Challenges for very deep oil and

gas drilling –

will there ever be a depth limit?

Issues on hydrocarbon generation

Associate Professor V.C. Kelessidis

Summary of presentation

• Explore the ‘depth limits’ of current wells

• Present world breaking cases, challenges

• Oil generation, biotic vs abiotic

• Summary

The issues• Oil Demand increases and Oil Supply shows slow

growth

• Estimated Oil-In-Place ~ 1,258 Trillion Bbls

• Current production, 0,086*365=31 billion Bbls

• Will LAST? 42 years !!• Will LAST? 42 years !!

• Oil production – will reach plateau in 10 years

at 100 mBpD

• FUTURE ?????

• Better Recoveries & Deeper Wells in Ultra-

Deep Waters 3

Petroleum demand & supply

4

Source: www.yardeni.com

Peak Oil: Supply Data Doesn’t LieAug 26th, 2009 | By Puru Saxena | Category: Oil Investment & Alternative Energy

HOW DEEP

WE WILL HAVE TO GO ?WE WILL HAVE TO GO ?

5

Deepest Wells Today ?

• Gas Wells, Onshore USA Oklahoma, 1970s– GHK-27, 9583 m & GHK-28, @ 9159 m

• Deepest oil producing offshore wells, – @ ~8000 m

– Perdido field, GoM, Shell– Perdido field, GoM, Shell

– Tahiti field, GoM, Chevron

• Oil exploration continues

• Ultra deep waters– Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Angola

6

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea

Chevron's Jack #2 - depth of 20,000 ft (6.100 m)

..Finding oil at such a depth is not unheard of, but unusual

Byron W. King Whiskey & Gunpowder / Energy BulletinSep 13 2006

7

...Too deep for oil to maintain its properties. (Oil window)

...Deep wells commonly produce dry gas, with no or

almost no associated oil.

Oil window

Is it always true?

• But still, oil window or no, oil is

where you find it.

• As recently as in 2000s, few

observers believed lower Tertiary observers believed lower Tertiary

sands in GoM would, if reached, yield

oil or gas from great depths.

• But apparently, there is oil down

there. Why? How does it work?

BP expects Tiber one of

richest finds in the GoM

similar to Thunder Horse

~300,000 BOD

half of Alaska's North Slope.

Very new !

1259 m water9425 m well10684 m TOTAL

~ 3 billion bbbls

10

Challenges for Deep Oil Drilling

11

Close et al. 2008

Challenges – Salt domes• Difficult to ‘read’ through salt

• Very difficult to DRILL through

• Significant finds underneath !

• Tupi field, Brazil• Tupi field, Brazil

• 8 – 10 billion Bbls

• Discovered in 2007, 240 million US$

• 2100 m water, 2100 m salt, 4900 m rock

• Will require investment of up to 5 billion US$

• First production, May 2009

• Full production in 2013 12

Challenges – Casing / disasters

9 GoM

4-5 conventional

Thunder HorseHurricane Dennis, 2005

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9 GoM

Back in production, 2008After 30 months !

A price to pay, April 18, GoM

The rig named "Deep Water Horizon" is still on fire and the U.S. Coast Guard is on the scene pulling workers off the platform and out of the water surrounding the rig. 8 workers have been critically injured in the blast and are now being airlifted to a local hospital. 120 people were on board at the time of the explosion.

he incident occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Deepwater Horizon. As of 5 a.m., officials said the fire continued to burn on the water and on the rig.

The rig is in the Gulf of Mexico Mississippi Canyon block 252, 41 mi (66 km) offshore Louisiana.

Innovations for deep drilling

Advanced Geomechanics

Casing Drilling

Dual pipe drilling

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Dual pipe drilling

New deep water drilling

ships To target

40.000 ft

Scientific drilling – Deepest holes

Oil Found ?

Traces of hydrocarbons

In all of them

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In all of them

Equipment used ?

Where does the oil come from ??

• The organic theory - accepted

• The ABIOTIC THEORY of petroleum generation –

• controversial but people still discuss • controversial but people still discuss and study it !

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Organic theory

• Plankton – organic matter, simple cell organisms

• Accumulation in ocean floors

• Burial under sediments• Burial under sediments

• Anaerobic conditions, high P & T

• Kerogen

• Further burial & heat

• Cracking � petroleum & natural gas

• Upward migration to reservoirs & staying in traps

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Typical Oil-gas accumulations

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Where do you find oil?

Oil is where you find it !

• Traditional– sedimentary rocks

• Non-Traditional– metamorphic rocks

– eg. White Tiger, Vietnam– eg. White Tiger, Vietnam

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~ 1990s350.000 bopd~ 47 yearsBiogenic originFrom under-sedimentary rocks

Abiotic theory

• Hydrocarbons formed in the depths of earth

• Dmitri Mendeleyev, 1877

• Alexandrovich Kudryavtsev (1951)

• Thomas Gold, 1980

Wikepedia

• The Russian – Ukranian

theory of abyssal, abiotic petroleum generation

• Outgassing theory (Gold)

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Russian-Ukraine theory

• R-U theory states that petroleum is ‘primordial’ == generated at the same time as earth generation

• Of deep origin

• Transported via ‘cold’ eruptive • Transported via ‘cold’ eruptive process into the crust

• There is extensive Russian body of knowledge over the past years

• Little translated into English 22

The work of many people (Kenney, 1994)

