Petroleum Engineering Commons^™

Vibration Modification To A.P.I. Fracture Short Term Conductivity Testing Procedure, Blake A. Ereaux

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The current API Short Term Fracture Conductivity (volume number) testing procedure provided by the American Petroleum Institute doesn't consistently provide repeatable results. For example, in an independent review of three commercial lab results testing the same sample of proppant the variation between the three had a data spread of nearly 80% (Anderson, 2013). Continuing and refocusing the research performed by Kent Blair's thesis "Modifying Fracture Conductivity Testing Procedures" (Montana Tech, 2015), the goal of this thesis is to expand the lab research results on the use of vibration in the cell loading procedure to improve the repeatability of test results. …

The Effect Of Mineral Composition On Shale Oil Recovery, Andrew Fakhry

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Identifying contact angles in porous media is essential for characterizing multiphase flow of fluids in reservoirs. Traditional methods to measure contact angles assume a homogenous structure of reservoir rock; however, microscale pictures by Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) show that rock composition varies even inside a single pore. In addition, the preferentiality of oil layer formation is different according to the minerals constituting the reservoir rock. As a result, contact angles have heterogeneous behavior at the pore-scale.

For the purpose of this research, contact angles are measured on the pure minerals that make up the main components of a Bakken reservoir …

Evaluation Of Methods To Model Hydraulic Fractures In Flow Simulation, Ben Doleshal

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Modern reservoir studies use reservoir simulation to predict future production and plan reservoir development. Due to the increase in production in unconventional reservoirs in recent years, the number of hydraulically fractured wells has risen drastically. The days of using simple analytic techniques to account for the production of a single hydraulic fracture in a vertical well are gone, and the need to be able to model numerous hydraulic fractures in many stages over long horizontals is required.

This brings up the study question of this research: What is the best way to model hydraulic fractures in a flow simulator? There …

An Application Of Box-Jenkins Approach In Forecasting Nigerian Crude Oil Prices., Bashir Umar Faruk

Bullion

Nigerian government has been adopting Moving Average (MA) method in pegging crude oil price benchmark. However, large discrepancy between the projected oil price benchmark and the actual international crude oil prices is observed over time. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to investigate whether Box-Jenkins approach could provide a lasting solution to the problem of inefficient oil price forecast in the Nigerian budgeting process. In our quest for an appropriate oil benchmark, monthly bonny light crude oil prices for the period of April 1986 to December 2015 are used.

Diagenesis And Formation Stress In Fracture Conductivity Of Shaly Rocks; Experimental-Modelling Approach In Co2-Rock Interactions, Abiola Olukola Olabode

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In large scale subsurface injection of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as obtainable in carbon sequestration programs and in environmentally friendly hydraulic fracturing processes (using supercritical CO₂), long term rock-fluid interaction can affect reservoir and seal rocks properties which are essential in monitoring the progress of these operations. The mineralogical components of sedimentary rocks are geochemically active particularly under enormous earth stresses, which generate high pressure and temperature conditions in the subsurface. While geomechanical properties such as rock stiffness, Poisson’s ratio and fracture geometry largely govern fluid flow characteristics in deep fractured formations, the effect of mineralization can …

Experimental Study And Modeling Of Smart Loss Circulation Materials; Advantages And Promises, Ahmed Khaled Abdelmaksoud Mansour

LSU Master's Theses

Lost circulation occurs when mud or cement is lost to the formation while drilling. Lost circulation has been a huge problem and may cause heavy financial costs in the form of lost rig time, mud fluid and in severe cases, well blowout with serious environmental and safety consequences. Despite extensive advances in the last couple of decades, lost circulation materials used today still have disadvantages such as damaging production zones, plugging drilling tools or failing to seal the fractures. Here, we propose a new class of smart expandable lost circulation material (LCM) to remotely control the expanding force and functionality …

Surface Tension, Interfacial Tension And Phase Behavior: Interactions Of Surfactant/Polymer Solutions With Crude Oil, Michael A. Steinerd, Jaeyub Chung, Bryan W. Boudouris, Nathan C. Schultheiss, Elias I. Franses

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Advanced oil recovery techniques, beyond primary and secondary recovery, are required in order to produce additional oil in existing reservoir rock. Here, we evaluated a combination of polymer and surfactant aqueous solutions, in order to generate a working fluid capable of achieving high-performance enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In this recovery process, surfactant is added to the water flooding mixture in order to lower the interfacial tension between the oil and the water. If the interfacial tension can be decreased by ~1,000-fold, then the aqueous solution can mobilize and displace the oil. Moreover, a polymer is added to the aqueous solution …

