1.

1 PETROLEUM
By : Nurul Uyun Binti Ahmad

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1.1 Petroleum
A form of bitumen composed principally of hydrocarbons

which exists in the gaseous or liquid state in its natural

reservoirs.

Petroleum = hydrocarbon compound + non hydrocarbon

compound.

Hydrocarbon = organic compounds of carbon (C) &

hydrogen (H) only.

Non-hydrocarbon = compound that contain some sulphur,

oxygen and nitrogen atoms besides C & H

1.1.1 History
1859 first well was drilled in Penn Sylvania, USA
1897 first well was drilled offshore in California, USA
1910 first well was drilled in Malaysia (well Miri No.1 in

Sarawak)

1950, 1960 & 1968 - the search for oil had been diverted to

the offshore areas.

1974 - PETRONAS or Petroliam Nasional Berhad

1976 & today - Malaysia is now a net exporter of petroleum

1.1.2.1 Origin of petroleum

In general, 2 theories exist:
1.
Inorganic theories
- reaction of CO2 with H2O under suitable conditions
- assumes oil form from the reduction of primordial
carbon or its oxidized form at high temperatures deep in
the earth
2.

Organic theories
- remains of plants and animals (most widely accepted)
- accumulation of HC from living things
- generation of HC by heat action on biogenically
formed organic
matters

1.1.2.2 Distribution
7 - based at Terengganu sea.

Semangkuk, Guntung, Tapis, Dulang, Selidi, Duyong,

Bekok & Pilong.

8 - offshore of Sarawak.

Baronia, Baram, Tukau ,Lutong Barat, Termana & Betty

3 offshore of Sabah.

St.Joseph, Erbwest, Semarang, Ketam, Tembungo &

South Furios.

1.1.3 Petroleum Constituent

Crude Oil (California)

Offshore oil seeps occur in many
parts of the world.
.
.

Natural Asphalt,
(McKittrick, California)
Asphalt is the thick, tarry fraction that is
typical of natural oil seeps. This
deposit was once mined for ready-made
pavement.

Natural Gas
Gas mixture consisting
primarily of methane.
.
.

Condensate
Liquid phase produced by the
condensation of steam or any
other gas.

1.1.3.1 Crude Oil

Crude oil is the term for "unprocessed" oil, a mixture of

HC that exists in the liquid phase that comes out of the

ground. It is also known as petroleum.
Crude oil is a fossil fuel, meaning that it was made

naturally from decaying plants and animals living in

ancient seas millions of years ago.
It will remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after

passing through surface separating facilities

 Crude oils vary in color, from clear to tar-black.

Density: ranges from very dense denser than water to

very light.
Viscosity: ranges from solid to liquid

1.1.3.2 Natural gas

A mixture of HC compounds and small quantities of various

non-HC (eg. N2 and CO2) existing in the gaseous phase or in

solution with oil in natural underground reservoirs at
reservoir conditions.

Main HC component: methane (CH 4).

Dry gas contains 90-100% CH 4.
Wet gas contains greater proportions of ethane, propane,

butane etc.

CO2, H2S & N2 also present.

 Sweet and sour gases refer to the low and high content of

H2S respectively

Application: power generation, industrial feedstock eg.

Fertilizers or liquefied into LNG for efficient transportation

1.1.3.2.1 Natural Gas Classification

Associated gas:

- Free natural gas, commonly known as gas-caps which

overlies and in contact with crude oil in the reservoir
Dissolved gas:

- Natural gas which is in solution with crude oil in the

reservoir at reservoir conditions.
Non associated gas:

- Free natural gas not in contact with crude oil in the

reservoir.

Associated gas reservoir

Gas
Oil
Water

Non - associated gas reservoir

Gas

Water

1.1.3.3 Condensate
HCs which are in the gaseous state under reservoir

conditions but become liquid either in passage up the hole

or at surface due to the reduced pressure conditions.
Composed mainly of compounds in which molecules

contain at least 5 C atoms.

Colour: yellowish to colorless

1.1.3.4 Asphalt
Thick brownish or black substance derived from the same

crude oil which produces kerosene, gasoline and vinyl.

Composed of at least 80% carbon, which explains its deep

black color.

Sulphur is another ingredient found in the tar-like asphalt,

as well as some trace minerals.

Application: sealant for rooftops and a durable surface for

roads, airport runways, playgrounds and parking lots.

Cracked Asphalt

1.1.3.4.1 Reservoir rock

A place that oil migrates to and is held underground.
Little holes and cavities inside rocks allow oil to be stored.
These rocks are usually sandstones, limestone or dolomites.

 A reservoir rock always lies underneath a cap rock.

Like the cloth of a hot air balloon prevents air from

escaping, a cap rock keeps oil in the underlying reservoir

rock.
Within the reservoir rock gas may exist above the oil, and

water below the oil.

The layering is similar to the separation seen in oil based

salad dressings, and it occurs for the same reason.

 A sponge holds liquid like a reservoir rock holds oil.

Oil can be extracted because like a sponge, the rocks small

cavities have interconnecting tunnels allowing oil to flow

from thousands of feet away to a small cylindrically shaped
hole drilled into the rock.

A sponge shares the structural properties

of a reservoir rock.

1.1.4 Activities in petroleum industry

Acquisition of Right
Exploration
Appraisal
Development
Production
Export or Processing

2. Exploration drilling : To search for oil & gas

Once a potential site is identified, exploration drilling can

be used to determine whether or not the site has

petroleum accumulation or not.
No direct method of locating a pool of petroleum without
first drilling test wells.
This is done by sinking a drill bit which takes a core
sample into the ground.
Samples from the drill are analyzed to determine the
quality of the crude oil, while geologists work on estimates
of how much oil may be available at the site.

