African University of Science and Technology

Petroleum Engineering Stream, Abuja

INTRODUCTION TO PETROLEUM ENGINEERING (PET 500)

ASSIGNMENT ONE

NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS RESERVES AND PRODUCTION (1970-2014)

INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Joseph Echendu

STUDENT NAME: ADANENCHE DANIEL EDOH

STUDENT ID: 40553

DUE DATE: 16/07/2017

NIGERIA CRUDE RESERVES AND PRODUCTION (1970 2014)

OVERVIEW
Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 at Oloibiri in Niger Delta after almost half a century of

exploration. The discovery was made by shell-BP, at a time it was the sole concessionaire.

Nigeria thus joined the league of oil producers in 1958 when its first oil field came on stream,

producing 5,100 bpd.

After 1960, exploration rights in on shore and off shore areas adjoining the Niger Delta were

extended to other foreign companies such as Mobil, Texaco Overseas, AGIP, GULF, Elf and a

few others. In 1965 the EA field was discovered by Shell in shallow water southeast of Warri. In
1970, the end of the Nigerian civil war coincided with the rise in the world oil price, and Nigeria

was able to reap instant riches from its oil production. This development led to the rise in oil

production and reserve growth between 1970 and 1979 as can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Nigeria Crude Reserves and Production (1970 2014)

As can be seen from the Figure 1, production figures dropped between 1979 and 1990 due to a

world-wide economic slump. There is no significant growth in reserve this period because of the

Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1986 between NNPC and IOCs.

Between 1990 and 2005, exploration, field development and production activities quickly

picked up again thereafter, reaching a record level of production capacity of over 2 million

barrels per day by 2006 probably due to Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in 1993 and Deep

water operations. Inability to actually achieve and sustain that production capacity between 2005

and 2008 was caused by Niger Delta unrest that took place that period. Production picked again

after 2008 due to amnesty granted to the militant. The growth in reserve between 1999 and 2006

was due to Deep Water activities. Drop in production between 2010 and 2014 was majorly due to

the fact that there is no growth in reserve.

 NIGERIAN GAS PRODUCTION AND RESERVES (1975 2014)

OVERVIEW
Nigerias natural gas reserves qualify us to be in the league of successful nations that have

harnessed its natural gas. With 186.6 TCF of proved gas reserves (BP statistical review of energy,

2017), Nigeria is ranked 9th in terms of proven plus probable reserves almost 6 times Trinidads

reserve base and almost at par with Saudi Arabia both of which have catalysed a major

industrialization platform from gas.

Before 1975, the Nigerian gas sector was characterised by huge amount of flaring because gas

was seen as nuisance. The Nigerian gas sector saw an increase in gas reserve and production

between 1980 and 1985 due to No-flaring legislation that period as seen in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Nigerian Gas Production and Reserves (1975 2014)
The successful implementation of NLNG in 1999 heralded the start of the evolution of Nigerias

gas sector. Through very favourable and attractive fiscal incentives, there was a proliferation of

new export oriented projects such as West African Gas Limited (WAGL). This era also saw a

small increase in the utilization of gas in both the domestic power and industrial sectors,

resulting in noticeable decline in gas flaring and increasing gas reserves. Gas consumption in the

domestic market in Nigeria was relatively flat at approximately 0.3 BCFPD this period.

From year 2002, Nigeria began to experience a general increase in domestic demand mostly

driven by the power sector. Gas consumption in the domestic market had reached 0.5 bscfd.

The West African Gas Pipeline (WAGPCo) represented the first international gas pipeline for

Nigeria. This was initially conceived in the 1980s and took FID in 2004. The pipeline was

expected to cut gas flaring significantly by providing an export route for associated gas

production. This is responsible for the rise in gas production as seen in Figure 2.

Sustainable Power Generation continued to be on the political and economic agenda of all
Government and in 2005 the FGN made significant investments in the power sector by initiating

the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) with the development of NIPP power plants.

The Gas Master-plan policy document was intended to address the gas supply situation. The plan

detailed out major infrastructure expansion, gas supply development acceleration, revamp of the

commercial framework for gas and tactical effort to accelerate gas supply to power sector, in

addition to gas industrialization strategy. Thus, between 2010 to date, an aggressive

implementation of this plan as well as policy updates have been the main focus.

African University of Science and Technology

Petroleum Engineering Stream, Abuja
INTRODUCTION TO PETROLEUM
ENGINEERING (PET 500)

ASSIGNMENT TWO

SUMMARY OF THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON PETROLEUM

ENGINEERING

INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Joseph Echendu

STUDENT NAME: ADANENCHE DANIEL EDOH

STUDENT ID: 40553

DUE DATE: 16/07/2017

VIDEO 1: OIL AND GAS GEOSCIENTISTS

The function of geologists and geophysicists is to find new sources of oil and gas. The best place
to find oil is to go to where it is found. Exploratory wells drilled in frontier areas are called
wildcats which are of high risks.
Seismic data are used for further analysis of the exploratory areas. Seismic data are acquired by
creating artificial sound waves at the surface which travels downward through the underground
rock layers. The change in rock characteristics cause some of the sound waves to be reflected
back to the surface while others continue to travel down. Sensors such as geophones are placed
at the surface to detect the reflections. The seismic data acquired is modelled either in 2D or 3D.
The 3D model is usually better and cover a wider area but more expensive. We use the seismic
data to identify underground structures such as faults and anticlines which are referred to as
prospects.
The Geologist and Geophysicists work closely with other oil and gas professionals such as the
drilling engineers, petrophysicists, petroleum and facility Engineers, Business analysts, lawyers
and the upper management.
The Geophysicist is different from Geologist in that Geophysicists carry out computer based
modelling, geophysical analysis and are deeper in mathematics and physics. While Geologist
carry out geological studies, mapping, well monitoring and studies more about rock formations.
Although their works seem to overlap presently making it difficult to really differentiate a
Geophysicist and a Geologist.

