Design space exploration (DSE) is a common yet complex workflow in oilfield asset development. The “design” of an oilfield refers to a set of decisions about aspects ranging from well locations and number to facility sizing for optimum production. Evaluation of alternate designs – based extensively on reservoir simulations – corresponds to the evaluation of alternate development scenarios in fa...

Knowledge of the orientation of horizontal in situ stresses is important to some areas of oil and gas field development plans. Borehole breakouts observed in image logs and drilling-induced fractures are the main parameters for the determination of the stresses’ directions in situ. In this work, the orientations of borehole breakouts were investigated as a function of depth in oil wells A and ...

The primary components of oilfield brines (sodium and chloride) occur in groundwater naturally and from other contaminant sources. Therefore, sodium and chloride content alone are not reliable indicators of possible low-level oilfield brine impacts. Graphical methods used to evaluated chemical characteristics facilitate comparison of groups of samples (e.g., groundwater and brine) based on rela...

CO2 mediated enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) may lead to methods of CO2 reduction in the atmosphere through carbon capture and storage (CCS); therefore, monitoring and verification methods are needed to ensure that CO2-EOR and CCS activities are environmentally safe and effective. This study explored vegetation growth rate to determine potential ecological effects of emissions from CO2-EOR acti...

The conventional measurement method can no longer guarantee the accuracy requirement after the oilfield development entering high water cut stage, due to the water content and gas phase in the flow. In order to overcome the impact of measurement deviation the oilfield productionmanagement, the flow field of three-phase separator is studied numerically in this paper using Fluent 6.3.26. Taking i...

Past research has suggested that during the calving period, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Arctic Alaska generally avoid areas within 1 km of oilfield roads with traffic. However, avoidance is not absolute, and caribou may habituate to infrastructure (e.g., buildings, roads, well pads) and human activity. We conducted road-based surveys of caribou in oilfields on Alaska’s Arctic Coastal Plain d...

Geothermal energy is a clean, green renewable resource, which can be utilized for power generation, heating, cooling, and could effectively replace oil, gas, and coal. In recent years, oil companies have put more efforts into exploiting and utilizing geothermal energy with advanced technologies for heat-tracing oil gathering and transportation, central heating, etc., which has not only reduced ...

Subsidence in river deltas is a complex process that has both natural and human causes. Increasing human activities like aquaculture and petroleum extraction are affecting the Yellow River delta, and one consequence is subsidence. The purpose of this study is to measure the surface displacements in the Yellow River delta region and to investigate the corresponding subsidence source. In this pap...

With the introduction of nanotechnology, energy industries envisage a potential revolutionary change in the field of exploration, development and production. Research by universities into such areas as nanosensors, nanomarkers and nanobots to provide valuable data regarding the reservoir are of great focus due to their large potential return on investment, but have yet to yield substantive prod...