Questions to be answered
Where, how deep is the

reservoir?
How thick is it?
What kind of rock is it?
What is the porosity of
this rock?
What does it contain
(water, oil or gas)?
What will it produce?
What is its areal extent?

Seismic data acquisition

Seismic method involves generation of elastic vibration causing ground

motion which can be detected by geophones.

Types Of Offshore Drilling Rigs

1, 2) conventional fixed platforms; 3) compliant tower; 4, 5) vertically moored tension leg and
mini-tension leg platform; 6) Spar ; 7,8) Semi-submersibles ; 9) Floating production, storage,
and offloading facility; 10) sub-sea completion and tie-back to host facility.

4. What is a field development plan?

Highlight the planned development activities in the field
Addresses the following:

- geology of the field

- oil and gas original in place, reserve and production
forecast
- schedule of field development
- no. of platforms and wells
- methods for improving oil recovery
- well completion design
- production facilities aspects
- gas utilisation and conservation schemes
- project cost and project economic

5. Oil Production System

OGX - Oil Production System

Christmas Tree

Choke

Storage Tank
Flow line

Tubing
Separator

Christmas Tree

 Tubing a small pipe of diameter 3 inch installed in

the well to handle the fluid flow from the reservoir

Christmas tree assembly of valves on a final casing to
control the rate of oil production
choke a removable steel orifice device fitted to a well
flowline to restrict fluid flow
Flowline a pipeline that connects the well to the
separator
Separator vessel for separating mixtures of oil, gas and
water
Storage tank a tank in which oil is stored

1.1.5 Petroleum Refining Processes

The refinery is designed to process several different

types of crude oil to produce useful petroleum

products such as;

Gasoline
Diesel fuel
Asphalt base
heating oil
Kerosene
Liquefied petroleum gas

Refining crude oil is carried out in 3 main stages:

1.1.5.1 Separation
Crude oil contains a mixture of hydrocarbon chains of

different lengths when it is extracted from the earth.

The first phase in petroleum refining

operations is the separation of crude oil

into its major constituents using
3 petroleum separation processes:
atmospheric distillation,
vacuum distillation,
and light ends recovery (gas processing).

 However, demand for lighter petroleum products such as

gasoline is much greater than that of heavier products,

making the next phase, conversion, an especially important
part of the refining process.
These distillation towers allow components of the oil to be

separated according to their unique boiling points, with

lighter substances such as gasoline collecting at the cooler
top of the tower and the heaviest components collecting at
the bottom.

Tutorial 1 : Flow in Separation Process

1.1.5.2. Conversion
In the process of conversion, heavier molecules can be converted,

or "cracked," into the lighter products for which there is higher

demand.

Modern techniques also facilitate the joining of smaller

hydrocarbons into larger ones, called unification, as well as the

rearrangement of molecules through a process called alkylation.

Conversion may be accomplished in several ways depending on

needs as well as a refinery's capabilities

Cracking

Cat-cracking

Breaking down
of large HC
molecules into
smaller
valuable ones
at temp.
Higher than in
DC

Cracking usg
catalyst Prod.
Components for
Blending into high
octane motor
gasoline, diesel
fuel Components,
C3-C4 gases

Hydro-cracking
Catalyst and
hydrogen gas
present at high
pressure

Conversion

Steam
cracking
LPG or light
distillates
broken down
in presence
of steam at
high T and
low P

Thermal cracking
Visbreaking
Used to
improve quality
of heavy fuel
oils & to make
diesel fuel
components

Heat & pressure

alone was the
original method
of obtaining
greater amounts
of motor
gasoline

Alkylation
Linking or
changing
arrangement
of molecules to
obtain
additional
quantities of
high octane
motor gasoline

Reforming
Light distillates
containing HC
molecules
reformed by
heat & P into
more useful
molecules of
same size and
boiling range
usg catalyst eg
platinum
(Platformer)

1.1.5.3. Treatment/Purification
Petroleum treating processes stabilize and upgrade

petroleum products by separating them from less

desirable products and by removing objectionable
elements.

Undesirable elements such as sulfur, nitrogen, and

oxygen are removed by hydrodesulfurization,

hydrotreating, chemical sweetening, and acid gas
removal.

Treating processes, employed primarily for the

separation of petroleum products, include such processes

as deasphalting.

Desalting is used to remove salt, minerals, grit, and

water from crude oil feedstocks before refining.

Asphalt blowing is used for polymerizing and

stabilizing asphalt to improve its weathering

characteristics.

Sweet crude: small amounts of sulphur.

Sour crude: large amount of sulphur

 Mercaptans: organic sulphur compound.

How to remove sulphur? Pass the untreated products with a

stream of H2 through a bed of catalyst, converted to H2S gas

then addition of chemicals, extracted and converted to
liquid or solid sulphur for sale.

Others: N2, O2 and various metallic compounds which

needed removal

Blending
Most fuels and lubricants are blends of limited no. of basic

grades from refinery.

Contain additives designed for particular uses.
Carried out in batching tanks

complete with stirrer or

circulating pumps or by
in-line blending

1.1.5.4 Product of Refining

Liquified petroleum gas (LPG)
Gasoline (also known as petrol)
Naphtha
Kerosene and related jet aircraft fuels
Diesel fuel
Fuel oils
Lubricating oils
Paraffin wax
Asphalt and tar
Petroleum coke

Different products at different temperature

1.1.6 Selected petrochemicals processing

Tutorial 1