Crude oil, Its Formation, Composition, Classification, & Exploration Speaker: Dr. O.P.

Rao

Crude oil and its Formation Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons (hydrogen and carbon) of various molecular weights,
The word petroleum comes from the Latin petra, meaning rock, and oleum, meaning oil.

Crude oil is usually either black or green, but it can also be light yellow or transparent.

Crude oils vary considerably in density and are described as heavy, average, or light.
Both crude oil and natural gas are formed from ancient dead plant and animal material that lies buried in layers of sedimentary rock. The oil and gas then migrates through the pores in the rocks to eventually collect in reservoirs.

Petroleum deposits arise from the decomposition of aquatic, mainly marine, animals and plants successively buried under layers of mud and silt several hundred million years ago

Besides the formation of petroleum is only part of the picture: it must also be effectively contained
Today, countless million years after they have formed, oil and gas are only found where migration from the original source rock to reservoir rock has occurred as a result of the high pressures in the source rock, and the hydrocarbon has been trapped in the reservoir For this to have happened two general conditions apply. The first is that further upward migration has been prevented by an impermeable seal known as caprock, and the second condition is that further lateral migration has been prevented, or greatly reduced, by the natural occurrence of geological traps (structural trap) within the reservoir beds themselves.

Structural Traps are three types: anticline, fault trap and salt dome

the anticline which is the most common, accounting for around 80% of the worlds oil and gas resources Anticlines are formed by folds in the earths geological strata and when occurring in large structures can hold appreciable quantities of petroleum in place

Anticlinal: Sloping downward in opposite directions

A fault trap is formed when a bed of reservoir rock is brought into contact with impermeable strata by movement along a geological fault within the earths crust

Fault trap

Salt dome, as the name suggests, is a dome-shaped formation of rock salt which has been forced upwards through overlying strata until it lies under caprock

Salt Dome

The following conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: A source rock rich in hydrocarbon material buried deep enough for subterranean (beneath the earth's surface) heat to cook it into oil; Lateral movement of hydrocarbon deposits A porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; And a cap rock (seal) that prevents it from escaping to the surface. Within these reservoirs, fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it,

Crude oils from different parts of the world, or even from different depths in the same oilfield, contain different mixtures of hydrocarbons and other compounds. This is why they vary from light coloured volatile liquids to thick, dark oils. In its strictest sense, petroleum includes only crude oil, but in common usage it includes both crude oil and natural gas. An oil well produces predominantly crude oil, with some natural gas dissolved in it recovered as associated gas A gas well produces predominately natural gas.

The proportion of hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture is highly variable between different oil fields

Composition by weight of Crude Oil Carbon -83 to 87%, Hydrogen- 10 to 14%, Nitrogen- 0.1 to 2%, Oxygen- 0.1 to 1.5%, Sulfur-0.5 to 6%, Metals- less than 1000 ppm

Classification Crude oils are generally classified as paraffinic, naphthenic, or aromatic, based on the predominant proportion of similar hydrocarbon molecules.

Hydrocarbon Paraffins Naphthenes Aromatics Others 30% 49% 15% 6%

Average

Range 15 to 60% 30 to 60% 3 to 30% remainder

Paraffins General formula: CnH2n+2 (n is a whole number, usually from 1 to 20) Can be gasses or liquids at room temperature depending upon the molecule Examples: methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, hexane, octane (methane, CH4 , ethane, C2H6 , propane, C3H8 , butane, C4H10 ,
pentane, C5H12 ,hexane, C6H14

The simplest paraffin molecule is that of methane, CH4, a gas at room temperature. Heavier members of the series, such as that of octane C8H18, appear as liquids at room temperature. The solid forms of paraffin, called paraffin wax, are from the heaviest molecules from C20H42 to C40H82.

Aromatics General formula: benzene ring (C6H6) Examples: benzene, toluene ,napthalene Benzene and toluene, have distinctive pleasant smells, hence the term "aromatic Napthenes or Cycloalkanes General formula: CnH2n Typically liquids at room temperature Examples: cyclohexane,(C6 H12) methyl cyclopentane (C5H9CH3 )

Other hydrocarbons Alkenes General formula: CnH2n (n is a whole number, usually from 1 to 20) Can be liquid or gas Examples: ethylene, butene, isobutene Alkynes General formula: CnH2n-2 Can be liquid or gas Examples: acetylene (C2H2), butadienes

The petroleum industry generally classifies crude oil by the geographic location it is produced (West Texas Intermediate, Brent, or Oman) Crude oil is also classified by its API gravity (an oil industry measure of density), and by its sulfur content.

American Petroleum Institute gravity (API gravity) It is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; If less than 10, it is heavier and sinks. API gravity is graduated in degrees on a hydrometer instrument and most values fall between 10 and 70 API gravity degrees. Generally speaking, oil with an API gravity between 40 and 45 commands the highest prices.

