Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

John R. Fanchi, Richard L. Christiansen

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781119193616
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Chemical & Biochemical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Presents key concepts and terminology for a multidisciplinary range of topics in petroleum engineering

• Places oil and gas production in the global energy context
• Introduces all of the key concepts that are needed to understand oil and gas production from exploration through abandonment
• Reviews fundamental terminology and concepts from geology, geophysics, petrophysics, drilling, production and reservoir engineering
• Includes many worked practical examples within each chapter and exercises at the end of each chapter highlight and reinforce material in the chapter
• Includes a solutions manual for academic adopters

1
INTRODUCTION

The global economy is based on an infrastructure that depends on the consumption of petroleum (Fanchi and Fanchi, 2016). Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules and inorganic impurities that can exist in the solid, liquid (oil), or gas phase. Our purpose here is to introduce you to the terminology and techniques used in petroleum engineering. Petroleum engineering is concerned with the production of petroleum from subsurface reservoirs. This chapter describes the role of petroleum engineering in the production of oil and gas and provides a view of oil and gas production from the perspective of a decision maker.

1.1 WHAT IS PETROLEUM ENGINEERING?

A typical workflow for designing, implementing, and executing a project to produce hydrocarbons must fulfill several functions. The workflow must make it possible to identify project opportunities; generate and evaluate alternatives; select and design the desired alternative; implement the alternative; operate the alternative over the life of the project, including abandonment; and then evaluate the success of the project so lessons can be learned and applied to future projects. People with skills from many disciplines are involved in the workflow. For example, petroleum geologists and geophysicists use technology to provide a description of hydrocarbon‐bearing reservoir rock (Raymond and Leffler, 2006; Hyne, 2012). Petroleum engineers acquire and apply knowledge of the behavior of oil, water, and gas in porous rock to extract hydrocarbons. Some companies form asset management teams composed of people with different backgrounds. The asset management team is assigned primary responsibility for developing and implementing a particular project.

Figure 1.1 illustrates a hydrocarbon production system as a collection of subsystems. Oil, gas, and water are contained in the pore space of reservoir rock. The accumulation of hydrocarbons in rock is a reservoir. Reservoir fluids include the fluids originally contained in the reservoir as well as fluids that may be introduced as part of the reservoir management program. Wells are needed to extract fluids from the reservoir. Each well must be drilled and completed so that fluids can flow from the reservoir to the surface. Well performance in the reservoir depends on the properties of the reservoir rock, the interaction between the rock and fluids, and fluid properties. Well performance also depends on several other properties such as the properties of the fluid flowing through the well; the well length, cross section, and trajectory; and type of completion. The connection between the well and the reservoir is achieved by completing the well so fluid can flow from reservoir rock into the well.

Figure 1.1 Production system.

Surface equipment is used to drill, complete, and operate wells. Drilling rigs may be permanently installed or portable. Portable drilling rigs can be moved by vehicles that include trucks, barges, ships, or mobile platforms. Separators are used to separate produced fluids into different phases for transport to storage and processing facilities. Transportation of produced fluids occurs by such means as pipelines, tanker trucks, double‐hulled tankers, and liquefied natural gas transport ships. Produced hydrocarbons must be processed into marketable products. Processing typically begins near the well site and continues at refineries. Refined hydrocarbons are used for a variety of purposes, such as natural gas for utilities, gasoline and diesel fuel for transportation, and asphalt for paving.

Petroleum engineers are expected to work in environments ranging from desert climates in the Middle East, stormy offshore environments in the North Sea, and arctic climates in Alaska and Siberia to deepwater environments in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of West Africa. They tend to specialize in one of three subdisciplines: drilling engineering, production engineering, and reservoir engineering. Drilling engineers are responsible for drilling and completing wells. Production engineers manage fluid flow between the reservoir and the well. Reservoir engineers seek to optimize hydrocarbon production using an understanding of fluid flow in the reservoir, well placement, well rates, and recovery techniques. The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is the largest professional society for petroleum engineers. A key function of the society is to disseminate information a...

Table of contents

• COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS
• PREFACE
• ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
• 1 INTRODUCTION
• 2 THE FUTURE OF ENERGY
• 3 PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR FLUIDS
• 4 PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR ROCK
• 5 MULTIPHASE FLOW
• 6 PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
• 7 RESERVOIR GEOPHYSICS
• 8 DRILLING
• 9 WELL LOGGING
• 10 WELL COMPLETIONS
• 11 UPSTREAM FACILITIES
• 12 TRANSIENT WELL TESTING
• 13 PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE
• 14 RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE
• 15 MIDSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM OPERATIONS
• APPENDIX: UNIT CONVERSION FACTORS
• REFERENCES
• INDEX
• END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT