tanks to supply the product to refineries, natural gas compressor stations, or oil export terminals. As long as the pressure in the reservoir remains high enough, the production tree is all that is required to produce the well. If the pressure depletes and it is considered economically viable, an artificial lift method mentioned in the completions section can be employed. Workovers are often necessary in older wells, which may need smaller diameter tubing, scale or paraffin removal, acid matrix jobs, or completing new zones of interest in a shallower reservoir. Such remedial work can be performed using workover rigs also known as pulling units, completion rigs or "service rigs" to pull and replace tubing, or by the use of well intervention techniques utilizing coiled tubing. Depending on the type of lift system and wellhead a rod rig or flushby can be used to change a pump without pulling the tubing. Enhanced recovery methods such as water flooding, steam flooding, or CO2 flooding may be used to increase reservoir pressure and provide a "sweep" effect to push hydrocarbons out of the reservoir. Such methods require the use of injection wells (often chosen from old production wells in a carefully determined pattern), and are used when facing problems with reservoir pressure depletion, high oil viscosity, or can even be employed early in a field's life. In certain cases depending on the reservoir's geomechanics reservoir engineers may determine that ultimate recoverable oil may be increased by applying a waterflooding strategy early in the field's development rather than later. Such enhanced recovery techniques are often called "tertiary recovery".

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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Document1 Abandonment A well is said to reach an "economic limit" when its most efficient production rate does not cover the operating expenses, including taxes.[5] When the economic limit is raised, the life of the well is shortened and proven oil reserves are lost. Conversely, when the economic limit is lowered, the life of the well is lengthened. When the economic limit is reached, the well becomes a liability and is abandoned. In this process, tubing is removed from the well and sections of well bore are filled with cement to isolate the flow path between gas and water zones from each other, as well as the surface. Completely filling the well bore with cement is costly and unnecessary. The surface around the wellhead is then excavated, and the wellhead and casing are cut off, a cap is welded in place and then buried. At the economic limit there often is still a significant amount of unrecoverable oil left in the reservoir. It might be tempting to defer physical abandonment for an extended period of time, hoping that the oil price will go up or that new supplemental recovery techniques will be perfected. However, lease provisions and governmental regulations usually require quick abandonment; liability and tax concerns also may favor abandonment. In theory an abandoned well can be reentered and restored to production (or converted to injection service for supplemental recovery or for downhole hydrocarbons storage), but reentry often proves to be difficult mechanically and not cost effective. Types of wells

Another obvious way to classify oil wells is by land or offshore wells. There is very little difference in the well itself. An offshore well targets a reservoir that happens to be underneath an ocean. Due to logistics, drilling an offshore well is far more costly than an onshore well. By far the most common type is the onshore well. These wells dot the Southern and Central Great Plains, Southwestern United States, and are the most common wells in the Middle East.

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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Document1 Another way to classify oil wells is by their purpose in contributing to the development of a resource. They can be characterized as:

wildcat wells are those drilled outside of and not in the vicinity of known oil or gas fields. exploration wells are drilled purely for exploratory (information gathering) purposes in a new area. appraisal wells are used to assess characteristics (such as flow rate) of a proven hydrocarbon accumulation. production wells are drilled primarily for producing oil or gas, once the producing structure and characteristics are determined.

At a producing well site, active wells may be further categorised as:

oil producers producing predominantly liquid hydrocarbons, but mostly with some associated gas. gas producers producing almost entirely gaseous hydrocarbons. water injectors injecting water into the formation to maintain reservoir pressure, or simply to dispose of water produced with the hydrocarbons because even after treatment, it would be too oily and too saline to be considered clean for dumping overboard offshore, let alone into a fresh water resource in the case of onshore wells. Water injection into the producing zone frequently has an element of reservoir management; however, often produced water disposal is into shallower zones safely beneath any fresh water zones. aquifer producers intentionally producing water for re-injection to manage pressure. If possible this water will come from the reservoir itself. Using aquifer produced water rather than water from other sources is to preclude chemical incompatibility that might lead to reservoir-plugging precipitates. These wells will generally be needed only if produced water from the oil or gas producers is insufficient for reservoir management purposes. gas injectors injecting gas into the reservoir often as a means of disposal or sequestering for later production, but also to maintain reservoir pressure.

Cost The cost of a well depends mainly on the daily rate of the drilling rig, the extra services required to drill the well, the duration of the well program (including downtime and weather time), and the remoteness of the location (logistic supply costs). The daily rates of offshore drilling rigs vary by their capability, and the market availability. Rig rates reported by industry web service[8] show that the deepwater water floating drilling rigs are over twice that of the shallow water fleet, and rates for jackup fleet can vary by factor of 3 depending upon capability. With deepwater drilling rig rates in 2010 of around $420,000/day,[8] and similar additional spread costs, a deep water well of duration of 100 days can cost around US$100 million. With high performance jackup rig rates in 2010 of around $150,000,[8] and similar service costs, a high pressure, high temperature well of duration 100 days can cost about US$30 million.