Crude oil is classified as light, medium or heavy, according to its measured API gravity.

Light crude oil is defined as having an API gravity higher than 31.1 API
Medium oil is defined as having an API gravity between 22.3 API and 31.1 API Heavy oil is defined as having an API gravity below 22.3 API.

It may be referred to as sweet if it contains relatively little sulfur (0.5%) or sour if it contains substantial amounts of sulfur (>0.5%)

The term "sweet" originated because the low level of sulfur provides the oil with a mildly sweet taste and pleasant smell.
Light sweet crude oil" is the most sought-after version of crude oil as it can be processed to yield gasoline, kerosene, and highquality diesel

API gravity express the gravity or density of liquid petroleum products

Degree API 8 9 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Specific Gravity 1.014 1.007 1.000 0.966 0.934 0.904 0.876 0.850 0.825 0.802 Weight (lb/US gal) (kg/m3) 8.448 8.388 8.328 8.044 7.778 7.529 7.296 7.076 6.870 6.675 1012 1005 998 964 932 902 874 848 823 800

50
55 58

0.780
0.759 0.747

6.490
6.316 6.216

778
757 745

The formula for API Gravity can be expressed as: API = (141.5 / SG) - 131.5 where API = Degrees API Gravity SG = Specific Gravity (at 60oF)

Brent crude is one of the most important benchmark crude oils.

Two thirds of the world's internationally traded crude oil supplies are priced relative to it. The benchmark oil is a combination of crude oil from 15 different oil fields in the Brent and Ninian areas of the North Sea. Petroleum production from Europe Africa and the Middle East flowing West tends to be priced relative to this oil, i.e. it forms a benchmark The API gravity of Brent is 38.3 degrees and it contains little sulphur making it a light sweet crude oil.

Petroleum Exploration Visible surface features such as oil seeps, natural gas seeps, pockmarks (craters caused by escaping gas) provide basic evidence of hydrocarbon generation Exploration surveys adopted are: gravity survey, magnetic survey, seismic reflection surveys
An exploration well is drilled in an attempt to conclusively determine the presence of oil or gas

Oil extraction and recovery Oil is extracted as Primary Recovery, Secondary recovery and Tertiary recovery (enhanced recovery)
Primary Recovery Primary production is the first method of producing oil from a well and depends on the natural reservoir energy to drive oil into producing wells These include: natural water displacing oil upward into the production well,

Expansion of the natural gas dissolved in the crude oil, And gravity drainage resulting from the movement of oil within the reservoir from the upper to the lower parts where the wells are located. The underground pressure in the oil reservoir is sufficient to force the oil to the surface through an arrangement of valves Pumping arrangement is not required Recovery factor during the primary recovery stage is typically less than 1520%

Secondary & Tertiary Recovery At some point there will be insufficient underground pressure to force the oil to the surface
After natural reservoir drive diminishes, secondary recovery methods are applied. They rely on the supply of external energy into the reservoir to produce more oil. Most common secondary recovery operations consist of pumping operations and injection of material into well Injection of water or gas called water flood or gas flood The pumps are reciprocating type

Separate wells are used for injection and production Steam injection is used to reduce the viscosity of crude oil so that it easily flows into the production well A gas is injected into the oil-bearing stratum under high pressure. That pressure pushes the oil into the pipe and up to the surface.

In addition to the beneficial effect of the pressure, this method sometimes aids recovery by reducing the viscosity of the crude oil as the gas mixes with it.
Gases commonly used include CO2, natural gas or nitrogen.

Enhanced oil recovery by injection of CO2 and steam

Drilling The well is created by drilling a hole 5 to 36 inches (127.0 mm to 914.4 mm) diameter into the earth with a drilling rig

After the hole is drilled, sections of steel pipe (casing), slightly smaller in diameter than the borehole, are placed in the hole.
Cement may be placed between the outside of the casing and the borehole. The casing provides structural integrity to the newly drilled wellbore

The 2006 cost of a Central North Sea high pressure, high temperature well is about $3550 million. Deep water wells in the Gulf of Mexico can cost over $100 million. Onshore wells can be considerably cheaper, particularly if the field is at a shallow depth, where costs range from less than $1 million to $15 million for deep and difficult wells

Crude oil can also be obtained from oil shales and tar sands (Unconventional oils)
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons are extracted) Estimates of oil shale global deposits range from 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion barrels The chemical process of pyrolysis can convert the kerogen in oil shale into synthetic crude oil

Most of the world's oils are non-conventional

Oil sands, also known as tar sands, or extra heavy oil, is an extremely dense and viscous form of petroleum called bitumen

Heavy crude oil is closely related to oil sands, the main difference being that oil sands generally do not flow at all
Heavy crude oil or Extra Heavy Crude oil is any type of crude oil which does not flow easily. It is referred to as "heavy" because its specific gravity is higher than that of light crude oil.