Category: Oil and Gas business

Used for drilling vertical holes. A vertical well is always the preferred, easiest and cheapest option. No petroleum engineer or geologist is going to recommend horizonal wells when and where vertical wells will efficiently drain the reservoir. even with greater efficiency, the additional cost of a horizontal well may not–even probably will not, warrant the extra cost. In addition, there is more engineering risk in horizontal wells. All horizontal (directional wells) start out as vertical wells, theoretically one coud back out of the reservoir and kick off in a new direction.

Oil equivalent to natural gas equivalent:

6 mmcf of natural gas = 1 mmbl of oil (one thousand barrels of oil)

These are cheap wells designed to gather minimum essential data. These are in essence exploration wells that are designed to maximize the potential from exploration budgets and increase exploration success. The finder well concept to maximize exploration budget includes: to design exploration campaigns and not just exploration wells; to rank the prospects on a regional & global scale according to potential & risks; to determine the Vital Few Objectives of the well & to design to satisfy only these; to agree to the design via a multidiscipline team then freeze design (avoid scope creep)

Reservoir rock is a permeable and porous rock in which the gas is stored in

With a combined membership of over 14,000 individuals and 300 companies across 100 countries, the Energy Institute is the leading chartered professional membership body for those working and studying in energy, providing a wide range of energy courses. Providing an independent focal point and a powerful voice to engage business and industry, government, academia and the public, the EI promotes the safe, environmentally responsible and efficient supply and use of energy in all its forms and applications. In fulfilling this purpose the EI addresses the depth and breadth of energy and the energy system, from upstream and downstream hydrocarbons and other primary fuels and renewables, to power generation, transmission and distribution to sustainable development, demand side management and energy efficiency. Offering learning and networking opportunities to support career development, the EI provides a home to all those working in energy, and a scientific and technical reservoir of knowledge for industry

The Israeli Standard Institute together with the MNI instigated 4 new natural gas standards in mid 2009, based on the pressure of the gas. The four standards are: (1) 5664-1 Natural gas transmission / general; (2) 5664-2 natural gas transmission system / further needs for steel pipe (everything that is over 16 bar pressure comes under 5664-1 or 2). Both these standards stem from the Dutch standard NEN 3650-1 and 3650-2 with relevant changes and additions made for the Israeli market); (3) 5664-3 natural gas distribution system, adopted from the US standard ASME B 31.8 with relevant changes, and (4) 5664-4 natural gas supply system, which deals with matters up to the consumer’s meter, with relevant changes and was adopted from the US standard NFPA 54. Sections 3 and 4 were adopted from British documents with the objective to attain the highest possible level of safety and greater technical definitions based on Israeli laws

In the early days of oil tanker operations it was a common practice to clean tanks by means of jets spraying seawater.  The jets washed the oil residues from the tank surfaces, resulting in a mixture of oil and water which collected at the bottom of the tank and was then pumped overboard.  This naturally led to a considerable amount of oil getting into the sea. The ballast water, which was pumped overboard to make way for a fresh cargo of oil, was also contaminated. In the 1950s, there were no alternative ways of cleaning tanks. The OILPOL Convention, adopted in 1954, tried to alleviate the pollution from this process by prohibiting the discharge of oil or oily mixtures within 50 miles of land.  This limit was extended to 100 miles in certain areas which were regarded as being particularly endangered. In the late 1960s, concern about the waste of oil and pollution caused by this process led the industry to look for an alternative. The result was to become known as load on top. Under load on top, tanks were cleaned as previously using high-pressure hot-water cleaning machines. However, instead of pumping the resulting oily mixtures overboard, they were pumped into a special slop tank. During the course of the return voyage to the loading terminal this mixture separates. Oil, being lighter than water, gradually floats to the surface leaving the denser water at the bottom. This water is then pumped into the sea, leaving only crude oil in the tank. At the loading terminal fresh crude oil is then loaded on top of it. The process had advantages for the owner of the oil, since the oil normally lost during tank cleaning can be saved (as much as 800 tons of oil on a large tanker), but the main beneficiary was the environment. Some experts believe that without load on top the amount of oil being dumped into the sea as a result of tank cleaning could have reached more than 8 million tons a year.

The British Gas of old (pre 1997) has evolved into three entirely separate public quoted companies. (1) Centrica that sells gas to millions of households in the UK trading under the name British Gas Trading Ltd. It retains rights to the British Gas name and trademarks in the UK and has added electricity sales, credit cards and motor organizations (AA) to its list of activities (http://www.centrica.co.uk/); (2) Lattice Group which operated the national pipeline systems and local gas mains to the meter through which the gas is delivered and then became part of National Grid Transco (http://www.nationalgrid.com). National Grid is now an international electricity and gas company that delivers gas and electricity to many millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern US; (3) The BG group, which is an international oil and gas exploration and production business linked with gas distribution and power generation (http://www.bg-group.com/home)