To those that have been reading and listening to this blog, I would like to personally thank you. I hope you received a large amount of information regarding shale oil and gas and issues involved. This blog is now going into retirement and will not be active any more.
I would like to point you in the right direction if you are looking for future information on the petroleum industry and shale oil information:
1. http://www.tight-oil-shale-plays.com/
2. http://www.carboncapturereport.org/
3. http://www.oilshalefacts.org/
With a closing of the blog..."We usually find gas in new places with old ideas. Sometimes, also, we find gas in an old place with a new idea, but we seldom find much gas in an old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we have thought that we were running out of gas, whereas actually we were only running out of ideas." - Adapted from Parke A Dickey by American Potential Gas Committee
Cheers,
Dr. Chrysoberyl
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Back to the Basics
The world energy demand is increasing every day and fossil fuels are a large portion of the resource to supply the demand. Fossil fuels will be used to support the energy demand for multiple years, yet alternative energy will continue to rise and help support the energy demand. Below is a figure that shows a forecast model for energy demand and what will help support that demand.
As you look at the graph, you will notice that we are not at a peak demand in fossil fuels yet. So how are we going to obtain a large enough supply for this large demand? Geologist in the petroleum industry have already started on this problem. Just like there is multiple different forms of energy; there are multiple different systems that hold fossil fuels. The question for the development of all these different types of petroleum systems is political and environmental issues. It is true, "the easy oil is or has been produced." To supply the world with future fossil fuels, it is going to take into account good geology, good petroleum engineering, and good environmental controls. The figure below shows the multiple different types of petroleum systems (conventional: structural and stratigraphic & unconventional: coalbed methane, shale gas, tight sand/carbonate, shallow basin methane, oil shale, tar sands, and hydrates) out there, and the positive aspect of this is that the United States has most of these present in the land which we live.
What Was Said...
A recent AAPG Explorer article, What Did They Say About Climate Change?, talks about a member, Hannes Leetaru, who has setup a great website for all up to date news on energy and climate issues. In the AAPG article, he discuss how scientist have done a poor job of communicating to the public in the past. He makes good points such as, "we live in the public spotlight, unlike most other fields, and we need to heed this and do a much better job." So with that being said, he has created an amazing website that can lead you to all the updated news about climate and energy.
As I scanned the website for most recent updates on oil news in the country, I came across a debate about President Obama's speech about high oil prices. Are you tired of paying extremely high oil prices at the pump? (The video is long but just watching the first few minutes will give you a good idea.)
In the video, it is not clear what President Obama wants to do to help increase the supply of oil to this country. The Fox Reports also are very confused on the prospective of the President's views on drilling. I feel that the President has not made a clear decision on whether or not to allow a vast majority of permits for offshore drilling and oil shale drilling. Prices in the United States are at a high again and there needs to be an increase in domestic drilling to support the decrease in foreign supply. The United States has many resources available. One of the greatest things about the Gulf of Mexico is that it produces oil at a very high rate and is a large contributor to our domestic supply of oil. Therefore, the politics need to understand how the high prices are affecting the average American and need to release permits to drill in areas of high success.
As I scanned the website for most recent updates on oil news in the country, I came across a debate about President Obama's speech about high oil prices. Are you tired of paying extremely high oil prices at the pump? (The video is long but just watching the first few minutes will give you a good idea.)
In the video, it is not clear what President Obama wants to do to help increase the supply of oil to this country. The Fox Reports also are very confused on the prospective of the President's views on drilling. I feel that the President has not made a clear decision on whether or not to allow a vast majority of permits for offshore drilling and oil shale drilling. Prices in the United States are at a high again and there needs to be an increase in domestic drilling to support the decrease in foreign supply. The United States has many resources available. One of the greatest things about the Gulf of Mexico is that it produces oil at a very high rate and is a large contributor to our domestic supply of oil. Therefore, the politics need to understand how the high prices are affecting the average American and need to release permits to drill in areas of high success.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
What is Enough?
