Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri

2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

Tutorial

Chapter 1

1) Describe your understanding of following sections in oil and gas industry:

a. Upstream

The upstream sector includes exploring for potential location of crude oil and
natural gas fields, drilling wells, production and maintenance the well

b. Midstream

The midstream sector involves the transportation of crude oil by pipeline

wholesale marketing of crude or refined petroleum products.

c. Downstream

The downstream sector is the refining of petroleum crude oil and the processing and
purifying of raw natural gas.

2) Identify and explain subsequence phases in oil and gas field from exploration to
abandonment.

Exploration - Seismic survey, drill exploration well.

Appraisal - More seismic and more wells will be drilled.

- Engineer study all the information to find out the cost effective
manner to develop the field.
- FDP Planing.

Development - Development wells are drilled

- Production facilities are constructed according to development
plan.

Maintenance - Maintenance of the wells and all production facilities.

Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
Abandonment - All well plugged and surface facilities will have to be removed in
a safe and environmentally acceptable.
- Abandoned field occur if capex is higher than the revenue

3) Briefly explain petroleum geology and the roles of geophysicist

Petroleum geology - Study the location of the subsurface which contain hydrocarbon
which from the data of the exploration process by using seismic survey or any other
methods.

Role of geophysicist - Processing and interpretation of seismic data and generation

of subsurface maps on the basis of seismic data.

4) Briefly explain petroleum reservoir and the roles of reservoir engineer

Petroleum reservoir - Reservoir is where the petroleum accumulates at one location

of rock. the presence of cap rock or non permeable rock beneath the reservoir rock
and structural trap.

Roles of reservoir engineer – Optimize field performance by performing reservoir

modelling studies. Study oil most effective oil recovery method.
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
5) Explain activities covered in drilling and completion phase.

Drilling engineer plans for constructing well bore, well geometries, casing, mud,
well control, bit selection.

Well completion is a process of preparing newly drilled well from production of oil
and gas.

6) Define development phase in petroleum engineering and state the objective of

production engineering.

Development phase - Occur after exploration has been proven successful before full
scale production. The newly discovered oil or gas filed is assessed during appraisal
phase, a plan to fully and efficiently exploit it is created and additional wells are
usually drilled.

Objective of production engineering

- Design and select equipment in completing system.

- Design surface facilities that separate and measure production.
- Handling disposal of any water and impurities.
- Preparing transportation to market for oil and gas.

6) Compare and contrast between the roles of drilling engineer and production
engineer

Drilling Engineer Production Engineer

Planning in constructing the wellbore. Design surface facilities.
Cementing process by knowing the Completing system by selecting
volume of cement required tubing, perforating and hydraulic
fracturing
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
7) Define reservoir rocks

Reservoir rock is a rock in which oil and gas accumulates. It is a rock that
contains connected pore spaces used to store the fluid inside. Once oil and gas
enter the reservoir rock, they are relatively free to move. Most reservoir rocks are
initially saturated with saline groundwater.

8) Compare and contrast between mud logging and coring.

Mud Logging Coring

Log that gives information about Sample of rock that taken by
lithology and fluid content of the conventional coring or side wall coring
borehole while drilling. method.

9) Briefly explain the importance of well testing.

Well testing will give important information about fluid behaviour, permeability,
average reservoir pressure, heterogeneities confirmation to determine the best
location to run a well production.

10) Briefly explain on Field Development Planning (FDP) and its objectives.

FDP give the best technical solutions for fields optimization because it comprise
all activities and processes required to develop a field such as environmental
impacts, geophysics, geology, reservoir and production engineering, infrastructure
and many more.

The objectives is to reduce the risks that may happen on the field, to evaluate the
production rate whether is it economical friendly to proceed the project and many
more.
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
11) With aid of diagram, briefly explain the production phases in life of an oil and
gas field.

Build up phase - The production rate is increasing from time to time until it reach the
limit or maximum capability of the well to extract the oil at a certain time.

Plateau phase - Reservoir is produced at capacity limited by associated production &

processing facilities.

Decline phase – The production of petroleum start declining which the production
cost is higher than the revenue. and the recovery method needs to be done in order
to avoid the production rate become lower than the economic limit.
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
Chapter 2

12) Briefly explain the term seven sisters.

