Motivation Statement For Petroleum Engineering

A common theory in the oil industry is that the “easy oil” is gone. As known reserves become depleted and production declines, both national oil companies & international oil companies (NOCs and IOCs) are forced to look for oil and gas deposits in more challenging geographical and environmental areas. Andrew George, the chairman of Marsh, an energy risk management company, stated that, “It is fair to say easy oil has gone, and oil and gas are now found in tricky areas. The risk of extraction, or the risk of problem and failure during extraction, is greater” (Mukul, 2012). New wells being drilled are becoming deeper and hotter, resulting in operating conditions in considerably higher formation pressures. It means that operators (oil and gas companies) are drilling and producing in areas that are higher risk, such as deep water (Gaurav, 2004), and environmentally sensitive areas such as the artic (Chazan, 2012).

This report presents information regarding the industry, the primary operator of oil and gas field properties. The industry fuels its key buyers, the Natural Gas Distribution (22121) and the Petroleum Refining (32411) industries, with crude oil and natural gas. The industry continuously battles a shortage of available oil. In addition, many major oil fields have been in use for decades, slowly waning. Currently, the industry grosses among the most profitable in the US despite these and similar obstacles. The benefits of investing here

Since the beginning of the oilfield in the United States, Texas has been one of the leading states in this industry. In 1866, Lyne T. Barret drilled the first producing oil well at Melrose in Nacogdoches County [7]. From here, more wells were brought in, but the big Texas oil revolution began at a well-called Lucas No. 1. It was here, In Spindle top, Beaumont, where Capt. Anthony F. Lucas drilled the well that would produce 94 percent of the state’s production at the time and produce more than 17 million barrels of oil [7]. Now, 114 years later, Texas has given up another oil field play that will revolutionize the industry. This play is named Eagle Ford Shale. Figure 1 shows where the shale outcrops

I am very intrigued by the oil drilling industry. I really hadn’t put much thought into the industry until around three years ago. Since then I have seen many arguments on the pros and cons of drilling for oil either offshore or inland. Some of which I completely understand and believe changes should be put into place soon so that we do not cause more damage than necessary. . Numerous arguments though are just people looking to place blame and are not seeing the bigger picture. In order to appreciate the benefits of oil drilling we need to understand the process that happens, our daily consumption and finally how we can be more dependent with our own sources.

The U.S. was supposed to be the world’s new swing oil producer, able to nimbly open and close the taps in response to market forces, thanks to its bounty of shale fields.” In the past a barrel of oil has been one hundred dollars, recently it has dropped to thirty dollars. Though some wells can be profitable at low prices it puts a serious strain on the oil industry as explained in this article.

In the past, he has introduced legislation to increase oil-and-gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other offshore regions. The Republican Party has initiated numerous hearings to grant leases for drilling. In March 2011 Hastings said, “Let me state very clearly that these hearings will lead to action by this committee,” Hastings said. “As chairman, I intend to introduce legislation to put the Gulf of Mexico back to work.” There are five compelling reasons why the United States should drill our own oil, as found by a 2008 study group: jobs, revenue, economic growth, public demand, and energy independence. Allowing drilling off the coasts of the U.S. would also create over 100,000 new jobs. Over $1 trillion in royalties for federal and state governments could be collected. By using our own reserves we will spend far less on imported oil and move closer to our energy independence. According to a study done by the American Petroleum Institute, if offshore areas were opened to new exploration and drilling, the national production is estimated to increase by 36% in 20 years. Federal royalties are estimated to be approximately $4 trillion over the project life cycle; A hefty weight off future tax payers if applied to the federal deficit.

Oil is a very important fossil fuel that is used for various sources of energy. Oil supplies power to industries, fuel for transportation, heat for buildings, and provides raw material for plastics, paints, textiles, and other materials (hybrid cars). To access this fossil fuel, oil drilling is used. Land-based oil drilling became less productive and as the global stipulation for energy increased, technology, law, and geology impacts stepped in and pushed the exploration of oil away from shores (CITE). With its historical background, offshore oil drilling is one of the most important aspects of today’s economy although we are faced with its risks and consequences, such as the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion of the Gulf of Mexico.

Prior to today’s mechanisms, Native Americans and European settlers retrieved minor amounts of crude oil from holes in the ground. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century when Colonel Edwin Drake discovered the how to retrieve even larger quantities of oil. He realized that, by drilling a hole deep enough, greater quantities of oil could be obtained. Colonel Edwin Drake established the very first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. After Colonel Edwin Drake’s discovery, the search for oil followed. Through this quest, many oil reserves were located all over North America, with the richest reserves found in Texas.

A new player -at least in the United States- is entering in the game with a lot of enthusiasm among some of the audience, and a lot of skepticism by some others, that this unconventional player will overtake the conventional ones any time soon. Although, Big hops are held on the new player in the future. This new player is oil shale. The number estimated of oil shale in place in the US is around 4.28 trillion Barrel. An immense amount that’s even hard to imagine. Unfortunately, this amount is not 100% recoverable and the actual recoverable amount is unknown due to the lack of economic methods of recovery. The extraction of economic quantities of oil shale will be true in the near future due to

uncomplicated area to study oils. In the Canadian and American parts of the Williston Basin occur

It has been argued that Conventional oil production has reached its peak and is now on a terminal, global decline however, it must be noted that oil is not finishing anytime soon but certain forms of it are being experimented in terms of chemicals, geography, geological and economically. Others allege the era of oil is coming to an end. But certainly not

Naturally occurring veins in the rock formations are used in the conventional sources to tap the oil, but in unconventional sources, these veins are either not large enough, or are too far apart and not

The North American Industry Classification System (NACS) code for upstream oil and gas is 213112 Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations. This code is used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying businesses for purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. The broad Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) for oil and gas exploration falls under SIC 13. Throughout this paper, we explore oil extraction in the U.S., SIC 1311, and provide an economic analysis of the Upstream Oil Exploration Companies in the United States.

The purpose of this report is to discuss estimated ultimate reserves of gas, oil, and NGL. Also, to discuss the drilling and development costs per well for the Eagle Ford shale, the Bakken shale, the Marcellus shale, and the Tuscaloosa Marine shale. Next, I will comment on the first exploratory well and the company responsible for the discovery well. I will then discuss the

A lot Scientists and oil field experts have been collecting facts and scientific evidences to try to predict the period at which peak oil will occur. Two of the scientists working toward this discovery are Colin J. Campbell and Jean H laherre. Those two scientists wrote an article about the aftermath s of the 1970 's oil embargo sppured reachees over the decline of oil, which resulted in erroneous conclusions due to various factors (78). In order to truly cast light on the issue of oil decline, Campbell and Laherrère merged a variety of techniques which comprise the examination of “the decline of aging fields” and “the diminishing returns on exploration in larger regions”, the extrapolation of the size