Everyone of us wakes up and turns on the faucet, hoping water will flow out, but most of us don't think about the how much water we use on a daily basis. We don't consisder if there is a scarcity of water out there or not. In a recent article, Oil Shale expert says Obama administration stalling much the way Bush dragged feet on climate change, written by David O. Williams, Dr. Jeremy Boak from Colorado School of Mines expresses his views about the development of oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The article debates when is there enough answers to move ahead with the development of oil shale, addressing the issue with water, energy, and the environment.
During the process of heating shale rock to extract organic kerogen and refining it into oil consumes a large deal of water and energy. Right now Shell Oil says they can produce about 1 bbl of oil from about 3 bbl of water; Boak believes after research and improved technology that this ratio can be one to one. The article also discusses how the produced natural gas can power the refinery plants to produce oil from the shale rock. The government, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, states the BLM needs to have a better idea of the "amount of power needed, water needed and the impact to wildlife habitat and watersheds" before commercially exploiting the Green River Formation for oil shale and opening up around 2 million acres of BLM land for research and development.
“It is a distortion to say we have to have an answer about water use because we have an answer about water use and either that answer is good enough – that three barrels per barrel is something we can live with – or it isn’t,” Boak said. “If it isn’t, then it’s incumbent on both the government of Colorado and the federal government to say why it isn’t and to say what is OK, and they have completely evaded that responsibility.”
Agreeing with Boak, when will the answer be evident? What is good enough? And why is it not good enough? Gas prices are rising drastically and domestic oil is more important than ever. The government needs to take the steps forward. Petroleum companies will continue to research and develop technology associated with oil shale, improving processes shown in a previous post (EPICC).
During the process of heating shale rock to extract organic kerogen and refining it into oil consumes a large deal of water and energy. Right now Shell Oil says they can produce about 1 bbl of oil from about 3 bbl of water; Boak believes after research and improved technology that this ratio can be one to one. The article also discusses how the produced natural gas can power the refinery plants to produce oil from the shale rock. The government, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, states the BLM needs to have a better idea of the "amount of power needed, water needed and the impact to wildlife habitat and watersheds" before commercially exploiting the Green River Formation for oil shale and opening up around 2 million acres of BLM land for research and development.
Agreeing with Boak, when will the answer be evident? What is good enough? And why is it not good enough? Gas prices are rising drastically and domestic oil is more important than ever. The government needs to take the steps forward. Petroleum companies will continue to research and develop technology associated with oil shale, improving processes shown in a previous post (EPICC).
Monday, April 25, 2011
EPICC
A large percent of the population have negative views about the production of oil shale because of the refining process and the amount of greenhouse gases released. Adam Brandt and Hiren Mulchandani, Stanford University, might have the answer for this problem -- EPICC (Electricity Production with In Situ Carbon Capture). EPICC is a proposed new technology that combines production of electricity with capture of carbon dioxide, producing electricity with in situ carbon capture in a self-fueled method.
EPICC reduces CO2 emissions by:
1. Utilizing waste heat to retort shale
2. Retoring shale beyond the point of HC production, converting much of the organic carbon in oil shale to char which is left in the subsurface
3. Using the produced HC gas to generate, which provides transportation services with no tailpipe emissions
From the research, the resulting life cycle of GHG emissions from EPICC is ~110 g of CO2 per km; this is ~0.5 times those of conventional fuel cycles and ~.33 time those from other proposed in situ oil shale conversion processes.
Some of the potential negatives of EPICC are: uncertain operation of subsurface fuel cells, potential geophysical impacts without pressure management, and economic concerns associated with the value of stranded energy left in the formation, and the long time period of retorting.
There are ~3 trillion bbl (discovered) of oil trapped within shale oil formations around the world. The United States has potentially 1 trillion barrels of oil; the world's largest deposit is in the Green River Formation right here in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. With this new proposed technology, the petroleum industry can better control the amount of greenhouse gases produced and help unlock resources in oil shale formations with better environmental controls.
Related Links:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/acs-ute042011.php
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ef101714x
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420112104.htm
EPICC reduces CO2 emissions by:
1. Utilizing waste heat to retort shale
2. Retoring shale beyond the point of HC production, converting much of the organic carbon in oil shale to char which is left in the subsurface
3. Using the produced HC gas to generate, which provides transportation services with no tailpipe emissions
From the research, the resulting life cycle of GHG emissions from EPICC is ~110 g of CO2 per km; this is ~0.5 times those of conventional fuel cycles and ~.33 time those from other proposed in situ oil shale conversion processes.
