What Are Marginal Fields?

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).

Afrinia’s oil reserves are located in the north and northwestern part of the nation. Drilling, exploration, and production, termed the “upstream” sector of the oil business, are largely conducted by foreigners because the locals don’t have the technical expertise or knowledge. The Churchill Refinery is the only “downstream” operation in Afrinia, located in the northwest nearby the upstream activity.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria, with a land mass of 17,900 square meters, comprises of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Edo, Rivers and Ondo States and is located in the Southern part of Nigeria . This region produces the oil wealth of the nation which has accounted for over 90 per cent of the national income for over 40 years . However, the region has continually suffered from environmental neglect,

Trends in the energy sector, including rising capex costs, have pushed Chevron to change its strategy. Selling its Chadian assets was a good decision because of the region's instability, the declining production of the assets, and the disappointing transport volume carried by the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. However, Chevron's exit opens up opportunities for competitors advancing different strategies in the potential-filled

As traditional oil and gas endeavors began depleting their resources the oil and natural gas industries were forced to find a new source of extraction if they were to continue producing fossil fuels at the same rate. This new

NNPC was founded in 1977 to manage Nigeria’s interests in the oil and gas industry. Prior to this, the oil industry was run by the international oil companies (IOCs), restricting the state’s involvement to collection of production leases, exploration license fees and regulation. In 1971, Nigeria joined the OPEC, whose major requirement was that the oil industries in the member states were to be nationalized. On the heels of that came a nationalization program which required the Nigerian government to own 60% equity of all investments made in the economy. In line with this, the NNOC (Nigerian National Oil Company), a progenitor of the NNPC, was established to handle the country’s major stake in the oil industry with respect

CRITICALLY EXAMINES THE LEGAL ISSUES IN THE DEREGULATION OF THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR OF THE NIGERIA INDUSTRY: CONSIDERING THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR AND AGAINST DEREGULATION INCLUDING ISSUES PERTAINING TO OPERATION OF THE REFINERY ,WITHDRAWAL OF OIL SUBSIDIES AND APPROPRIATE PRICING IN A LIBERALISED ECONOMY.

E&P of oil and gas usually considers as a high-risk business that may have a big impact on the stakeholders of the project. Studies have shown that geological concepts are not absolute when it comes to determining the reservoir seal, structure, and hydrocarbon charge (Suslick et al., 2009, p.30). The engineering parameters at the stage of development and production possess vast amounts of uncertainties regarding critical variables such as production schedule, infrastructure, operational costs, quality of oil, and characteristics of the reservoirs. This suggests that the primary stakeholders who will be affected are the owners of the of the E&P company. In case a firm is unable to find resources that are economically viable after investing the high amount of resources, it implies that owners of that company will have to incur a huge loss since the invested funds cannot be recovered (Suslick et al., 2009).

The exploration and production arrangement for hydrocarbons is a foundation of our vitality security, since India has a substantial and developing interest for vitality and significant hydrocarbon holds that stay to be explored, appraised and developed. Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) went into between the state and oil and gas organizations with the end goal of exploration and production of hydrocarbons constitute the important method for attaining to our general strategy target of more prominent independence in this part. The paper has aimed at arriving at a mechanism that would lead to greater synergy between the Government and oil companies, thereby enhancing domestic production, simplifying monitoring procedures, and incentivizing investments in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, including from the private sector.

Furthermore the Nigerian government has very little share in these activities and it is more strenuous for the government to regulate offshore activities of the companies. Companies abroad are highly supportive of these advancements in the exploration and alternative ways of exploring resources because it eases the tension less than operating on Nigerian soil. Moreover,deepwater extraction refineries are less disturbed by the local militia attacks and seizures due to civil conflicts.

Even the important contribution of Chapter 2, the proposed analysis requires a deeper study to understand the implications related to oil trade and how the expected oil production will be consumed by the demand. Considering only Canada for all the expected oil production from the Western provinces doesn’t seem enough. To achieve the forecasted production levels, producers of Western Canadian oil must find a market that values their oil at reasonable price. Without access to seaports, Alberta and Saskatchewan need to develop their transportation capacity to export this expected production. The challenge related to the increasing availability of Western Canadian oil and its distribution to domestic and international markets is imminent. Indeed, uncertainty in oil reserves and production implies uncertainty on future trade movements, and consequently, on oil corridors. It is now becoming a political, economic and national security matter that this oil finds access to other markets and export opportunities (McKenna, 2013). As for their actual markets, maintenance on existing pipelines and the necessity of upgrading refineries to process this crude oil from Western Canada create bottlenecks upstream that increase the constraints to allow the expected growth.

The production of oil from most commercially viable reservoirs is generally described by three stages termed natural recovery, supplementary recovery and enhanced recovery processes. The recovery processes are used in consecutive order and the shift between methods is usually governed by whether the subsequent production method is economic or not. The production of oil has a very wide range of efficiency, described as the recovery factor (RF). No matter if any single recovery process is efficient or not, the three terms are used by convention from the initial planning stage. For instance, it is also worth noting the use of enhanced methods without the use of supplementary methods may well still improve the overall recovery

The most essential donors to the world 's aggregate oil production are the giant oil fields. Utilizing a complete database of giant oil field production, the normal decrease rates of the world 's giant oil fields are evaluated. Dividing subclasses was essential, since there are expansive contrasts in the middle of area and seaward fields, and also between non-OPEC and OPEC fields. The advancement of decrease rates over past decades incorporates the effect of new innovations and production procedures and unmistakably demonstrates that the normal decay rate for individual giant fields is expanding with time. These components have huge ramifications

Unconventional sources of oil and gas are becoming important for the journey of energy security. Conventional oil and gas will be unable to meet the growing demand requirements in future so there is a need to look for alternative resources of energy. In a volatile oil price movement, unconventional resources are viewed as important and economically attractive for future continuous supply.

• As the land mass within the Niger Delta region gets degraded as a result of oil exploration and