Category: Oil and Gas business

The ratio of the volume of space to the volume of solid rock in a formation indicating how much oil, natural gas, or water the formation can hold. Only high porosity reservoir rocks, like sandstone, bear oil and gas.

Comprises pipeline washing out and drying

Are both related to rock characteristics and are two of the primary factors that control the movement and storage of fluids in rocks and sediments. The exploitation of petroleum is partially dependent on the properties of porosity and permeability. Porosity is the ratio of the volume of openings (voids) to the total volume of material. Porosity represents the storage capacity of the geologic material. Permeability is a measure of the ease with which fluids will flow though a porous rock, sediment or soil. Just as with porosity, the packing, shape, and sorting of granular materials control their permeability. Although a rock may be highly porous, if the voids are not interconnected, then fluids within the closed, isolated pores cannot move

A reservoir that is located underneath the salt (i.e. it was deposited before (pre) or (earlier) than the salt). These reserves of oil and gas are situated in deep layers bellow the sea which require the development of new technology and processes to explore and develop. Discoveries in the pre-salt layers of the Brazil Santos Basin have been made in 2008 in water depths of 1,500-3,000 meters and sediments of 3,000-4,000 meters deep in pre-salt structures, including a salt layer that obscures traditional seismic imaging. Development of pre-salt reserves is expensive and complicated

Oil was the number one political risk in 2008, followed by the Middle East (no. 2 political risk). Part of this was caused by tight market fundamentals that eroded spare oil production capacity, leaving the market without a buffer in the event of disruption which made oil markets much more vulnerable to price shocks. The countries that are most affected by the geopolitics of oil include the major importers (US, Europe, China, Japan) and the exporters (Saudi Arabia, OPEC, FSU, West Africa). Examples of oil and politics include: 2007- Russia/Belarus; 2008 – Russia/Georgia, disruptions in Nigeria; Terrorism; Iran that has threatened to block the 17m b/d Strait of Hormuz, through which 90% of Persian Gulf Exports flow; might Iran hit Iraqi oil production; the whole Middle East is cause for concern. Speculators and oil price: The 2007-08 price actions suggest speculators believed geopolitical risks had risen

Port Dolphin Energy is a wholly owned US subsidiary of the Norway based company Hoegh LNG. Port Dolphin is scheduled to start commercial operations by 2011 with a peak send-out capacity of 1.2 bcf/d. The project will consist of one or more LNG Shuttle and Regasification Vessels, two submerged turret unloading and mooring buoys to receive an average of up to 800 million cubic feet per day of natural gas; and a 42 mile offshore pipeline to bring the natural gas from the offshore terminal to Port Manatee in Tampa Bay; and a 4 mile onshore pipeline ending at an interconnection station with inter- and intrastate pipelines.

Estimate of reserves made by the operator before drilling has taken place

A natural underground reservoir containing an accumulation of petroleum.