Some of the potential negatives of EPICC are: uncertain operation of subsurface fuel cells, potential geophysical impacts without pressure management, and economic concerns associated with the value of stranded energy left in the formation, and the long time period of retorting.
Related Links:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/acs-ute042011.php
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ef101714x
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420112104.htm
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Back Wood Scientist in Motion
Everyone has discussed theories before with peers, family, and friends; but take a look at what this "back wood scientist" has to say about oil and peak oil. He is off his rocker!
This movie is a prime example of bad science communication. His theory has no supporting evidence, and he does not discuss about thermal maturity of petroleum. There are many issues with this video, and I hope most of them are evident to you as well, raising multiple red flags.
This movie is a prime example of bad science communication. His theory has no supporting evidence, and he does not discuss about thermal maturity of petroleum. There are many issues with this video, and I hope most of them are evident to you as well, raising multiple red flags.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Shale Oil Protest in France!
The environment issue of development of Shale oil & gas has struck Meaux, Brie region of France. A recent article, Protesters call for shale oil driling ban, discusses the locals' issues with development of Shale oil. This article and reported conversation (below) shows multiple break downs in Science Communication to the public.
At the beginning of the article it says, "shale oil has presented as a cleaner and more local, alternative to imported petroleum". There seems to be an initial break down; shale oil is not cleaner than conventional petroleum because it must be process/refined at a higher energy than traditional oil. As you read this article, many red flags appear from a geologist point of view-
“The problem with shale gas is the hydraulic fracturing process,” says Eric Vaubourg, from Crécy-la-Chapelle, a town of 4,000 inhabitants a few kilometres south of Meaux. “With this process it’s difficult to extract gas and oil correctly without pollution.”
This quote shows that the general public in this area might not understand fully about hydraulic fracturing. First, in today's petroleum business, one of the first things to permit a well is to understand the water aquifers present. Second, the Petroleum industry today mitigates fracturing into the "water table", which is at a shallower depth than the petroleum, by apply a casing design which allows no penetration into the aquifers. Hydraulic fracturing does use a lot of different chemical compounds to help stimulate the process but petroleum companies are required to disperse of these chemicals properly and make sure there is no contamination.
The locals in this area have every right to argue against drilling for shale oil but must make an educated argument and understand the systems in place. The petroleum companies in the United States are fracturing wells like crazy right now and are doing it without contaminating our water resources. The question to the people of France is- if they could produce there own petroleum, creating domestic supply of oil and lower the amount on importing, why would you not honor the exploration and development of shale oil? And, apply regulations to insure petroleum companies are not polluting or contaminating any water aquifers. Please listen to the broadcast below...
It will be interesting to see what the parliamentary debate decides on shale oil drilling in the France. The debate on shale oil drilling ban starts on May 10th.
At the beginning of the article it says, "shale oil has presented as a cleaner and more local, alternative to imported petroleum". There seems to be an initial break down; shale oil is not cleaner than conventional petroleum because it must be process/refined at a higher energy than traditional oil. As you read this article, many red flags appear from a geologist point of view-
“The problem with shale gas is the hydraulic fracturing process,” says Eric Vaubourg, from Crécy-la-Chapelle, a town of 4,000 inhabitants a few kilometres south of Meaux. “With this process it’s difficult to extract gas and oil correctly without pollution.”
This quote shows that the general public in this area might not understand fully about hydraulic fracturing. First, in today's petroleum business, one of the first things to permit a well is to understand the water aquifers present. Second, the Petroleum industry today mitigates fracturing into the "water table", which is at a shallower depth than the petroleum, by apply a casing design which allows no penetration into the aquifers. Hydraulic fracturing does use a lot of different chemical compounds to help stimulate the process but petroleum companies are required to disperse of these chemicals properly and make sure there is no contamination.
The locals in this area have every right to argue against drilling for shale oil but must make an educated argument and understand the systems in place. The petroleum companies in the United States are fracturing wells like crazy right now and are doing it without contaminating our water resources. The question to the people of France is- if they could produce there own petroleum, creating domestic supply of oil and lower the amount on importing, why would you not honor the exploration and development of shale oil? And, apply regulations to insure petroleum companies are not polluting or contaminating any water aquifers. Please listen to the broadcast below...
