Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production

Chapter and section headings: Introduction. About this book. The Field Life Cycle. Exploration phase. Appraisal phase. Development planning. Production phase. Decommissioning. Exploration. Hydrocarbon accumulations. Exploration methods and techniques. Drilling Engineering. Well planning. Rig types and rig selection. Drilling systems and equipment. Site preparation. Drilling techniques. Casing and cementing. Drilling problems. Costs and contracts. Safety and The Environment. Safety awareness. Safety management systems. Environment. Current environmental concerns. Reservoir Description. Reservoir geology. Reservoir fluids. Data gathering. Data interpretation. Volumetric Estimation. Deterministic methods. Expressing uncertainty. Field Appraisal. The role of appraisal in the field life cycle. Identifying and quantifying sources of uncertainty. Appraisal tools. Expressing reduction of uncertainty. Cost-benefit calculations for appraisal. Practical aspects of appraisal. Reservoir Dynamic Behaviour. The driving force for production. Reservoir drive mechanisms. Gas reservoirs. Fluid displacement in the reservoir. Reservoir simulation. Estimating the recovery factor. Estimating the production profile. Enhanced oil recovery. Well Dynamic Behaviour. Estimating the number of development wells. Fluid flow near the wellbore. Horizontal wells. Production testing and bottom hole pressure testing. Tubing performance. Well completions. Artificial lift. Surface Facilities. Oil and gas processing. Facilities. Production Operations and Maintenance. Operating and maintenance objectives. Production operations input to the FDP. Maintenance engineering input to the FDP. Project and Contract Management. Phasing and organisation. Planning and control. Cost estimation and budgets. Reasons for contracting. Types of contract. Petroleum Economics. Basic principles of development economics. Constructing a project cashflow. Calculating a discounted cashflow. Profitability indicators. Project screening and ranking. Per barrel costs. Sensitivity analysis. Exploration economics. Managing the Producing Field. Managing the subsurface. Managing the surface facilities. Managing the external factors. Managing the internal factors. Managing Decline. Infill drilling. Workover activity. Enhanced oil recovery. Production debottlenecking. Incremental development. Decommissioning. Legislation. Economic lifetime. Decommissioning funding. Decommissioning methods. Selected Bibliography. Index.