Progress and Prosperity-English - Kuwait Oil Company

Progress & ProsperityEXPLORATION & DRILLING OPERATIONSOil Origin & Formation:Oil is formed from the remains of numerousanimals and plants that lived and died in the seamillions of years ago. Covered beneath hundredof tons of rocks and subject to high pressuresand temperatures, bacterial reactions take placein these organic materials to form oil.Locations of Oil:Oil exists within the porous layers of sedimentaryrocks that have been trapped for millions ofyears by a covering of non-porous “cap” rocks.Sedimentary rocks are formed from silt, sand orthe debris of shells precipitated at the bottomof ancient seas and it is these sedimentary rocksthat oil explorers search for.Exploration:Exploration process is divided into several phases.It begins with identifying a specific locationin which geologists expect availability of mainfactors for oil reservoirs formation. At this point,geologists make recommendations to conductcertain geological surveys which are divided intoseveral types according to the type of informationneeded to be collected. Such surveys areconcerned with studying physical properties ofearth layers through conducting measurementsfor physical fields on and near land surveys. Theimportance of these surveys is that they reduceexploration drilling risks. The types of these surveysare set out below:8