It will be interesting to see what the parliamentary debate decides on shale oil drilling in the France. The debate on shale oil drilling ban starts on May 10th.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Unlocking The Resource
Recently, the Denver Post business section has been writing articles about the exploration and production of the Niobrara Formation here in Colorado, Southern Wyoming, and Eastern Nebraska. A recent article, Energy companies map Niobrara formation for its oil potential, discusses the new positions for exploration and development of the Niobrara. This is one of the hottest plays in the United States right now.
"It all gets back to the geology," said Vince Matthews, director of the Colorado Geological Survey. "The Niobrara has really big potential, but we've seen these finds hyped before."
From the article, you can see that the media is pushing and selling the potential of the Niobrara, covering multiple topics (mapping, success stories, economics, China's position, geokinetics, background information). The Jake well is one of the success stories for the Niobrara formation, producing 1,558 barrels of oil a day in 2009. This well made everyone excited about the Niobrara and its potential as an unconventional reservoir. But, the article makes this well look really good because it compares it to a monthly average of 300 bbls/month. The article also does not discuss about the different levels of thermal maturity throughout the Niobrara, producing gas or oil. The Niobrara may be a very extensive formation, crossing into multiple states, but there is a heterogeneity of hydrocarbon potential throughout the formation. This is why it is important to understand the geology and why the companies involved are more on the conservative side, mapping and taking necessary steps towards development.
From the article, you can see that the media is pushing and selling the potential of the Niobrara, covering multiple topics (mapping, success stories, economics, China's position, geokinetics, background information). The Jake well is one of the success stories for the Niobrara formation, producing 1,558 barrels of oil a day in 2009. This well made everyone excited about the Niobrara and its potential as an unconventional reservoir. But, the article makes this well look really good because it compares it to a monthly average of 300 bbls/month. The article also does not discuss about the different levels of thermal maturity throughout the Niobrara, producing gas or oil. The Niobrara may be a very extensive formation, crossing into multiple states, but there is a heterogeneity of hydrocarbon potential throughout the formation. This is why it is important to understand the geology and why the companies involved are more on the conservative side, mapping and taking necessary steps towards development.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Denver Basin...(Video)
The Denver Basin is an active petroleum producer in the United States. One of the neat things about the Denver Basin is that the geology is easily observed from the outcrops all along the front range area. The Denver Basin, show in the picture below, has multiple fields which produce both gas and oil.
The Denver Basin has been producing oil since 1901 when oil was discovered in the fractured Pierre Shale Formation at Boulder oil field. Since then, thousands of wells have produced trillions of cubic feet of gas and millions of barrels of oil from the different hydrocarbon rich formations in the Denver Basin. Some of these formations are tight sands, chalks, and oil shale units, which require stimulation to economically produce oil and gas, an unconventional play. The video below demonstrates the petroleum geology in our back yard of the Front Range of Colorado. What people don't realize driving to work everyday....OIL!!!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Gas Hydrates: The future of energy or environmental catastrophe?
With energy demands sky-rocketing in recent years, people are turning to more unconventional resources to help bolster conventional energy. Gas hydrates are one such unconventional resource. For those that don't know, gas hydrates are molecules of methane (CH4) bound in a "cage" of ice molecules. In essence, gas hydrates are solid gas. They are typically located in low temperature, high pressure regions, such as permafrost and the ocean floor. A few areas of interest for gas hydrates include: the Nankai Trough off the southeast coast of Japan, the North Slope of Alaska within the permafrost, the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Cascadia Range of Canada, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Gas hydrates have become such a hot topic for use as a potential energy resource because they may offer up to several hundreds of thousands of trillion cubic feet in-place on the ocean floor alone. If this resource can be accessed and economically exploited, the world's thirst for energy would be satisfied for up to a couple of hundred years.
