Dimensions and Unit System

(Oilfield Units)
Length and diameter
Inch
Feet
Mass
Pounds
Kilogram
Power
Horsepower
Kilowatt
Pressure
Pounds per square inch (psi)
Bar
Temperature
Celsius
Fehrenheit

Volume
Barrel
Stock tank barrel
Gallon (US)
Standard cubic feet (scf)
Density
API gravity (for liquid)
Specific density (for gas)
Flowrate
Barrels per day (bbl/d)(bpd)
standard cubic feet per day
(scf/d)(scfd)
Thousand cubic feet per day
(Mscf/d)(Mscfd)
Million cubic feet per day
(MMscf/d)(MMscfd)
Conversions Factors
To convert from To SI units Multiply by
inch in metre m 0.0254
inch in milimetre mm 25.4
feet ft metre m 0.3048
pound lb kilogram kg 0.4536
horsepower hp kilowatt kW 0.746
pounds per square inch psi pascal Pa 6894.757
pounds per square inch psi kiloPascal kPa 6.894757
pounds per square inch psi bar bar 0.06894757
barrel bbl cubic metres m
3
0.1589873
gallon (US) gal cubic metres m
3
0.003785412
gallon (US) gal litre l 3.785412
gallon (UK) gal cubic metres m
3
0.004546092
gallon (UK) gal litre l 4.546092
standard cubic feet scf cubic metre m
3
0.02831685
Exercise 1
A well produces oil and gas at a flowrate of 30,000 bopd with a GOR of
20 at a wellhead pressure of 300 psi. There is a pressure drop of 100
psi during transportation from the well to an offshore platform where oil
and gas are separated and processed. After separation and processing,
there is a further drop of 80 psi. The oil will be pumped back to shore
while the gas will be used for gas re-injection to maintain well pressure.
The minimum transportation pressure the pump has to meet is 40 bar.
As a facilities engineer, your job is to specify the capacity of a pump and
a compressor required for the job. A pump is usually specified by the
flow rate in gallons per minute @ pressure rise required in psi. For the
compressor, you only need to specific the flow capacity in m3/hr.

Bonus question: estimate the power consumption in horsepower for the
pump, assuming an efficiency of 80% and an oil density of 780 kg/m3

Hint: GOR = Gas Oil Ratio
Gas flow rate at standard condition (scf/d)
= Oil flow rate (bbl/d)

Answers
Flowrate of gas =oil flowrate x GOR
=30,000 x 20 scf/d
=600,000 scf/d
=600,000 x 0.0283 / 24 m
3
/hr
Minimum flow capacity of compressor required = 707.5 m
3
/h
Pressure at inlet to pump and compressor
= (300 - 100 - 80) psi
= 120 psi
= 120
Pressure required at outlet of pump = 40 bar =580 psi
Pressure rise required by pump =580 120 bar
=460 psi
Flowrate of oil =30,000 bbl/d
=30,000 x 42 / 24 / 60 gal/min
=875 gal/min
Minimum duty of pump required is 875 gal/min @ 460 psi
Minimum power of pump = Pressure x flowrate / efficiency
Minimum power of pump = (31.732 x 10
5
) x (875 x 0.003785 / 60) / 0.8 W
= 219 kW