Seven sister term refer to the seven multinational oil companies of the
"Consortium for Iran" oligopoly or cartel, which dominated the global petroleum
industry from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s.

13) Explain the root cause of Deepwater Horizon disaster and its impact(s).

14) Briefly explain the early onshore well before the 19th century in UK.

First discovery and production of onshore gas in Heathfield, Sussex, England.

The gas was found when water wells were being drilled and went on to power the
lights for the station.

15) Explain briefly the reason Russia cut off the gas supply to Europe in 2009 and its
implication.
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2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
16) With aid of simple sketches/ diagram, briefly explain the root cause of Piper
Alpha accident.

The accident was primarily caused by maintenance work simultaneously carried

out on one of the high-pressure condensate pumps and a safety valve, which led to
a leak in condensates.

After the removal of one of the gas condensate pump’s pressure safety valve for
maintenance, the condensate pipe remained temporarily sealed with a blind flange
as the work was not completed during the day shift. Not aware of the maintenance
being carried out on one of the pumps, a night crew turned on the alternate pump.
Following this, the blind flange including firewalls failed to handle the pressure,
leading to several explosions.
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
17) Briefly explain the exploration & production environment of 2 nd largest producer
in Europe, Norway.

According to The Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Norway had 6.68 billion barrels of
proven oil reserves as of January 1, 2010, the largest oil reserves in Western
Europe. All of Norway’s oil reserves are located offshore on the Norwegian
Continental Shelf (NCS), which is divided into three sections: the North Sea, the
Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. In 2015, 56 exploration wells were drilled, and
seventeen discoveries made. Despite the high-level of exploration and development
activity in recent years, investments fell by 16% from 2014 – 2015 and this decline
may continue until 2019 when a moderate uptick is expected. In comparison with the
rest of Europe, activity in Norway is high, with four new fields coming on stream in
2015, and nine developments ongoing.

18) With the aid of relevant (part) world map, point out the location of the early
exploration & discoveries of oil reserves in Middle East (1908 – 1964). State the
province and its reserve capacities.

As of 1999, 677.5 billion barrels of oil which is 65 percent of the world's proved
reserves of petroleum. the Saudi reserves equal those of all the rest of the world
outside the Middle East,
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2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
19) Briefly explain the types of reservoir in Middle East.

The Middle East is renowned for its rich carbonate oil reservoirs. In the Middle
East, however, carbonates were deposited on a long and wide shelf from the
Permian to the Paleocene with insignificant hiatus. Even after the Arabia-Asia
collision, carbonate sedimentation continued in a very shallow marine environment.
Limestone and dolomite reservoirs of the Middle East have fairly good porosity and
permeability. Primary porosity has been well preserved in packstones and
grainstones such as those of the Late Jurassic Arab Formation widely spread in the
Middle East

20) State 5 factors that boost the petroleum as world’s primary energy.

Population, Technology, Industrial Growth, Modernization, Economy,

21) Compare and contrast between coal and petroleum as energy sources.

Coal Petroleum
Solid form Liquid form
More hazardous than petroleum Less hazardous than coal
21% U.S sources of energy on 2009 37% U.S sources of energy on 2009

22) Discuss on technology that boost the petroleum as world’s primary energy.

Rate of world population lead into increase of consumption of the petroleum.

Innovation of transportation and energy generation that consume petroleum to
generate energy in vehicles like car, airplane and ships. The application of the
petroleum are varies. Petroleum also used to provide electrical energy in many
power plants in the world.
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2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
23) With the aid of diagram, briefly explain on the sedimentary basin architecture in
Miri.

The monoclinal dip at the southern limb of Badas Syncline has the potential
for stratigraphic pinchout traps. Across the Miri-Asam Paya anticlinal trend, a number
of different play types were identified. The 4-way dip or fault closure dependent
anticlinal play has been tested and proven by the discovery of the Miri Field, and
also by the recent oil and gas discovery made at Adong Kecil West-1

24) According to Malaysia Energy Information Hub, Sarawak has a total known gas
reserve of about 50 trillion standard cubic feet (Tscf) and oil reserve of about 1.693
billion barrel. Discuss the impact of these reserves to the Malaysia economic.