• Kropotkin, 1956

• Vasiliev, 1959

• Kudryavtsev, 1959, 1963

• Porfir’yev, 1959

• Raznitsyn, 1963• Raznitsyn, 1963

• Krayushkin, 1965, 1984

• Markevich, 1966

• Dolenko, 1968, 1971

• Linetskii 1974

• Letnikov, Karpov, 197723

Russian-Ukraine theory• At high pressures (< 5000 bars) and high temperatures (500-1500 C) methane is produced from reduced calcite

• Thermodynamically sound – experimentally verified

Kenney, J.F. et al. 2002

The evolution of multi-component systems at high pressures: VI. The genesis of hydrocarbons and the origin of petroleum

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99 , 10976-10981

36 Citations

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Outgassing theory – Th. Gold

The deep- earth- gas hypothesis. Gold, T., Soter, S. 1980 Scientific American 242, 154-161 29 citations

Methane forms in the mantleMigrates slowly upwards into Earth’s crust in areas of crustal weakness (plate boundaries, meteor impact sites)After cooling at some depths � petroleum

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The deep, hot biosphere Gold, T. 1992 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 89, 6045-6049 188 Citations

The origin of natural gas and petroleum, and the prognosis for future supplies. Gold, T. 1985 Annual Review of Energy. 10, 53-77 4 citations

Fluid ascent through the solid lithosphere and its relation to earthquakes Gold, T., Soter, S. 1984 Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH 122, 492-53025 citations

From Fischer-Tropsch type

Potter et al., Lithos 75, 2004, 11-330 Abiogenic Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons in alkaline igneous rocks

.. these hydrocarbons have an abiogenic, crustal origin ...This would suggest that these data favour a model for formation of hydrocarbons through Fischer–Tropsch type reactions involving an early CO2-rich fluid and H2 derived from alteration reactions,

21 citations

26

CO2-rich fluid and H2 derived from alteration reactions,

21 citations

Hydrocarbons in Hydrothermal Vent Fluids: The Role of Chromium-Bearing Catalysts Foustoukos, D.I., Seyfried Jr., W.E. 2004 Science, 304 , 1002-1005

62 Citations

…Generation of CH4 from CO2 rich hydrothermal fluids

How about China ?Wikipedia, sep 09

27

How about Turkey?

Two possible sources 1. abiogenic process of serpentinization within

the Tekirova ophiolite, 2. Biogenic, from the Upper Paleozoic to Lower

Mesozoic organic-rich shales in which methane to pentane hydrocarbons were thermally generated.

Newer results

Supporting evidence

• Methane and other hydrocarbons detected in outer solar system and in comets

• Very deep gas reservoirs, to 10000 m

• Small amounts of hydrocarbons in deep scientific holes– Kola (Russia, part abiogenic and part biogenic)– Kola (Russia, part abiogenic and part biogenic)

– Sweden – Germany

• Thermodynamic computations and experiments generated methane at high P & T in presence of metal catalysts

• Generation of methane from CO2 bearing aqueous fluids with metals as catalysts and CH4 detection in hydrothermal veins

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Opposing views – Several !

Recent publication – good overview

Abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons: An historical overview

Glasby, G.P. 2006 Resource Geology 56 , 83-96

5 Citations

31

5 Citations

A. Tsatskin, O Balaban,

Peak oil in the light of oil formation theories, Energy

Policy, 36, 2008, 1826-1828 , (in favour of abiotic

theory)

Research continues

A. Kitchka, 2004 & 2007

How AbioticPetroleum Systems Work: Tectonically Driven Deep Fluid Sources

Additional works

2009

This artistic view shows hydrocarbons forming in the upper mantle and transported to shallower depths. The inset shows a snapshot of the methane dissociation reaction studied in this work.

Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions

Anton Kolesnikov , Vladimir G. Kutcherov & Alexander F. Goncharov

Nature Geoscience 2, 566–570 (1 August 2009)

Implications ?? Vladimir Kutcherov

• To identify where it is worthwhile to drill

for natural gas and oil, he has used his

research to arrive at a new method.

• It involves dividing the globe into a finely

meshed grid. The grid corresponds to meshed grid. The grid corresponds to

fissures, so-called ‘migration channels,’

through underlying layers under the

surface of the earth.

• Wherever these fissures meet, it is

suitable to drill.

Discussion (1/2)

• Should look for all energy sources

• Hydrocarbons will continue to play significant role

• Wells of the future – horizontal, multilateral, smart wellsmultilateral, smart wells

• Operated by top notch, multidisciplinary people

• ‘the world is full of resources, the Big Question, is how to apply technology to MAKE THEM Energy Resources’ (R. Ryan-Chevron)

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Discussion (2/2)• Way forward, Creativity, Imagination, Integration, People !• Peak Oil will be reached when we reach peak technology• Peak technology will determine when will reach peak oil !reach peak oil !• Technological advancement, Ingenuity, educating our people KEYS to extend oil depletion window

BUT • If abiotic theory is CORRECT ?• Look for means to find oil – not to replace it !

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Summary

• Analysis presented for hydrocarbon exploration

trends

• Challenges faced by oil industry

• Ultra deep waters and very deep boreholes

• Future breakthroughs – intelligent guidance, • Future breakthroughs – intelligent guidance,

integration drilling, completion, seismic

• Abiotic theory of hydrocarbon generation

• Thermodynamics and experiments show it is

possible

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Summary

• Biogenic or Abiotic generation

• Requirements for Deep drilling

• Oil industry should face the challenge

• Develop innovative tools and techniques

• Rely on top quality people• Rely on top quality people

• Significant breakthroughs have been made in the past 100 years

• More to come through team work and focus on innovations

• Wonderful future for young graduates40

Chances for finding fields like Ghawar ?