Quick-look assessments to identify optimal CO2 EOR storage sites

A newly developed, multistage quick-look methodology allows for the efficient screening of an unmanageably large number of reservoirs to generate a workable set of sites that closely match the requirements for optimal CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) storage. The objective of the study is to quickly identify miscible CO₂ EOR candidates in areas that contain thousands of reservoirs and to estimate additional oil recovery and sequestration capacities of selected top options through dimensionless modeling and reservoir characterization. Quick-look assessments indicate that the CO₂ EOR resource potential along the US Gulf Coast is 4.7 billion barrels, and CO₂ sequestration capacity is 2.6 billion metric tons. In the first stage, oil reservoirs are screened and ranked in terms of technical and practical feasibility for miscible CO₂ EOR. The second stage provides quick estimates of CO₂ EOR potential and sequestration capacities. In the third stage, a dimensionless group model is applied to a selected set of sites to improve the estimates of oil recovery and storage potential using appropriate inputs for rock and fluid properties, disregarding reservoir architecture and sweep design. The fourth stage validates and refines the results by simulating flow in a model that describes the internal architecture and fluid distribution in the reservoir. The stated approach both saves time and allows more resources to be applied to the best candidate sites.     

Exchange flow of oil and sea-water in a ruptured submarine pipeline

The rupture of a submarine oil pipeline starts various mechanisms leading to an oil spill. Among these mechanisms the leakage of oil driven by the difference in specific gravities of oil and sea-water is difficult to estimate. A simple mathematical model has been developed and laboratory experiments have been carried out to obtain an insight into the density-driven exchange flow and to determine the leak rate. The mathematical model is predictive and takes account of the effects of friction, inclination of the pipeline, and inertia of the fluid. The experiments were done in a horizontal model pipeline. Theoretical and experimental results are in satisfactory agreement.     

鄂尔多斯盆地黄陵、东胜地区地温场对比

鄂尔多斯盆地黄陵、东胜铀矿区分别处于盆地南部渭北隆起的北侧边缘和盆地北部伊盟隆起的东部,赋矿层位都是中侏罗统直罗组。盆地南、北铀矿区在现今地温场及古地温场都存在明显差异,南部现今大地热值及热演化程度明显高于北部。对于下侏罗统延安组和石炭—二叠系煤层,黄陵地区镜质体反射率都高于东胜地区。通过镜质体反射率资料得出同一埋深的一套地层经历的最大古地温和对应的古地温梯度也有南部高于北部的现象。由于早白垩世后期盆地普遍整体抬升使得现今地温相对古地温降低,南部黄陵地区抬升剥蚀量大于北部东胜地区,导致古、今地温差异也大于后者。盆地南部庆阳—富县一带局部构造热运动,导致南部异常地温场的形成,使得南部热演化程度高于北部。     

The American whale oil industry: A look back to the future of the American petroleum industry?

The American whaling industry rose from humble beginnings off Long island to become an international giant. In its peak year, 1846, 735 ships and 70,000 people served the industry. As whale stocks and reserves decreased, whalers were forced to go farther and farther from their New England home ports. Voyages became longer, and risks on required return-on-investment became higher. The easy money of Atlantic and Pacific whaling was no more: the only remaining profitable ventures were to Arctic and Antarctic waters. Many ships returned empty, if at all. in 1871, most of the Arctic whaling fleet was crushed by early winter ice and lost. This calamity, in conjunction with the long-term diminishing whale stocks, the diversion of investment capital to more profitable ventures, and the discovery, development, and refinement of abundant petroleum crude oil, struck the death blow to the American whaling industry. By 1890, only 200 whaling vessels were at work, and by 1971, no American commercial whaling ship sailed the world's oceans.It is apparent that no single event caused the final, rapid decline. However, a single calamity, in an already stressed industry, that was self-insured and commercially interlinked, precipitated the end. Today's American petroleum industry, although adopting some principles of the American whaling industry, also has embraced other activities such as work process reengineering and customer alliances, which may preempt, or postpone, a similar catastrophic demise.     

油页岩综合利用对周围环境的影响——以抚顺矿区为例

世界能源日益减少的局面为油页岩的开发应用带来广阔的前景，但油页岩工业所带来的环境影响亦不容忽视。以抚顺油页岩为例，从油页岩综合利用和油页岩工业对环境的影响等方面系统讨论了在我国发展油页岩工业时，如何本着节约能源、保护环境、实现可持续发展的观念，利用现有先进技术，科学发展油页岩工业，降低生产过程中的固、液、气污染物对环境的危害。     

舞阳、襄城盐湖盆地未熟-低熟油成藏模式

舞阳、襄城凹陷下第三生活费为膏、盐岩相盐湖沉积。半咸水-咸水湖相、盐湖相是形成未熟-低熟油的良好环境，沉积旋回中期断坳式沉积形成了主要油源层系，其高丰度未熟烃类推岩体是形成未熟-低熟油藏的物质基础，中-高孔、中-高渗碎屑岩层构成了未熟-低熟油藏的重要储集层，并发育了较好的生储盖组合，这些有利条件为舞阳、襄城凹陷形成未熟-低熟油藏提供了重要保证。指出凹陷陡坡带为背斜、断鼻型油藏分布区，还可能有混合型油藏；中部洼陷带为岩性油藏、裂隙型油藏发育区；斜坡带主要发育断鼻型油藏。     

基于广义Kопытов模型及乙型水驱曲线的综合预测法

将广义Kопытов预测模型和乙型水驱曲线方法有机的结合起来，得到了油田开发中后期——递减时期的一种预测水驱开发油田的含水率、产油量、产水量及其相应的累积产量随开发时间变化的方法，此方法克服了在水驱油田预测开发指标中二者所存在的局限性。     

Some Aspects of Resource Uncertainty and Their Economic Consequences in Assessment of the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Natural Resources Research - Exploration ventures in frontier areas have high risks. Before committing to them, firms prepare regional resource assessments to evaluate the potential payoffs. With...     

Coal-generated oil in Tuha Basin

The Turpan-Harmi (abbreviated to Tuha below) Basin is a typical basin of coal-generated oil accumulation in China. The Middle-Lower Jurassic coal measures are considered the main source beds. Hence, both desmocollinite and suberinite are considered the contributors for coal-generated oil. Principal geochemical features of the crude oil in the Tuha Basin are rich in alkanes (70%—80%), high pristane/phytane ratio (6—8), abundant heavy carbon isotope (δ¹³C PDB= -26%–-23%) and absolute GP sterane predominance. The hydrocarbon generation process from the coal series is characterized by multistages, early generation and early expulsion.