Until recently, however, gas hydrates have been seen as hazardous to more conventional oil and gas production. Due to changing temperature and pressures, they can clog pipelines and and cause explosions. At depth, gas hydrates that occupy only one cubic foot of space expand to 160-180 cubic feet. Additionally, they may play a role in tsunami formation when they become displaced due to earthquakes. This claim is still being tested, however. Gas hydrates are also likely to be a natural sink for methane, a compound known to influence global warming and climate change. If these deposits were disturbed on a massive scale, the global effect would be greater than 3,000 times the current amount of methane in the atmosphere.
The controversy is relatively straightforward: should we exploit these natural high-energy resources or leave them alone until we understand them better? Gas hydrates have the potential to be the next greatest source of energy for the world, or a global disaster in the making.
Related articles:
Up to 40 percent of gulf oil was potent methane gas, research shows
USGS Fact Sheet: Gas (Methane) Hydrates: a New Frontier
The controversy is relatively straightforward: should we exploit these natural high-energy resources or leave them alone until we understand them better? Gas hydrates have the potential to be the next greatest source of energy for the world, or a global disaster in the making.
Related articles:
Up to 40 percent of gulf oil was potent methane gas, research shows
USGS Fact Sheet: Gas (Methane) Hydrates: a New Frontier
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Building a Destiny
Last week, I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture on the Fayetteville Shale by one of Southwestern Energy's Geologist, John Jeffers. Southwestern Energy Company is an independent nature gas/oil exploration, development, and production company headquartered in Houston, TX. Southwestern Energy Company focuses on unconventional gas reservoirs. One of their main plays is on the Arkansas side of the Arkoma Basin known as the Fayetteville Shale play. The company also has exploration and production activities in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma.
John's lecture on the Fayetteville Shale play showed how the discovery and development of the Fayetteville Shale play launched the company into a rapid increase in growth. The company's stock increase over the past decade was comparable to apple's. From the lecture and previous information about Southwestern, I could see that this company has a great future and a good formula to go with it. |
| The Right People doing The Right Things wisely investing the cash flow from the underlying Assets will create value + |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thinking About a New Career?
Have you been thinking about a new career in something completely different? Recently, IDT corporation, a telecommunications company, has decided to get involved in shale oil. IDT Energy and Genie Oil and Gas believes in a new shale venture and discusses this in the video below. There are some slight un-educated remarks in the video from the CNBC reporters, but you get a chance to listen to the CEO, Howard Jonas. If I was an investor in IDT, I find this video not to be supportive. It almost sounds that they do not know what they are talking about but that might be because of the reporters remarks.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Utilizing the Resource
Have you ever wanted to know who was drilling in your back yard of Colorado? The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a division of the department of natural resources, is a great resource to access public information about oil and gas in Colorado. The COGCC has databases full of information from permitting wells to drilling locations to maps and forms. They are a resource that any petroleum engineer or petroleum geologist needs to utilize.
One of the more useful aspect of their site for a petroleum geologist is there map interface. This interface allows you to see well surface locations, directional well bottom hole locations, other oil and gas facility locations, oil and gas permit location, oil and gas field polygons, and wild life habitat maps. From this a petroleum geologist can select a well location which does not affect a possible wild life habitat or any other restricted area for drilling.
One of the more useful aspect of their site for a petroleum geologist is there map interface. This interface allows you to see well surface locations, directional well bottom hole locations, other oil and gas facility locations, oil and gas permit location, oil and gas field polygons, and wild life habitat maps. From this a petroleum geologist can select a well location which does not affect a possible wild life habitat or any other restricted area for drilling.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Self Evaluation #2
For the second evaluation period, I have posted a fair number of posts (8) in the time frame and commented on multiple blogs each week. I also recomment on comments towards my blog. I feel my blogging is improving, trying to make a connection to my audience. My posts vary in length from a couple paragraphs to multiple with different visual aids (pictures, movies, links) and supporting articles. One thing that I need to work on is my frequency of posting; I feel I have improved on this but there is still room for more improvement. My posts are on relevant topics and recent news going on in the petroleum industry today, making my blog attractable and up to date with new information and technology. If I had to give myself a grade it would be around a "B+" right now.
A Sweet Deal
Recently, Anadarko petroleum made a $1.55 billion dollar deal with the Korea National Oil Corporation for the interest of the Maverick Basin assets, located in the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas. The Korea Nation Oil Corporation is going to pay for all the capital cost of drilling and completions for the first year, and then, pay 90% of the cost for the next two years. This is a sweet deal for Anadarko, but now Korea is going to be profiting from a United States asset?
