The Petroleum Engineering Handbook - Gulf Publishing Company

The Petroleum Engineering Handbook

The Petroleum Engineering Handbook
Sustainable Operations

The Petroleum Engineering Handbook: Sustainable Operations
Copyright © 2007 by Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Gulf Publishing Company
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77046
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Khan, M. Ibrahim, 1968–
The petroleum engineering handbook : sustainable operations / M. Ibrahim Khan and M. R. Islam.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-933762-12-8 (alk. paper)
1. Petroleum engineering–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Islam, M. R. (M. Rafiq), 1959– II. Title.
TN870.K475 2007
665.5–dc22
2007020540
Printed in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞

Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Nomendature
ix
xi
xv
xvii
CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1
CHAPTER 2 The New Management Guidelines 5
2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Current Practices of Petroleum Operations 6
2.3 Problems of Current Operations 9
2.4 Sustainability in Petroleum Operations 14
2.5 Tools Needed for Sustainable Petroleum Operations 19
2.6 How the Green Supply Chain Model Leads to Sustainability 31
2.7 Benefits of the New Model 35
CHAPTER 3 Exploration Operations 39
3.1 Introduction 39
3.2 Current Practices of Exploration Operations 40
3.3 Exploration Techniques 46
3.4 Problems with Current Exploration Techniques 56
3.5 Sustainability of Current Exploration Techniques 62
3.6 Accuracy and Uncertainty of Explorations 70
3.7 Special Measures for Sustainable Exploration Technology 71
CHAPTER 4 Drilling and Production Operations 79
4.1 Introduction 79
4.2 Current Practices of Drilling and Production 80
4.3 Production 83
4.4 Problems with Current Practices 85
4.5 Operations in the Ecologically Sensitive Areas 98
4.6 Emerging Technologies and Future Potential 107
4.7 Sonic While Drilling 123
4.8 Knowledge-based Optimization of a Rotary Drilling System for the
Oil and Gas Industry 126
4.9 Future research in production operations 131
4.10 Benefits of Sustainable Drilling and Productions 133
CHAPTER 5 Sustainable Waste Management 135
5.1 Introduction 135
v

vi Contents
5.2 Drilling and Production Wastes 135
5.3 Waste Estimation 140
5.4 Environmental Fate of Petroleum Wastes 147
5.5 Current Practices of Waste Management 156
5.6 Evaluation of Current Waste Management Technologies 161
5.7 Alternative Waste Management 173
5.8 Sustainability of Waste Management 183
CHAPTER 6 Reservoir Engineering and Secondary Recovery 189
6.1 Introduction 189
6.2 Well Test Analysis 189
6.3 Current Practice in Well Logging 202
6.4 Current Practices of Core Analysis 208
6.5 Practical Guidelines 226
CHAPTER 7 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Operations 243
7.1 Introduction 243
7.2 Contributions of Different Disciplines 248
7.3 Different EOR Techniques 249
7.4 Gas Injection 254
7.5 Chemical EOR 257
7.6 Microbial EOR 258
7.7 EOR in Marginal Reservoirs 263
7.8 Scaling of EOR Schemes 264
7.9 Environmental Consideration in EOR Operations 268
7.10 Alternative Technologies for EOR 272
7.11 CO 2 EOR Technology 280
7.12 Electromagnetic Heating for EOR 286
CHAPTER 8 Transportation, Processing, and Refining Operations 295
8.1 Introduction 295
8.2 Pipelines and Risk Management 296
8.3 Natural Gas Supply and Processing 309
8.4 Oil Refining 338
8.5 Sustainable Oil Refining Model 350
8.6 Corrosion in Petroleum Structures 357
8.7 Hydrate Problems and Some Suggestions 361
CHAPTER 9 Decommissioning of Drilling and Production Facilities 365
9.1 Introduction 365
9.2 Historical Analysis 365
9.3 Type of Oil Platforms/Platform Structures 366
9.4 Environmental Issues in Decommissioning 368
9.5 Toxicity and Degradation of Waste Generation 370
9.6 Decommissioning Regulations 376
9.7 Current Practices of Decommissioning 379
9.8 Case Studies 385
9.9 Sustainability of Offshore Platform Decommissioning 387
9.10 Alternative Approaches 389
9.11 Guidelines for Sustainable Management 395
9.12 Ecological and Economic Benefit of Artificial Reefs from Oil Rigs 398