Membrane Surface Engineering For Biochemical Applications, Anh T. Vu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic membranes have been frequently used for many fields, such as, the food and beverage, biopharmaceutical, and biofuel industries. In the beer industry, microfiltration frequently suffers from fouling due to the interaction between different species. It is shown that polyphenols can form cross-links with protein molecules, forming insoluble aggregates. However, by adding an optimal amount of polysaccharides these aggregates can be disrupted thus reducing fouling by the aggregates. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is a powerful technique to locate the foulants inside the wet membrane in order to understand more about the behavior of fouling in microfiltration.

Membrane surface modification …

Comparison Of Intrusive And Non-Intrusive Methods For Corrosion Monitoring Of Fuel Processing Systems, Armando Jacob Espinoza, Thomas Conner Field

Materials Engineering

This presentation contains an assessment of the best overall corrosion monitoring device, intrusive or non-intrusive, for use in the petrochemical industry. Corrosion in the petrochemical industry is a large issue because it causes a deterioration of pipe integrity in fuel processing systems. A reduction of pipe wall integrity due to corrosion could result in a leak or an explosion of fuel processing lines since those systems function at high pressures. The use of corrosion monitoring systems in the petrochemical industry helps to detect early signs of corrosion prior to failure so that proper maintenance can be performed to prevent catastrophe. …

Oil Recovery By Surfactant Flooding; Sensitivity Analysis To Technical Parameters And Economic Analysis, Hadel Mohsen Moustafa

Theses

Various enhanced oil recovery methods including miscible gas injection, chemical, thermal and other methods are applied at the third phase of production after the primary and secondary recovery have been exhausted. Surfactant flooding is one of the chemical methods that is capable of recovering more oil by decreasing the IFT and/or wettability alteration.This piece of work aims to asses and select the development options using surfactant process that maximize oil recovery for a synthetic reservoir model by optimizing technical and economic analysis.

Reservoir simulation study using ECLIPSE 100 was used to study the different development options of surfactant flooding applied …

Modeling The Effect Of Methane Vs. Carbon Dioxide Injection On Oil Recovery: Case Study: The East Vacuum Grayburg-San Andres Unit, Lea County, New Mexico, Charles Ohalekwu

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

This project aims to determine if methane (CH4) injection is more effective and economical than carbon dioxide (CO2) injection in a conventional dolomite reservoir by using the East Vacuum Grayburg-San Andres Unit (EVGSAU), Lea County, New Mexico as a model. This was done by simulating a CH4 and CO2 injection system and estimating the economics for each. CH4 injection has not been done at the EVGSAU, however CO2 has been used as a method of enhanced oil recovery.

The EVGSAU is located on the eastern side of the Vacuum Field, approximately 15 miles northwest of Hobbs in Lea County, New …

Quantitative Analysis Of High Pressure Hazards In Oil And Gas Field Operations, Giuseppe Feo

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Selection Criteria For Miscible-Gases To Enhance Oil Recovery In Unconventional Reservoirs Of North America, Dheiaa Alfarge, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Mortadha Alsaba

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Unconventional resources have played a significant role in changing oil industry plans recently. Shale formations in North America such as Bakken, Niobrara, and Eagle Ford have huge oil in place, 100-900 billion barrels of oil in Bakken only. However, the predicted primary recovery is still low as 5-10%. Therefore, seeking for techniques to enhance oil recovery in these complex plays is inevitable. In this paper, two different approaches have been integrated to investigate the feasibility of three different miscible gases which are CO₂, lean gases, and rich gases. Firstly, numerical simulation methods of compositional models have been incorporated …

Optimizing Injector-Producer Spacing For Co2 Injection In Unconventional Reservoirs Of North America, Dheiaa Alfarge, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Abdullah Almansour

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Shale oil reservoirs such as Bakken, Niobrara, and Eagle Ford have become the main target for oil and gas investors as conventional formations started to deplete and diminish in number. These reservoirs have a huge oil potential; however, the predicted primary oil recovery is still low as average of 7.5 %. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) flooding has been a controversial approach to increase oil recovery in these poor-quality formations. This study investigated the effect of injector-producer spacing, in range of 925-1664 ft, on CO₂ performance in these plays by using numerical simulation methods. CO₂ utilization value under …

