Category: Oil and Gas business

The US and other OECD countries are concerned by their “oil addiction” in general and specifically their dependence on Middle East oil. Indeed, the world has, does, and will continue to depend on the Middle East for over half its oil. That is hardly surprising since this region holds over half of the world’s energy reserves. But this dependence varies considerably – from a high of 82 percent of Japanese demand to 26 percent for Western Europe and 21 percent for the United States. However, Algeria and Qatar have supplied completely reliably large amounts of the gas needs of Europe and Asia, which means the latter in turn can depend less on such alternative suppliers as Russia. Gas disputes have upset relations between Russia and its neighbors, notably Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia, and persist between Russia and the EU over monopoly control over exports and pipelines. Thus, supplies from the Middle East help to mitigate the pressure that Russia can bring to bear. In addition, in the case of oil, Saudi Arabia and other suppliers from the Arabian Gulf have provided uninterrupted exports for the past quarter century. Negative aspects of course include the case of Iran, which supplies 4 percent of Europe’s oil and 10 percent of Japan’s, and earned about $51 billion from its energy exports in 2006 so that oil revenue helps to support an extremist, clerical regime which subsidizes terrorist organizations and rejects the State of Israel. When all the vast host of issues are taken into consideration, the best course of action is probably energy interdependence, diversification, and risk reduction.

Liquid, usually salt water or oil, but sometimes mud, used in a well when a packer is between the tubing and the casing. Packer fluid must be heavy enough to shut off the pressure of the formation being produced, and should not stiffen or settle out of suspension over long periods of time, and must be non-corrosive

A petroleum-bearing rock with good porosity and permeability

This is the total resource base without regard to recoverability; it is essentially geologic in nature. The oil recovery factor (expected ultimate recovery divided by original oil-in-place) indicates what percent of the total resource can be recovered. Ultimately, the actual percentage recovered is significantly driven by complex economic and technological considerations.

When the flow of oil or gas completely fills the pipeline. This term contrasts to Slackline

A method of preparing a well for production in which no production casing or liner is set opposite the producing formation. Reservoir fluids flow unrestricted into the open wellbore.

The submerged lands extending from the outer limit of the historic territorial sea (typically three miles) to some undefined outer limit, usually a depth of 600 feet

A map that shows the distribution of sedimentary environments at a specific time in the past. These maps are made by studying the rock record to correlate rock units that were deposited at the same time, then relating rock characteristics to specific sedimentary environments

Any wellbore in which casing has not been set. 2. open or cased hole in which no drill pipe or tubing is suspended. 3. the portion of the wellbore that has no casing

A term used to denote trade in non-physical oil (futures, forwards, swaps, etc.) markets which give a buyer or seller the right to a certain quantity and quality of crude oil or refined products at a future date, but not to any specific physical lot.