Oil, Gas, and all that stuffOil, Gas, and all that stuff
Morgan P. Brown, Ph.D.Morgan P. Brown, Ph.D.
Amerada Hess CorporationAmerada Hess Corporation
Houston, TXHouston, TX
About the speaker…About the speaker…
• Born 1974, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Places lived: California(4), Louisiana, Texas(4), Colorado
• Graduated from 24th grade in 2004
• Married, two kids (3rd,4th grade)
• Geophysicist for Amerada Hess
What’s a Geophysicist do?What’s a Geophysicist do?
• Study volcanoes
• Study earthquakes
• Explore for oil and gas using reflection seismology?!?
Reflection Reflection SeismologySeismology
• Seismos = Greek for “earthquake”• Logo = Greek for “word”• Seismology = The word of earthquakes?!
• Seismology = The study of how waves travel within the earth
• But what exactly is a “wave”?
Reflection Reflection SeismologySeismology
Quiz #1: If you squeeze a rock equally from all sides, then let go, what happens?
a) Nothing
b) Rock squishes, but returns to normal size
c) Rock squishes, then oscillates between small and big
• This oscillation produces a (compressional) P-wave!
• Why does the oscillation die out?
• What if you set off an explosion underwater?
• Waves move circularly away from source
• Also have (shear) S-waves
Reflection Reflection SeismologySeismology
ReflectionReflection Seismology Seismology
• What about the reflections?
• When properties of rocks change, waves are reflected
• Record the reflections with microphones
• Look for oil & gas traps on the seismic image
What is oil?What is oil?
• Sometimes it’s really light, with a lot of dissolved natural gas
• Sometimes it’s gooey, like asphalt
• Usually it is somewhere in between: a black, stinky liquid
Spindletop gusher, 1901
How much oil do we use?How much oil do we use?• The world
consumes 82 million barrels of oil per year.
• That’s 3.4 billion barrels per year!
• At that rate, you could fill Crater Lake Oregon in 4 years!
1148 feet deep
6 miles across
How much oil do we use?How much oil do we use?
• Or, you’d fill the 610 loop to a depth of 400 feet!
400 feet
10 miles
What is natural gas?What is natural gas?
• Methane: CH4
• The lightest component of oil
• The world consumes 100 trillion cubic feet per year!
• Imagine a balloon 20 miles in diameter!
Quiz #2: Where do oil & natural gas occur in nature?
a) Between the grains in rocks
b) In large underground pools
c) Close to hot magma in volcanoes
How we get oil & gasHow we get oil & gas
How we get oil & gasHow we get oil & gas
Shale—full of carbon-rich goo
Lots of heatLots of pressure
Oil forms in the shaleOil rises upward—why?
sand
wateroilgastop seal
salt
Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
Getting oil out of the groundGetting oil out of the ground
Quiz #3: Which is better for oil extraction?
= sand = oil
doesn’t
matter
(a) (b) (c)
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX
Shale looks like this.Bad for oil & gas extraction!
Make cracks in the rock.Fill cracks with sand!
Oil flows out!
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX
shale
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Coal Bed Methane– Methane (CH4) adsorbs onto coal
But Carbon Dioxide (CO2) adsorbs even better than CH4!
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Coal Bed Methane
coal
CO2
CH4
We can use a greenhouse gas (CO2) to produce electricity!
The CO2 is sequestered underground!
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Coal Bed Methane
US Coal Distribution
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Methane Hydrates– Solid form of CH4
bonded to water (H2O)– About 20 molecules of
CH4 per molecule H2O– Forms under high
pressures and low tempteratures
– Deep water, near the seabed
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Methane Hydrates– Energy density of methane hydrate =
168 m3 free gas/1 m3 hydrate
Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources
• Methane Hydrates– How much natural gas is present in
hydrates?
Could supply the world’senergy needs for
hundreds of years!
Alternative EnergyAlternative Energy
• Alternatives that don’t require fossil fuels:– Wind power (NIMBY, bird killers)– Nuclear (NIMBY, disposal)– Water power (NIMBY, dams kill fish)– Biofuels (still emit greenhouse gas)– Solar (expensive, how to store?)– Geothermal (limited availability)– Tides (limited availability, like a dam)– Fuel cells (how to get hydrogen?)
An Alternative Energy HouseAn Alternative Energy House
windmill
solar power
geothermalheating and
cooling
fuel cell
Thanks for your attention!Thanks for your attention!
Any questions?