Contents
vii
CHAPTER 10 Summary and Conclusions 401
10.1 Summary 401
10.2 Fundamental Misconceptions in Technology Development 402
10.3 Understanding Nature and Sustainability 404
10.4 Solutions that would Turn an Implosive Process Around 406
10.5 Conclusions and Recommendations 407
References 411
Author Index 453
Subject Index 459

Foreword
Sustainable Operations Handbook for Petroleum Engineers is a timely book, which not only provides a
summary of various sustainable practices in petroleum engineering operations, but does it in a manner that
raises a greater awareness of environmental sustainability.
It is not the traditional “technical handbook” one relies upon to get technical information for finding solutions
to an “engineering” problem. It is a book that provides a comprehensive coverage of the systems with
a focus on managerial decision-making. In doing so, it shifts the focus from finding “technical solutions”,
to “managerial decisions” leading towards sustainable practices. It provides step-by-step guidelines towards
such practices in Chapter 2.
Subsequent chapters carry forward a similar unifying theme in combining sustainable management decisions
and operational practices to various segments of the petroleum sector including exploration, drilling and
production, reservoir engineering, enhanced oil recovery, transportation and refining and waste management
practices.
Overall, this book examines current practices of an important industrial segment through the lenses of
“environmental sustainability” and provides a valuable resource to those who will have to steer the petroleum
industry from its current practices down the long road towards achieving true sustainability, not only from
an environmental angle but also from an economic one.
Professor Amit Chakma, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Vice President Academic and Provost
University of Waterloo
Canada
ix

Preface
Nature is perfect, both in space and time. To understand this perfection, one must use the science of intangibles.
The premise underlying such a concept is that Nature operates and Humanity detects the tangible
effects and formulates a response. However, the response has to take into consideration the role of processes
within Nature that have up to now remained inaccessible to our capabilities of detection or measurement
and hence “intangible” – either because of where we are looking, or because we become fixated on only
certain tangible aspects that can maximize a financial return in the shortest possible time. The hubris of the
contemporary scientific and engineering enterprise resides in its bedrock belief that we have dealt with
everything of importance and done all the heavy lifting necessary once we have identified all tangible features.
However, a little reflection discloses that the tangible aspects of anything do not go beyond very small
elements in space, i.e. Δs approaching zero; and even a smaller element in time, i.e. Δt = 0 (meaning, time
= “right now”). Hence, the urgency for Humanity to elaborate the science of intangibles has never been
greater. From the moment water, air, soil, and fire were identified as ingredients essential for the sustainability
of human life until very recently, human beings did not face, and were not compelled to reckon with,
a crisis of unsustainability. The time-honored principle that “nature is infinite” is now being challenged
because, all of a sudden we discover that natural resources are depleting despite a decline in population in
the industrialized world. We discover natural resources are not enough to sustain human civilization. Is this
a perception or reality?
Some blame seemingly infinite corporate greed for the mess that we are in today. Not that corporate greed
cannot be damaging, but, even if corporate greed is infinite, so is the Universe, and we are thus still left
with no answer to the question: why this sustainability crisis? There is enough water, air, soil and fire to go
around, each element being regenerated through nature’s ecosystem. Each element is recycled and in these
processes of recycling, each element enriches itself to make it more suitable for some portion or aspect of
natural existence, all of which eventually contributes to the welfare of mankind. This beneficial endpoint
derives not from humans being some “superior species”, or “on top of the food chain”, but only from the
condition, and to the extent, that humans have the ability to think (Homo sapiens means “thinking man”)
and make use of natural processes. This act of thinking, if driven by conscience (science of intangibles),
should help us avoid harmful natural products. This awareness should at the same time invoke processes
that enhance the natural processes, in order to achieve greater quality of life for all. Innovating science along
this line, and engineering solutions to problems accordingly, opens some exciting and compelling prospects.
Many of the obstacles built into present-day corporate arrangements could be countered and even shed in
the most industrialized countries. Humanity generally would be enabled to counter and shed many other
obstacles built into present-day systems of political and economic governance found throughout all countries
on this planet. Let all those who remain skeptical about or lack confidence in this overwhelming power
realise that this is “an idea whose time has come”: from grasping reliable knowledge of scientific truth,
consider what happened in the wake of Galileo’s insistence 350 years ago that the Earth revolves about
the Sun. What everyone accepts today as science would not have come into existence without this
affirmation – and yet, no one, least of all Galileo himself, actually “saw” the Earth moving around the Sun.
Even with modern-day space exploration, no one has been able yet to record the Earth’s actual 365-day
transit around the Sun, but without accepting Galileo’s irrefutable conclusion, there would be no modern-day
space exploration.
xi

