The Effect Of Faults On Oil Migration Essay

Geosphere: This may come as a surprise to many people when they hear that Oil spills affect the Geosphere. This is because when Oil Spills occur normally they are in the middle of the ocean, but as the oil travel they will beached to beaches, shore, and other areas. This will contaminate the soil, created a toxic environment, that will need to be cleaned up by workers.

Currently Saudi Arabia is one of the leading producers of oil in the world. However, it is losing its foothold on the market. Many countries, like North America, are increasing their oil production and are looking for ways to become less dependent on foreign oil. The increased competition has caused oil prices to decrease. By producing their own oil, countries not only will increase their revenues, but will also reduce their need to rely on foreign oil. By reducing their need foreign an oil a country does not have to worry that their oil supply will be cut off if they go to war.

The most important of these is the Permian Basin. In the latter half of the Paleozoic era, sediments rich in organic matter accumulated here when a shallow sea got cut off from the main oceans and evaporated off, leaving lots of dead critters and evaporites. These sediments eventually got buried and compressed, causing the oil and gas to form "pockets in permeable rock, surrounded by impermeable rocks so that they couldn't escape. There the fluid sits until someone pokes a hole (well) into the area and the contents rush out as the tremendous pressure is released. Other areas of Texas with notable petroleum sources include East Texas's Woodbine Formation (formed in the Late Cretaceous), much of the Gulf Coast and the Gulf itself, and various smaller pockets in South and South Central Texas.

Saturation trends in the Pronghorn and the upper Three Forks (Figure 21), indicates that hydrocarbons are being occluded from the lower Bakken into the Three Forks, but not entirely. Oil saturation gradually decreases from the top of the Pronghorn to the base indicating less hydrocarbons are being pushed into the upper Three Forks. However, the oil saturation never reach 0% and only decreases to approximately 60 to 70 % water saturation. The oil saturation then gradually increases from the top of the Three Forks to the top of the first claystone. This trend is observed throughout all the wells within Painted Woods, independent to the thickness of the Pronghorn. Even though there is less volume of generated lower Bakken hydrocarbons, oil is still able to be transmitted through the Pronghorn across Painted Woods. However, the quantities transmitted are likely less compared to other

The process of making synthetic crude oil requires an enormous amount of water, especially in the separation process. Each barrel of oil requires two tons of oil sands and up to five barrels of hot water. Water is also needed along with electricity to convert it steam. The steam is pushed by steam injections making bitumen less viscous. It is quite evident that oil sands are not practical in terms of its process. Also three-quarters of the bitumen can be recovered from the sands, leaving behind 25% as waste. With the technology in our present society, oil sands are not entirely practical in terms of efficiency; however, in the future, this may change. To reflect, there are many disadvantages associated with oil sands, especially in the way it is processed.

Due to its density, the oil tends to migrate upwards where it may seep out onto the earth’s surface or become trapped beneath rock.

After scientists have tested the oil and the rocks, oil companies will begin drilling in the wells and rock samples will be brought to the surface. After the scientists have studied the rock samples from above ground and are convinced that they have found the right type of rock, companies begin drilling production wells. “When the wells first hit the reservoir, some of the oil begins coming to the surface immediately” (“Fossil Energy: How Fossil Fuels Were Formed,” n.d.). However, with today’s technology, oil companies are able to install special equipment to help the oil from spurting hundreds and hundreds of feet from the ground.

“Hello welcome back to THATS A FAT BET radio its’s your boy skinny Zoople and im bac at it again.This weeks new segment is about how the oild discovery impacterd Texas social life with there citizens.

Canada’s oil sands are among the largest oil reserves in the word. This is evident from the fact that Canada is ranked third for the largest oil reserve in the world, after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (“Oil Sands,” n.d.). “Oil sand”, is a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, water and bitumen (Gosselin et al., 2010). It is a very dense and extremely viscous oil that must be treated before it can be used to produce usable fuels such as gasoline and diesel (Gosselin et al., 2010). In North America, high oil prices, growing demand, and diminishing oil reserves results in greater interest to mine local oil reserves. Increased production of oil generates significant economic benefits but, at the same time, the development of the oil sands

Studies, conducted in the Midwestern United States, have shown an increased amount to earthquake activity surrounding drilling locations. From 1970 to 200, the region experienced approximately 20 quakes per year; it experienced 29 between 2001 and 2008 with an exponential increase from 2009 to 2011 (Ehrenberg 22). The problems do not seem to be associated with the drilling itself, but with the waste water disposal re-injected back into sandstone below the Earth’s surface. The waste water acts as a lubricate between fault lines causing movement resulting in the shift of bedrock formations. Both advocates and opponents acknowledge the possibility for earthquake damage, however fracking proponents believe the risk is validated by the associated economic

Moreover, the Caño Limon oil field is composed of two large fault blocks, the Caño

Geology of the subsurface rocks and surface sediments along the Long Point Fault its geological make up in Houston was originally developed from stream deposits from the erosion of the Rocky Mountains and now is a combinations of unconsolidated clays, clay shale’s, and poorly-cemented sands encompassed through great depths and goes on for several miles. The sedimentary component consist of a series of sands and clays that have been deposited on decaying organic matter which over time will be transformed into oil and natural gas thought the processes of biochemical activity. Even deeper and beneath these tiers is a water deposited layer of halite, known as rock salt when compressed over time and forced upward, the salt drew surrounding sediments into dome shapes, often trapping more oil and gas from it neighboring soils.

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

The oil industry can not be discussed without mentioning the name John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller changed the business of oil distribution. In the 19th century Rockefeller began his humble beginnings with a small investment, along with two other partners, in the oil refining business. Eventually Rockefeller upset at the direction of the company bought out his partners. He was now buying into refining and developing kerosene and other petroleum-based products. He later named this company The Standard Oil Company which by 1872 nearly owned all the oil refineries in Cleveland. In 1882, Rockefeller took all his holdings and merged them into the Standard Oil Trust. Through smart business

The oil and gas industries involve a high amount of documentation for both transportation as well as extraction and field services. Activities are highly regulated, and subject to oversight from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Department of Transportation (DoT), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of the Interior (DoI). That said, the process of regulation is trending toward a more digitized system, with organizations like FERC having their own submission portals that implement a “fill-in-the-blank” platform to complete forms. However, not all forms have yet been converted to digital submission even in agencies with online portals, and other agencies still remain reliant on