The Eagle Ford shale is another hydrocarbon rich producing formation that offers both gas and oil. It is a carbonate shale which is brittle and easily fracable for completions. The Eagle Ford shale is ideal in today's market because it is highly oil prone. The short video below talks about Anadarko's stock market increase due to this joint venture with KNOC.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Bituminous Sands vs The Environment
One of the greatest mountain biking, climbing, dirt-biking, four-wheeling, and hiking in the United States is in Moab Utah. It has beautiful geology which attract tourist from all around the globe. Utah also has the potential to be a contributor to producing tar sands or oil sands; naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, water, and a dense, low maturity, extremely viscous form of petroleum know as bitumen. Earth Energy Resources, a Canadian company, has permitted an area in eastern Utah (north of Moab, south of Vernal) to start mining oil sands. The town of Moab looks at this in a negative impact towards their state and tourist attraction, but the drilling town of Vernal looks at this as an increase in petroleum production and revenue for Utah. Here is a link to a film by CBC News which discusses this issue and some of the environmental impacts (Utah Oil Sands).
As seen in the picture above and from the video, there are multiple environmental and social issues that must be addressed when mining oil sands. EER says that they can mine the oil sands and replace the sand with very minimum chemicals in place by using a citrus based solvent to separate the bitumen from the sand mixture. Mining oil sands, if not done right, can lead to surface water contamination, high water usage, destruction of land, disruption of wildlife, and climate issues from refining.
Related Links to this issue:
http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/land/oilshale.php
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/51389205-82/oil-energy-sands-bitumen.html.csp
Neon green runoff sits at the bottom of Earth Energy Resources' PR Springs mine in Utah.
WRA filed an appeal on EER's commercial mine permit due to concerns
about groundwater contamination from mine operations.
As seen in the picture above and from the video, there are multiple environmental and social issues that must be addressed when mining oil sands. EER says that they can mine the oil sands and replace the sand with very minimum chemicals in place by using a citrus based solvent to separate the bitumen from the sand mixture. Mining oil sands, if not done right, can lead to surface water contamination, high water usage, destruction of land, disruption of wildlife, and climate issues from refining.
The Salt Lake Tribune discuss how the refining process is energy and water intensive, "about 10 parts water per part oil are added and heated to 100 degrees, an energy-intensive step. The resulting slurry is agitated and then allowed to settle. The water is drained, centrifuged and about 80 percent recycled, leaving damp sand with water-soluble chemicals and residual citrus oil-bitumen to be redeposited in the ore body. The citrus oil is distilled from the bitumen and recycled, another energy-intensive step. What’s left — bitumen — must be heated to get it into barrels for trucking to a heavy oil refinery and heated again to get it out. As in Canada, bitumen must be upgraded to make synthetic crude oil, and upgrading requires roughly 17 percent of a barrel of energy. It uses water as well to cool the porous coke to get it in and out of transportation carts."
Mining oil sands can help supply the large oil demand of the world. For the health of the environment, companies who are getting involved in mining oil sands need to be aware of their impacts and minimize their footprint. Companies need to continue to research and develop cleaner techniques and processes which could help with the high energy inefficiency of mining oil sands.
Related Links to this issue:
http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/land/oilshale.php
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/51389205-82/oil-energy-sands-bitumen.html.csp
Monday, March 21, 2011
Travel the Oregon Trail
Did you know that you can not pump your own gas in Oregon? Did you know that there is no sales tax in Oregon? Well...I just spent the last week in Oregon on a lacrosse trip and found out many new things about the northwest coast. It rains a lot during the spring or maybe all the time! But, as I drove through the state of Oregon as a young geologist, I noticed that there was a massive amount of Basalt. As a petroleum geologist, I wondered if there is any gas and oil production in the state of Oregon, and if there is, where are they producing?
