Formations And Injection Drilling

Formations and Injection Drilling

Tom McKeown

Ken Ryan

Franklin Hamilton

What is a Formation? Petroleum is found in a porous rock formation in the upper strata of the earth’s crust.

A formation consists of a certain number of rock strata that have a comparable lithology, facies or other similar properties. Formations are not defined on the thickness of the rock strata they consist of and the thickness of different formations can therefore vary widely.

Geologic formations are typically named for the geographic area in which they were first described.

Strictly, formations cannot be defined on any other criteria except primary lithology. However, it is often useful to define Biostratigraphic units based on paleontological criteria, Chronostratigraphic units based on the age of the rocks, and Chemostratigraphic units based on geochemical criteria.

[edit] North AmericaNorth America

Site Country/State Age

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument USA: Nebraska Miocene

Aquia Formation USA: Maryland and Virginia Paleocene

Ash Hollow Formation - Ashfall Fossil Beds

USA: Nebraska Miocene - Clarendonian

Aucilla River USA: Florida Pleistocene/Holocene

Austin Chalk USA: Texas Late Cretaceous

Bainbridge Formation USA: Missouri Silurian

Bakken Formation USA/Canada: Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan

Upper Devonian - Lower Carboniferous (Early Mississippian)

Bighill Creek Formation Canada Upper Pleistocene

Big Sandy Formation USA: Arizona Miocene

Blanco Formation USA: Kansas, Texas Pliocene/Pleistocene

Bone Cabin Quarry USA: Wyoming Jurassic

Bone Valley Formation USA: Florida Pliocene

Bridger Formation USA: Wyoming Eocene

Brule Formation USA : South Dakota Oligocene

Burgess Shale Canada: British Columbia Cambrian: Albertan

Calvert Formation USA: Maryland Miocene

Cañón del Tule Formation Mexico Cretaceous: Maastrichtian

Cedar Mountain Formation USA: Colorado and Utah Cretaceous

Geology Rock Systems

Rock Formations

Rock Types

Rock Depth

- often distinguished system/age

Rock Age

- Often distinguishes Depth

Geology I) 3 main types of Sedimentary Rock

(Description) A) Limestone-Limestone rocks are sedimentary rocks that are made from the

mineral calcite which came from the beds of evaporated seas and lakes and from sea animal shells. This rock is used in concrete and is an excellent building stone for humid regions.

B) Sandstone-a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock

grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust

C) Shale-(also called mudstone) is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original

constituents were clay minerals or muds. It is characterized by thin laminae[1] breaking with an irregular curving fracture, often splintery and usually parallel to the often-indistinguishable bedding plane

Geology II) What is a Source Rock? - In Petroleum geology Source rock refers to rocks from which hydrocarbons have been generated or

are capable of being generated. They form one of the necessary elements of a working hydrocarbon system. They are organic rich sediments that may have been deposited in a variety of environments including deepwater marine, lacustrine and deltaic.

III) Main types of Formations 1) Crude Oil Reservoirs-Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: a

source rock rich in hydrocarbon material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil; a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; and a cap rock (seal) or other mechanism 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, although the different layers vary in size between reservoirs.

2) Non-Conventional Oil- reservoirs- I.E) Shales, Sands. They are typically not porous and permeable. 3) Abiogenic Orgin-Applies to Russia- base on Methane hypothesis.

What is a Basin? A collection of formations that hold oil and

gas reservoirs. Each large Oil and gas basin has a

collection sub basins, uplifts, and embankments.

Each basin is classified by mixture of: type of rocks, age of rocks.

I.E- Permian Basin

Figure 2a. Correlation chart for Ardmore Basin.

INJECTION WELLS

Injection Wells

30% of Oil reserves are extractable Fluids are “Injected” into the well to maintain

reservoir pressure. Increasing the % of extractable Oil Two Types: Gas and Water Water Injection Advantage: Waste disposal

Oil is lighter than Water which is lighter than Solid Waste

The Basic Pump Electronic Motor drives the

Gear Box that moves the lever.

The lever pushes and pulls a polishing rod up and down.

The polishing rod is attached to a sucker rod, which is attached to a pump.

This system forces the pump up and down, creating a suction that draws oil up through the well.

Steam Injection In some cases, the oil may be

too heavy to flow. A second hole is then drilled

into the reservoir and steam is injected under pressure.

The heat from the steam thins the oil in the reservoir, and the pressure helps push it up the well.

This process is called enhanced oil recovery.