xii Preface
Nature is infinite within a closed system. It is infinite as well because it is a closed, i.e. complete, system.
Because of this infinite dimension, Nature is also perfect (balanced). So, what is the origin of the imbalance
and unsustainability that seems to manifest itself so ubiquitously, in the atmosphere, the soil and the oceans?
As the “most intelligent creation of nature”, men were expected to at least stay out of the natural ecosystem.
Einstein might have had doubts about human intelligence or the infinite nature of the Universe (as evidenced
in his often-quoted remark that “there are two things that are infinite, human stupidity and the Universe,
and I am not so sure about the Universe”), but human history tells us human beings always managed to go
with the infinite nature of Nature. From central American Mayans to Egyptian Pharaohs, from Chinese Hans
to the Mannaeans of Persia, the Edomites of the Petra Valley to the Indus Valley civilization of the Asian
subcontinent, all managed to remain in harmony with nature. They were not necessarily “righteous” people
nor were they free from practices that we would no longer countenance (Pharaohs sacrificed humans to
accompany the dead royal for the resurrection day), but they did not produce a single gram of inherently
anti-nature product, such as DDT. In the modern age, we managed to give a Nobel Prize (in medicine) for
that “invention”. What becomes clear is this: whatever it was that our ancestors did in terms of technology
remains something to be desired today.
Consider the marvels of the people who carved rocks in the crystal valley of Petra. What did these
people use to cut rock? It surely was not lasers, or nucleo-thermal devices, or even TNT. What did the
builders of pyramids use to calculate precisely the shapes that defies today’s mathematicians, computer
designers, and architectures combined? It surely was not linear algebra, finite elements, or even numbercrunching
supercomputers. What did the makers of the Taj Mahal use to ensure continuous waterjets flowing
through fountains, air conditioning inside the building, and the evergreen lushness of the trees? It was not
electric pumps, freon, or synthetic fertilizers. What did the chemical engineers of Egypt use to preserve the
mummies for thousands of years? It was not formalin, bezoate, and numerous other toxins that we call
“preservatives”.
Today, we brag about how we do things better, faster, and cheaper. Yet, we took longer to carve out four
faces in Mount Rushmore than the stone-carvers of the Petra Valley took in making those stunning crystal
valleys out of solid rocks. We took longer to carve out the monument of Crazy Horse than did the makers
of the Taj Mahal. Not only did we take longer, we made an immeasurable mess by using TNT and other
inherently anti-nature explosives. Today, we brag about a quantum leap in all branches of sciences, yet we
only recently discovered our knowledge is nowhere close to what our ancestors had many years ago. We
have to ponder what was the basis for Harrapan mathematics, Jain and Tamil mathematics, or Babylonian
and Sumerian mathematics. Only recently we discovered Islamic scholars were doing mathematics some
1,000 years ago of the same order that we think we discovered in the 1970s 1 – the difference being that our
mathematics can only track symmetry, something that does not exist in nature. Recently, a three-dimensional
PET-scan of a relic known as the Antikythera Mechanism has demonstrated that it was actually a universal
navigational computing device – with the difference being that our current-day versions rely on GPS, tracked
and maintained by satellite. 2 We would also be shocked to find out what Ibn Sina (Avicenna) said regarding
nature being the source of all cures still holds true 3 – with the proviso that not a single quality given by
nature in the originating source material of, for example, some of the most advanced pharmaceuticals used
to “treat” cancer remains intact after being subject to mass production and accordingly stripped of its powers
actually to cure and not merely “treat”, i.e. delay, the onset or progress of symptoms. What are we
missing?
This book recognizes that civilization is driven by energy needs and uses the modern-day supplier of energy
needs, viz., petroleum engineering, as the case study. The book challenges readers with the pointed question,
“If we have progressed as a human race, why has our efficiency in sustaining human civilization regressed?”
For every phase of petroleum operations, ranging from exploration to refining, the authors investigate the
root cause of the failure in sustainability. Once the cause is identified, it becomes quite simple to recommend
practices that are sustainable. Once sustainable practices are in place, never again should petroleum operations
be synonymous with polluting the environment. This book could be a textbook on fundamentals of
sustainable energy management, yet it is called a “handbook”. It is so because it gets beyond the smokescreen

