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Offshore (hydrocarbons)
"Offshore", when used in relation to hydrocarbons, refers to operations undertaken at, or under the, sea in association with an oil, natural gas or condensate field that is under the seabed, or to activities carried out in relation to such a field. Offshore is part of the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Offshore activities include searching for potential underground crude oil and natural gas reservoirs and accumulations, the drilling of exploratory wells, and subsequently drilling and operating the wells that recover and bring the crude oil and/or natural gas to the surface. Offshore exploration is performed with floating drilling units, drill ships, semi-submersible installations and jack-up installations. At the surface (either on the seabed or above water) offshore facilities are designed, constructed, commissioned and operated to process and treat the hydrocarbon oil and gas. Permanent oil and gas installations and plant include subsea wellheads and flowline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or exemplified by the odors of gasoline and lighter fluid. They occur in a diverse range of molecular structures and phases: they can be gases (such as methane and propane), liquids (such as hexane and benzene), low melting solids (such as paraffin wax and naphthalene) or polymers (such as polyethylene and polystyrene). In the fossil fuel industries, ''hydrocarbon'' refers to the naturally occurring petroleum, natural gas and coal, and to their hydrocarbon derivatives and purified forms. Combustion of hydrocarbons is the main source of the world's energy. Petroleum is the dominant raw-material source for organic commodity chemicals such as solvents and polymers. Most anthropogenic (human-generated) emissions of greenhouse gas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petroleum Geology
Petroleum geology is the study of origin, occurrence, movement, accumulation, and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels. It refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons ( oil exploration). Sedimentary basin analysis Petroleum geology is principally concerned with the evaluation of seven key elements in sedimentary basins: * Source * Reservoir * Seal * Trap * Timing * Maturation * Migration In general, all these elements must be assessed via a limited 'window' into the subsurface world, provided by one (or possibly more) exploration wells. These wells present only a 1-dimensional segment through the Earth, and the skill of inferring 3-dimensional characteristics from them is one of the most fundamental in petroleum geology. Recently, the availability of inexpensive, high quality 3D seismic data (from reflection seismology) and data from various electromagnetic geophysical techniques (such as magnetotellurics) has great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subsea (technology)
Subsea technology involves fully submerged ocean equipment, operations, or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term ''subsea'' is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marine or ocean engineering, ocean exploration, remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), submarine communications or power cables, seafloor mineral mining, oil and gas, and offshore wind power. Oil and gas Oil and gas fields reside beneath many inland waters and offshore areas around the world, and in the oil and gas industry the term ''subsea'' relates to the exploration, drilling and development of oil and gas fields in these underwater locations. Under water oil fields and facilities are generically referred to using a ''subsea'' prefix, such as ''subsea well'', ''subsea field'', ''subsea project'', and ''subsea developments.'' Subsea oil field developments are usually split into ''Shallow water'' and ''Deep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Submarine Pipeline
A submarine pipeline (also known as marine, subsea or offshore pipeline) is a pipeline that is laid on the seabed or below it inside a trench.Dean, p. 338-340Gerwick, p. 583-585 In some cases, the pipeline is mostly on-land but in places it crosses water expanses, such as small seas, straits and rivers.Palmer & King, p. 2-3 Submarine pipelines are used primarily to carry oil or gas, but transportation of water is also important. A distinction is sometimes made between a ''flowline'' and a pipeline.Bai & Bai, p. 22 The former is an ''intrafield'' pipeline, in the sense that it is used to connect subsea wellheads, manifolds and the platform ''within'' a particular development field. The latter, sometimes referred to as an ''export pipeline'', is used to bring the resource to shore. Sizeable pipeline construction projects need to take into account many factors, such as the offshore ecology, geohazards and environmental loading – they are often undertaken by multidisciplinary, intern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Production Plant
An oil production plant is a facility which processes production fluids from oil wells in order to separate out key components and prepare them for export. Typical oil well production fluids are a mixture of oil, gas and produced water. An oil production plant is distinct from an oil depot, which does not have processing facilities. Oil production plant may be associated with onshore or offshore oil fields. Many permanent offshore installations have full oil production facilities.Magnus Process Flow Diagrams 1983; NW Hutton Process Flow Diagrams 1987; Shearwater Process Flow Diagrams 2005 Smaller platforms and subsea wells export production fluids to the nearest production facility, which may be on a nearby offshore processing installation or an onshore terminal. The produced oil may sometimes be ''stabilised'' (a form of distillation) which reduces vapour pressure and sweetens "sour" crude oil by removing hydrogen sulphide, thereby making the crude oil suitable for storage and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offshore Oil And Gas In The United States