Generally, this will leave a positive impact for the industry, especially for local
service providers. Currently they have an utilisation rate between 50 to 60 per cent.
With this move, it could be boosted to more than 70 per cent.
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2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
25) With the aid of relevant Malaysia’s map, describe the six major sedimentary
basins in Malaysia’s continental shelf.

Malaysia’s continental shelf is made up of six major sedimentary basins,

geologically favourable conditions for the creation of hydrocarbons, which is
petroleum and natural gas. The six basins are grouped into three main regions:

1) Peninsular Malaysia: Malay Basin in the offshore east covers more than 12,000
metres; and Penyu Basin in the south covers an area of 5,000 square kilometers.

2) Sarawak: Sarawak Basin with seven geological provinces.

3) Sabah: Sabah Basin, Northeast Sabah Basin and Southeast Sabah Basin, a
prolific deepwater discoveries.

26) Briefly explain about RAPID project in Pengerang Johor. Discuss on the project
site details and facilities.

The complex will cover an area of 2,000ha and will produce nine million tons
of petroleum products and 4.5 million tons of petrochemicals a year. The complex
will cover an area of 2,000ha and includes crude oil refinery and a petrochemical
complex capable of processing 300,000 barrels per day (bpd). These two projects
together will produce 7.7Mtpa of differentiated and speciality chemicals such as
synthetic rubbers and high-grade polymers. The RAPID project refinery will produce
gasoline and diesel that will meet Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel specifications.
Azizul Hakim Bin Sabri
2017466174
INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
27) Explain the impacts of Saudi Aramco’s decision to invest up to RM31.1 billion
RAPID refining complex in Malaysia.

These joint ventures allow the parties equal ownership and participation in the
operations of the refinery, cracker and selected petrochemical facilities in Rapid. the
collaboration will see Saudi Aramco supplying 50% of the refinery’s crude feedstock
requirements with the option of increasing to 70%. Both parties will share the rights
to offtake the production of the joint ventures on an equal basis. The strategic
alliance is a historic partnership between two of the largest and most successful
national oil companies in the world, bringing together the resources, technologies,
experience, expertise and commercial presence

28) Tapis, the Malaysian crude benchmark traded in Singapore, has for a long time
held the title of the world’s most expensive grade. Discuss on Tapis oil properties, its
source and its significance to the Malaysia economic.

Tapis is very light, with an API gravity of 43°-45°, and very sweet, with only
about 0.04% sulfur. Its contain greater aromaticity (higher ° API) allows for greater
production of higher-value products, such as petrol. Its high price is also due to the
purity of the blend. Because it contains less sulfur it requires less refinery processing
than sourer crude oils.

29) Explain the benefits of the formation of PETRONAS in Malaysia.

- Fill Malaysian staff position.

- Take over the overall management of the petroleum resources.

- Transfer of technology.
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INTRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
30) Compare and contrast between concession and production sharing contract.

Concession Production Sharing Contract (PSC)

Give the company the right to operate a Contract pursuant to which the state
specific business within the government’s entrusts the investor to conduct
jurisdiction, subject to certain condition prospecting, exploration and extraction of
mineral resources within an area for an
established time period.

31) Explain the advantages & benefits of production sharing contract to Malaysia
Government

Concession Production Sharing Contract (PSC)

Risk is on Petronas. Insulate Petronas from risk.
Malaysian staff cannot join the operation. Fill positions with Malaysian staff.
Small amount of technology and Transfer of technology.
knowledge can be transferred.

32) Explain upstream activities of oil and gas field and list down its associated
activities.

The upstream sector includes searching for potential underground or

underwater crude oil and natural gas fields, drilling exploratory wells, and
subsequently drilling and operating the wells that recover and bring the crude oil or
raw natural gas to the surface.

Exploration (seismic, exploratory drilling) , Appraisal (Appraisal drilling, well testing),

Field development (reservoir, production, surface facilities)

33) Explain downstream activities of oil and gas field and list down its associated
activities.

The downstream sector is the refining of petroleum crude oil and the
processing and purifying of raw natural gas, as well as the marketing and distribution
of products derived from crude oil and natural gas.

Refining, petrochemicals, marketing, services, distribution and others.