Preface xiii
of “blue sky”, i.e. fundamental, science, tackling the justifications for various engineering practices to show
exactly which practices are responsible for which effects and thus how simple it would be to remedy those
practices to come up with solutions that are starkly different from the ones previously being practiced.
This book is not meant to frighten the reader. It does not lecture; it does not indoctrinate. It elucidates some
of the fundamental principles of sustainability that made it possible for nature to continuously improve the
environment, while making comfort available to all. The book shows comfort in lifestyle doesn’t have to
come at the cost of long-term unsustainability. In fact, the book argues the best lifestyle even in the shortterm
can only be assured with a long-term approach. It is heartening to see the authors, with very distinct
track records in developing sustainable technologies, have taken up this task of “greening petroleum operations”.
A back-to-nature approach is long overdue. The authors propose that approach in a convincing
manner. They start with the definition of sustainability. With this definition, zero-waste production strategies
are in place. Such schemes are inherently sustainable. However, with their definition, it is also necessary
that every practice and additive also meet the sustainability requirement. There lies the recipe for reversing
global warming. Overall, this book represents what can be considered as the cookbook for evergreen petroleum
operations. They do that with fundamental science but without the rhetoric of scientists. They introduce
the first premise, “Nature is perfect”, without the rhetoric of philosophy or even religious dogma. Who could
argue with that?
Hans Vaziri (BP America), Houston, USA
Gary Zatzman (EEC Research Org.), Halifax, Canada
M. Rafiqul Islam (Dalhousie University, on sabbatical in Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman)
Notes
1. Lu, P.J. and Steinhardt, P.J. (2007) Decagonal and Quasicrystalline Tilings in Medieval Islamic Architecture, Science
315 [27 Feb], 1106.
2. Freeth, T. et al. (2006) Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism,
Nature 444 [30 Nov], 587–91; and also John Noble Wilford, (2006) An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists, The
New York Times [29 Nov], which discusses some interesting aspects of this technology’s likely context. There are not
a few among those who have been more than ready to grant the wisdom of the ancients but who also nevertheless persist
in believing that some ancients, especially in Europe, just had to be smarter than the ancients in, say, Muslim regions
of central and west Asia. Discussion sparked around the results of the PET-scan of the Antikythera Mechanism has
renewed questions about precisely this long-assumed hierarchy and sequence of ancient genius. In this regard, Wilford
notes the remarks of François Charette, from the University of Münich, in a separate article elsewhere in the same
edition of Nature, that “more than 1,000 years elapsed before instruments of such complexity are known to have reemerged.
A few artifacts and some Arabic texts suggest that simpler geared calendrical devices had existed, particularly
in Baghdad around A.D. 900. It seems clear . . . that ‘much of the mind-boggling technological sophistication available
in some parts of the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman world was simply not transmitted further,’ [and that] ‘the gearwheel,
in this case, had to be re-invented.’ ”
3. Steenhuysen, J. (2007) Mother Nature Still a Rich Source of New Drugs, Reuters [20 Mar].