Apparently, according to the Bureau of Land Management, there are no active drilling or exploration sites in Oregon. There are multiple lease sales though for the potential exploration to take place. The thick basalt flows could potentially be a good seal for marine type reservoirs below, but drilling through basalt is very costly. Maybe in the near future "when" oil and gas prices increase more exploration drilling will take part in the State of Oregon. Another thought was drilling and production offshore of Oregon, but the Oregon state House bill 3613 bans offshore Oregon coast drilling until year 2020. With no sales tax and no domestic petroleum production where does Oregon collect for its states financial needs? ...it must be from all the tourist going to Crater Lake :)
(The Greatest Game for Computer, early 1990s)
Apparently, according to the Bureau of Land Management, there are no active drilling or exploration sites in Oregon. There are multiple lease sales though for the potential exploration to take place. The thick basalt flows could potentially be a good seal for marine type reservoirs below, but drilling through basalt is very costly. Maybe in the near future "when" oil and gas prices increase more exploration drilling will take part in the State of Oregon. Another thought was drilling and production offshore of Oregon, but the Oregon state House bill 3613 bans offshore Oregon coast drilling until year 2020. With no sales tax and no domestic petroleum production where does Oregon collect for its states financial needs? ...it must be from all the tourist going to Crater Lake :)
Monday, March 7, 2011
A Day in the Life
All of us at school run into the days, weeks, of work on a single project and lose connection with the rest of the world. We spend countless hours working days and nights, exhausting our bodies and minds. Lately, the past eight weeks, I have spent a large portion of my life working on a project for an international competition in the Great Bight Basin, Australia. The competition is call the Imperial Barrel Award sponsored by AAPG. This Thursday the team and I will be presenting our investigation of oil prospective properties in the basin for a school review. The region competition will be on March 19, and then the international competition in Houston will be on April 9, 2011.
The Bight Basin is a highly prospective area for oil and gas exploration. There has only been a few unsuccessful well drilled in the basin; therefore, most of the exploration is done through seismic data. Our Team and other teams are evaluating this basin for the best locations to drill the next well. We are mapping multiple units that have the potential to act as a reservoir and areas that contain all the petroleum elements and systems for hydrocarbon potential. This article (Regional Geology of the Bight Basin) is a good source about the geology of the basin and exploration history. With that being said...I hope the team and I find the best spot, and we find the billion dollar well.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Dont Miss the Boat
With all the recent activity around the globe and conflicts going on in the eastern countries, there will be a decreasing of oil supply importing into the United States. Some of these countries (such as Libya and Egypt) have some of the largest oil fields and reserves known in the world. With that being said, it is important to recognize the importance of domestic oil and start targeting oil reserves in the United States to keep our oil prices within reason. Below is a movie from Thomas Petrie, Vice Chairman of Bank of America, talking about the opportunities in US Shale oil right now. He also discusses about investment opportunities into medium and smaller companies that are focusing on these shale plays today. Please take a look at the video...I would like to here your thoughts on it with the current situations of higher oil prices relative to the conflicts going on in the east right now.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
"Shale Oil Plays Blog"
So...This Shale Oil Plays Blog discusses about new oil discoveries in shale oil and gas, providing maps and additional information. One of the recent post (U.S. Shale Plays Not Just About Natural Gas But Oil As Well) talks about how some of the shale formations in the United States are not just capable of producing gas (biogenic) but are mature enough to produce oil.
The article discusses that most of the shale formation contain kerogen and some bitumen (oil). Kerogen is simply a solid material that is insoluble organic matter which is a diagenetic alteration product of organic material laid down with sediments. Bitumen is the fraction of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks which is soluble in organic solvents. One of the diagrams below shows the three types of kerogen and different types of petroleum. The other one shows you relativily the amount of bitumen in a shale rock.
Therefore, to convert the the kerogen to bitumen it must be heated up or thermally matured. The petroleum industry is starting to find certain shale plays (such as the Eagle Ford) which contain a higher amount of bitumen than kerogen due to being at a deeper depth and mature level.
But, you also have to think about being over mature? If the formation is too deep, it could possibly pass the oil window and fall into a gas generation window. The Van Krevelen Diagram below shows the maturation paths of the three different types of kerogen. The diagram shows the path ways through Diagenesis-Catagenesis-Metagenesis of the three types of kerogen. (The diagrams were provided by Dr. Curtis, Colorado School of Mines)
With an understanding of oil generation, companies can target more oil prone shale formations while the price of oil is high.
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