Novel Environmentally Benign Hydrogel: Nano-Silica Hybrid Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide/ Polyethyleneimine Gel System For Conformance Improvement In High Temperature High Salinity Reservoir, Liping Ma, Shitou Wang, Yifu Long, Changqian Zhu, Hongbin Yang, Tangying Yang, Xiaochun Liu, Xiaorong Li, Baojun Bai, Wanli Kang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In order to address the conformance problem in high temperature and high salinity/hardness reservoir, an environmentally benign in-situ gel was developed based on hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and polyethyleneimine (PEI). Moreover, silica nanoparticle (SNP) was embedded to improve the performance of HPAM/PEI gel. To achieve the optimum formulation of HPAM/PEI-SNP gel, a comprehensive investigation was first conducted with the respect of gelation time, gel strength, and thermal stability. In addition, the particle size of SNP was determined by Dynamic Light Scatter (DLS) and the microstructure of HPAM/ PEI-SNP gel was characterized via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The optimum formulation, containing the …

Wellbore Stability Evaluation For Mishrif Formation, Ethar H.K. Alkamil, Husam R. Abbood, Ralph E. Flori, Andreas Eckert

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

During drilling operations for the E oilfield in the Mishrif formation in southern Iraq, stuck pipe has been identified as a significant geomechanical problem for several wells. In this study, a 1-D mechanical earth model (MEM) of the Mishrif formation is compiled based on its state of stress and rock strength parameters and is utilized to assess the contribution of borehole collapse leading to the stuck pipe problems. The MEM model is based on the principal in situ stresses and their orientation obtained from wireline logs measurements, measuring while drilling (MWD), and leak off test (LOT). Rock strength properties are …

Study Of Surface Complexation And Mineral Dissolution During Water-Rock Interaction In High Salinity Waterflooding At Elevated Temperatures, Sameer Salasakar

Masters Theses

"High salinity waterflooding for carbonate reservoirs is efficient and cheap method used for improved oil recovery. Various mechanisms have been proposed including adsorption/desorption on rock surface, mineral dissolution and precipitation, multicomponent ion exchange, interfacial tension reduction, fine migration and double layer expansion. These all process alter the wettability which leads to improved oil recovery.

Objective of this study was to understand processes that occur during water-rock interaction when high salinity water is flooded into the reservoir. In this work, effect of temperature on water-rock interaction is studied along with effect of pH and specific surface areas of calcite at normal …

Overview Of Co₂ Leakage Problems And Sealants For Co₂ Leakage Remediation, Shudai Peng

Masters Theses

"Excessive Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission has become a serious issue and caused lots of environmental problems. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) program has been developed to reduce the CO₂ content in the atmosphere. CO₂ storage has been targeted mainly on depleted oil or gas reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. However, leakage could occur through wellbores, cap rocks, formation faults, and fractures during and after CO₂ injection. To minimize the risk, different types of sealants have been investigated to prevent CO₂ leaks. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive review of the materials which could be used as …

Integrating Microgels And Low Salinity Waterflooding To Improve Conformance Control In Fractured Reservoirs, Ali Alhuraishawy, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Abdullah Almansour

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The recovery from fractured reservoirs is usually low. The areal heterogeneity is one result of the fractured reservoir. Low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) and preformed particle gel (PPG) have recently investigated by some researchers. The main objective of this study was to determine whether the combining technologies can improve conformance control in fractured sandstone reservoirs. Semi-transparent five-spot models made of sandstone cores and acrylic plates were built. The effect of low salinity waterflooding on oil recovery was studied. Models were designed with three parallel open fractures. Sodium chloride (1.0, 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 wt. % NaCl) were used for brine flooding …

Screening Guidelines And Data Analysis For The Application Of In-Situ Polymer Gels For Injection Well Conformance Improvement, Munqith Naeem Rashak Aldhaheri

Doctoral Dissertations

"Excessive water production represents a major industry challenge because of its serious economic and environmental impacts. Polymer gels have been effectively applied to mitigate water production and extend the productive lives of mature oilfields. However, selecting a proper gel technology for a given reservoir is a challenging task for reservoir engineers because of the associated geological and technical complexities and the absence of efficient screening tools.

A comprehensive review for the worldwide gel field projects was conducted to develop an integrated systematic methodology that determines the applicability of three injection well gel technologies including bulk gels, colloidal dispersion gels, and …