VIDEO 2: UNCONVENTIONAL GAS

Unconventional hydrocarbons are hydrocarbons trapped in impermeable or tight rocks that
cannot be produced by just sinking a hole or drilling a well. Examples of unconventional gas
include tight gas, shale gas and Coal Bed methane.
The following characteristics differentiate unconventional gas from conventional gas:
Hydrocarbons are not trapped in saturated or stratigraphic traps
They are trapped in low permeability reservoirs which results in the need for hydraulic
fracturing to obtain economic flow rates.
They have low recovery per well (1-10 BCF/well) with long well life
 They require more wells than conventional gas
They have low upfront investment
Require low cost well manufacturing and real-time learning
In conventional high porosity rock, the migration of hydrocarbon is driven by buoyancy forces
which control the difference in density between the oil or gas and water. In the case of
unconventional gas, the porosity and permeability gets so low that surface tension forces become
poor in trapping the gas and capillary forces start to dominate the trapping mechanism which
means instead of the gas flowing, it will cease to move because the density difference between
the gas and water is not sufficient to overcome the surface tension forces. Gas can be trapped in
primary pores, organic nano-pores and gas absorbed on the organic matter.
Tight, Shale gas and CBM can be compared in the following ways:
Tight gas deals with only one pore system which is the primary pore system of the rock.
Shale gas deals with primary porosity, some proportion of gas in oil trapped in organic
matter porosity and absorbed gas.
CBM deals with totally absorbed gas.
Shale gas is produced by fracturing the formation below the water table and pumping down fluid
usually water until we get a pressure enough to crack the rock. Fracturing is done to increase the
area of the wellbore that is accessible to gas and increase the flow of gas into the wellbore. If
there are no fractures the flow of gas will be non-economic.
There are some areas of concerns which include some evidence of natural gas migration into
freshwater zones most likely as a result of sub-standard well completion practices by few
operators and the total emission from shale gas production is only slightly higher than
conventional gas.
VIDEO 3: PERTOLEUM, GENERATION AND MIGRATION
Petroleum is a natural substance that occurs as a semi-solids, liquids or gases. Petroleum can be
classified or subdivided into:
Crude oil, which leaves a residue of crap on distillation
Gas condensate, leaves no residue on distillation
The spatial arrangements of hydrocarbons are called isomer series which include Alkanes
(paraffin series), Cyclo-alkane series and Aromatic series. For oil of any one series, viscosity
decreases as temperature increases, viscosity increases with increasing fluid density and viscosity
increases with increasing Carbon per molecule.
The grades of petroleum include the following:
Condensate: >55o API
Light Oil: 31-55o API
Medium Oil: 22-31o API
Heavy Oil: 10-22o API
Extra-heavy Oil: <10o API
Petroleum is primarily a product of diagenesis of organic material that accumulated within fine
grain sediments in low energy anaerobic environment. It is worth noting that oil does not
originate in the reservoir in which it is found. It requires migration from the source rock. Not all
petroleum is exclusively of marine origin. Some are clearly derived from terrestrial plant matter.
During petroleum formation, the soluble products are lost early to diagenesis and the insoluble
products are called Kerogen.
Types of Kerogen are:
Type I Kerogen: Derived from organic materials with lipids (dominantly marine) with
H/C ratios >1.5. Few aromatic compounds and good source of oil and gas.
Type II Kerogen: Also derived from marine organic materials but with H/C ratios <1.5
and dominated by aromatic rings and a quite good source of oil and gas.
Type III Kerogen: Derived from terrestrial plant organic material. H/C ratio <1.5 and
dominated by aromatic rings. Not a good source for liquid petroleum. May generate gas.
Migration of hydrocarbon is the movement of hydrocarbon from the source rock to the reservoir
rock and within the reservoir rock. There are two main types of migration namely:
Primary Migration: is the process by which hydrocarbons are expelled from the source
rock into and adjacent permeable carrier bed.
Secondary Migration: is the movement of hydrocarbon within the reservoir rock.

VIDEO 4: COLLIDING CONTINENTS

Nature will shape the planet earth many million years in the future. Today, our continent may
seem solid, safe and forever fixed in place but there are none of those things. These great land
masses are constantly on the move.
Powerful forces deep within the planets rip the continent apart and then smash them together in
an ever changing cycle of death and rebirth. Oceans disappear; mountains crumble and rise
again, land masses form and reform. Colliding continents are the mightiest forces on earth.
The movement and collision of the continent is brought about by the theory of continental drift
and plate tectonics. Plate tectonic is powered by heat beneath the surface of the earth. It is largely
driven by the fact that the interior of the earth is hotter than the surface making the land mass to
separate and move away from each other. This is largely responsible for the movement of the
continents away from one another.

REFERENCE
1. Oloibiri Lecture Series, 2017
2. BP.com