Offshore oil and gas in the United States provides a large portion of the nation’s oil and gas supply. Large oil and gas reservoirs are found under the sea offshore from Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska. Environmental concerns have prevented or restricted offshore drilling in some areas, and the issue has been hotly debated at the local and national levels. Production From 1954 to 2007, federal offshore tracts produced of oil and of natural gas. In 2007, federal offshore tracts produced 27% of the oil and 14% of the natural gas in the United States. Three of the top ten oil fields in the United States in terms of the proven remaining reserves were offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007 (Mars-Ursa, Thunder Horse, and Atlantis). The oil production in the offshore area owned by the federal government reached in 2007, down from the record of produced in 2002. 2.86 TCF of offshore gas produced in 2007 was down from the high of 5.25 TCF produced in 1996. Ownership ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offshore Drilling
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and inland seas. Offshore drilling presents environmental challenges, both offshore and onshore from the produced hydrocarbons and the materials used during the drilling operation. Controversies include the ongoing US offshore drilling debate. There are many different types of facilities from which offshore drilling operations take place. These include bottom founded drilling rigs ( jackup barges and swamp barges), combined drilling and production facilities either bottom founded or floating platforms, and deepwater mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) including semi-submersibles or drillships. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deepwater Drilling
Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters. Deepwater drilling has not been technologically or economically feasible for many years, but with rising oil prices, more companies are investing in this sector. Major investors include Halliburton, Diamond Offshore, Transocean, Geoservices, and Schlumberger. The deepwater gas and oil market has been back on the rise since the 2010 '' Deepwater Horizon'' disaster, with total expenditures of around US$35 billion per year in the market and total global capital expenditures of US$167 billion in the past four years. Industry analysis by business intelligence company Visiongain estimated in 2011 that total expenditures in global deepwater infrastructure would reach US$145 billion. A HowStuffWorks article explains how and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spar (platform)
A spar is a marine structure, used for floating oil/gas platforms. Named after navigation channel Spar buoys, spar platforms were developed as an extreme deepwater alternative to conventional platforms. The deep draft design of spars makes them less affected by wind, wave, and currents and allows for both dry tree and subsea production. A spar platform consists of a large-diameter, vertical buoyant cylinder(s) supporting a deck. Spars are permanently anchored to the seabed by way of a spread mooring system composed of either a chain-wire-chain or chain-polyester-chain configuration. The cylinder comprises a number of tanks, the lowest contains ballast, mid-water and/or extracted oil, the upper, air for buoyancy. Helical strakes are fitted to the larger & more recent designs to mitigate the effects of vortex-induced motion. There are three primary types of spars; classic, truss, and cell. A classic spar consists of a tall-height, cylindrical hull, with tanks for heavy ballast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tension-leg Platform
__NOTOC__ A tension-leg platform (TLP) or extended tension leg platform (ETLP) is a vertically moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of oil or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metres (about 1000 ft) and less than 1500 metres (about 4900 ft). Use of tension-leg platforms has also been proposed for offshore wind turbines. The platform is permanently moored by means of tethers or tendons grouped at each of the structure's corners. A group of tethers is called a tension leg. A feature of the design of the tethers is that they have relatively high axial stiffness (low elasticity), such that virtually all vertical motion of the platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on deck (connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers), instead of on the seafloor. This allows a simpler well completion and gives better control over the production from the oil or gas rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackup Rig
A jackup rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit and all attached machinery to a desired location. Once on location the hull is raised to the required elevation above the sea surface supported by the sea bed. The legs of such units may be designed to penetrate the sea bed, may be fitted with enlarged sections or footings, or may be attached to a bottom mat. Generally jackup rigs are not self-propelled and rely on tugs or heavy lift ships for transportation. Jackup platforms are almost exclusively used as exploratory oil and gas drilling platforms and as offshore and wind farm service platforms. Jackup rigs can either be triangular in shape with three legs or square in shape with four legs. Jackup platforms have been the most popular and numerous of various mobile types in existence. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