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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Document1 Onshore wells can be considerably cheaper, particularly if the field is at a shallow depth, where costs range from less than $1 million to $15 million for deep and difficult wells.[citation needed] The total cost of an oil well mentioned does not include the costs associated with the risk of explosion and leakage of oil. Those costs include the cost of protecting against such disasters, the cost of the cleanup effort, and the hard-to-calculate cost of damage to the company's image. List of components of oil drilling rigs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Drilling rig (petroleum)) Jump to: navigation, search This article lists the main components of a petroleum onshore drilling rig. Offshore drilling rigs have similar elements, but are configured with a number of different drilling systems to suit drilling in the marine environment. The equipment associated with a rig is to some extent dependent on the type of rig but typically includes at least some of the items listed below. List of items

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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Simple diagram of a drilling rig and its basic operation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Mud tank Shale shakers Suction line (mud pump) Mud pump Motor or power source Vibrating hose Draw-works Standpipe Kelly hose Goose-neck Traveling block Drill line
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Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

Document1 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Crown block Derrick Monkey board Stand (of drill pipe) Pipe rack (floor) Swivel (On newer rigs this may be replaced by a top drive) Kelly drive Rotary table Drill floor Bell nipple Blowout preventer (BOP) Annular type Blowout preventer (BOP) Pipe ram & blind ram Drill string Drill bit Casing head or Wellhead Flow line

Explanation

Bell nipple (#22) is a section of large diameter pipe fitted to the top of the blowout preventers that the flow line attaches to via a side outlet, to allow the drilling mud to flow back to the mud tanks. Blowout preventers (BOPs) (#23 and #24) are devices installed at the wellhead to prevent fluids and gases from unintentionally escaping from the wellbore. #23 is the annular (often referred to as Hydril named after a manufacturer), and #24 is the pipe rams and blind rams. Casing head (#27) is a large metal flange welded or screwed onto the top of the conductor pipe (also known as drive-pipe) or the casing and is used to bolt the surface equipment such as the blowout preventers (for well drilling) or the Christmas tree (oil well) (for well production). Centrifuge (not pictured) is an industrial version of the device that separates fine silt and sand from the drilling fluid. It is typically mounted on top or just off of the mud tanks. Crown block (#13) is the stationary end of the block and tackle. Degasser (not pictured) is a device that separates air and/or gas from the drilling fluid. It is typically mounted on top of the mud tanks. Derrick (#14) is the support structure for the equipment used to lower and raise the drill string into and out of the wellbore. Desander / desilter (not pictured) contains a set of hydrocyclones that separate sand and silt from the drilling fluid. Typically mounted on top of the mud tanks. Draw-works (#7) is the mechanical section that contains the spool, whose main function is to reel in/out the drill line to raise/lower the traveling block. Drill Bit (#26) is a device attached to the end of the drill string that breaks apart the rock being drilled. It contains jets through which the drilling fluid exits. Drill floor (#21) is the area on the rig where the tools are located to make the connections of the drill pipe, bottom hole assembly, tools and bit. It is considered the main area where work is performed. Drill line (#12) is thick, stranded metal cable threaded through the two blocks (traveling and crown) to raise and lower the drill string. Drill pipe (#16) is a joint of hollow tubing used to connect the surface equipment to the bottom hole assembly (BHA) and acts as a conduit for the drilling fluid. In the diagram, these are stands
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Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

Document1 of drill pipe which are 2 or 3 joints of drill pipe connected and stood in the derrick vertically, usually to save time while tripping pipe. Drill string (#25) is an assembled collection of drill pipe, heavy weight drill pipe, drill collars and any of a whole assortment of tools, connected and run into the wellbore to facilitate the drilling of a well. The collection is referred to singularly as the drill string. Elevators (not pictured) are hinged devices that is used to latch to the drill pipe or casing to facilitate the lowering or lifting (of pipe or casing) into or out of the wellbore. Flow line (#28) is large diameter pipe that is attached to the bell nipple and extends to the shale shakers to facilitate the flow of drilling fluid back to the mud tanks. Goose-neck (#10) is a thick metal elbow connected to the swivel and standpipe that supports the weight of and provides a downward angle for the kelly hose to hang from. Kelly drive (#19) is a square, hexagonal or octagonal shaped tubing that is inserted through and is an integral part of the rotary table that moves freely vertically while the rotary table turns it. Kelly hose (#9) is a flexible, high pressure hose that connects the standpipe to the kelly (or more specifically to the gooseneck on the swivel above the kelly) and allows free vertical movement of the kelly, while facilitating the flow of the drilling fluid through the system and down the drill string. Monkey board (#15) is the catwalk along the side of the derrick (usually about 35 or 40 feet above the "floor"). The monkey board is where the derrick man works while "tripping" pipe. Mud motor (not pictured) is a hydraulically powered device positioned just above the drill bit used to spin the bit independently from the rest of the drill string. Mud pump (#4) is a reciprocal type of pump used to circulate drilling fluid through the system. Mud tank (#1) is often called mud pits and stores drilling fluid until it is required down the wellbore. Pipe rack (#17) is a part of the drill floor (#21) where the stands of drill pipe are stood upright. It is typically made of a metal frame structure with large wooden beams situated within it. The wood helps to protect the end of the drill pipe. Rotary table (#20) rotates, along with its constituent parts, the kelly and kelly bushing, the drill string and the attached tools and bit. Shale shaker (#2) separates drill cuttings from the drilling fluid before it is pumped back down the wellbore. Stand (#16) is a section of 2 or 3 joints of drill pipe connected and stood upright in the derrick. When they are pulled out of the hole, instead of laying down each joint of drill pipe, 2 or 3 joints are left connected and stood in the derrick to save time. Standpipe (#8) is a thick metal tubing, situated vertically along the derrick, that facilitates the flow of drilling fluid and has attached to it and supports one end of the kelly hose. Suction line (#3) is an intake line for the mud pump to draw drilling fluid from the mud tanks. Swivel (#18) is the top end of the kelly that allows the rotation of the drill string without twisting the block. Traveling block (#11) is the moving end of the block and tackle. Together, they give a significant mechanical advantage for lifting. Vibrating hose (#6) is a flexible, high pressure hose (similar to the kelly hose) that connects the mud pump to the stand pipe. It is called the vibrating hose because it tends to vibrate and shake (sometimes violently) due to its close proximity to the mud pumps.

Source: wikipedia.org Chair: Martin Soriano. Course: Simultaneous Interpreting II. Oil Wells

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