Understanding how grain and powder lubrication affect rock friction and fracture dilation, and how microscopic fractures develop according to fault activation may directly improve our capabilities in exploration and stimulation of oil and gas reservoirs. Using a novel rotary shear testing apparatus specifically designed and assembled to conduct experiments inside an X-ray micro computed tomogra...

Over significant areas of the UK and western Europe, anthropogenic alteration of the subsurface by mining of coal has occurred beneath highly populated areas which are now considering a multiplicity of 'low carbon' unconventional energy resources including shale gas and oil, coal bed methane, geothermal energy and energy storage. To enable decision making on the 3D planning, licensing and extra...

although on the basis of geo-economic theories, study of energy-related issues is of strategic importance to all countries, energy resources are no more restricted to oil and gas reserves as was the case during the past century. of course, these resources are still key elements of global energy reserves. today, in addition to geo-politics and geo-economics, the concept of hydro-geopolitics puts...

this paper describes a study that starts with an analysis of typical energy demand profiles in a hospital setting followed by a case study of a combined cooling, heating, and power (cchp) generation system.cchp is an autonomous system that combines the generation of electrical, heating, and cooling energy.the driving units are two high-efficiency gas engines that produce electrical and heat ene...

The first phase of an accelerated project to develop Saudi Arabia’s deep gas potential has been sanctioned, and a large number of new gas producers are currently being drilled and completed. A number of wells have been either acid or hydraulically frac’d, and preliminary production tests have shown significant productivity increases resulting from this type of stimulation. Consequently, plans h...

Recent developments in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have enabled the recovery of large quantities of natural gas and oil from old, low-permeability shales. These developments include a change from low-volume, high-viscosity fluid injection to high-volume, low-viscosity injection. The injected fluid introduces distributed damage that provides fracture permeability for the extraction of the ga...

where he is also Director of the Center for the Environment. He currently serves on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He has authored more than one hundred articles on topics in geochemistry, geology, paleoclimatology, ocean-ography, energy technology, and energy policy. Over the last ten years, technological innovation has transformed U.S. energy resources. Geolo...

This report describes a previously uncharacterized occupational health hazard: work crew exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing involves high pressure injection of large volumes of water and sand, and smaller quantities of well treatment chemicals, into a gas or oil well to fracture shale or other rock formations, allowing more efficient rec...

Oilfield Review Autumn 2011: 23, no. 3. Copyright © 2011 Schlumberger. ClearFRAC and HiWAY are marks of Schlumberger. In 1947, Stanolind Oil & Gas performed the first experimental hydraulic fracturing treatment in the Hugoton field in southwestern Kansas, USA. Since then, E&P companies have employed this reservoir stimulation technique extensively to enhance or prolong well productivity. Indeed...