Acknowledgements
This book has been in the works for quite a few years. The initial work started as early as 1999, when R.
Islam was inspired by the mission statement of Canada’s then NRCan Minister, Hon. Ralph Goodale, who
often talked about developing technologies that are innovative, economically attractive, environmentally
appealing and socially responsible. Not too long ago that statement would be considered to be absurd, worthy
of a mention within “blue sky” category. This statement formed the basis of our research group for last
seven years and this book personifies that statement in the topic of petroleum engineering.
The book is a result of a number of government/industry funded research grants, worth some $4 million
over the last seven years. During this time we also received invaluable advices from many researchers and
industry personnel. Dr. Hans Vaziri of BP America always kept in touch and provided useful comments in
numerous occasions throughout the research period of the book, spanning over six years. Dr. Scott
Wellington of Shell was truly an inspiration during the early period of the writing of this book. Maj. Gen.
Parvez Akmal, the former Managing Director of Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) of Pakistan
mentored a number of ideas that pursued in this research. Dr. Jadoon, Chief Engineer of OGDC, was a true
believer of the science that has been included in this book. His comments and suggestions were most helpful.
Professor Lakhal of the University of Moncton gave us the idea that “greening” of any operation is possible,
including the most difficult one, namely, petroleum engineering operations. Gary Zatzman of EEC Research
Organization has been most helpful in providing critical comments on many fundamental topics, forming
the core of this book. Professor Mysore Satish made many useful comments and gave many valuable tips
for proposing techniques that would eventually render oil production operations sustainable. Professor
Farouq Ali continued to mentor the progress of our research group and played a vital role by visiting us in
several occasions and sending his colleague, Dr. Sara Thomas, who herself was very helpful. David Prior
of Veridity Environmental Technology helped us develop numerous ideas into usable tools. Our research
group also benefited from researchers from Canada and around the world. Dr. Omar Chaalal, Mr. Ronal
Moberg, Ms. Serperi Sevgur, Mr. Frank Proto, Dr. David Bernard, Dr. Amit Chakma, and many others
made a difference in the line of thinking that was needed to write such a book.
The entire research group that had at times nearly 40 members contributed to this endeavor. In particular
the contributions of M. E. Hossain, A. B. Chhetri, Dr. Ketata, Dr. Agha, Y. Mehedi, S. Rahman, E. Smit,
Dr. Belhaj, Dr. Basu, Dr. Tango, Dr. Satish, and Dr. Butt are noteworthy.
xv

Nomenclature
C p
C g
C o
C r
C t
C w
D
E e
E r
H
h
I s
K
K r
k
L w
M
N
p
p c
p g
p w
p o
q
q laser
R
R wi
r
S SL
S LV
S wi
S or
Δt
Δt F
Δt s
T
T m
T sat
t d
V F
V EP
: Heat capacity
: Gas compressibility
: Oil compressibility
: Rock compressibility
: Total (rock + fluid) compressibility
: Water compressibility
: Well diameter
: Effective total energy
: Effective total energy
: Thickness
: Enthalpy
: Instability number
: Permeability
: Relative permeability
: Thermal diffusivity
: Well depth or length
: Mobility ratio
: Rotary speed
: Pressure
: Capillary pressure
: Pressure in the gas phase
: Pressure in the water phase
: Pressure in the oil phase
: flow rate
: laser source energy
: Rate of rock penetration
:Relative weight of an indicator, j
: radius
: Solid/liquid energy transfer
: Liquid/vapor energy transfer
: Initial water saturation
: Residual oil saturation
: Time interval
: Time interval in fluid
: Time interval in solid
: Temperature
: Mean temperature
: Saturation temperature
: drilling time
: Total pore volume
: Effective pore volume
xvii

xviii Nomenclature
V NP
V p
V s
V T
W
x,y,z
Greek
δ
φ
γ
μ
η E
ρ
σ
σ e
: Non-effective pore volume
: Total pore volume
: Solid volume
: Bulk volume
: Weight of a drilling bit
: Coordinates
: Thermal penetration depth
: Porosity
: interfacial tension
: dynamic viscosity
: Mechanical energy efficiency
: density
: surface tension
: pseudo-effective surface tension
Subscripts:
D : Dimensionless
g : gas
o : oil
w : water